Lyman Raymond Lamb (March 17, 1895 – October 5, 1955) was an American professional baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. While playing in the minor leagues in 1924, he hit 100 doubles to set the organized baseball single-season record.

Baseball career

Lamb was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, in 1895. He was tall and weighed 150 lb. Lamb started his professional baseball career in 1915 with the

Fairbury Shaners The Fairbury Shaners were a minor league baseball team were based in Fairbury, Nebraska. In 1915, the Shaners played as a member of the Class D (baseball), Class D level Nebraska State League. The league folded during the 1915 season with the Sha ...

and played for the

Joplin Miners The Joplin Miners was the primary name of the minor league baseball team in Joplin, Missouri that played for 49 seasons between 1901 and 1954. Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Mickey Mantle and Whitey Herzog played for Joplin. Professional baseba ...

of the Western League from 1917 to 1920."Lyman Lamb Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022. In September 1920, Lamb made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

debut with the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. He played nine MLB games that season and had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .375. In 1921, he played in 45 games for the Browns and batted .254. The

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

purchased Lamb's contract in January 1922, and he never played in the majors again."Lyman Lamb Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022. Lamb spent most of the 1922 to 1925 seasons with the Western League's

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

. In 1922, he led the league with 68 doubles and helped the Oilers win the pennant.Lamb, Bill
"Lyman Lamb"
sabr.org. Retrieved February 1, 2022. In 1923, he hit 71 doubles to lead the league again. In 1924, Lamb played 168 games, batted .373, and led the league with 261 hits and 100 doubles. The 100 doubles were an organized baseball single-season record.James, Bill (2001). ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract''. p. 143. From 1926 to 1928, Lamb played for the

Wichita Falls Spudders The Wichita Falls Spudders were a minor league baseball team that formed in 1920 and played its last game in 1957. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas. The first Spudders team ran from 1920–1932 and played in the Texas League as an affiliat ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. He then bounced around different minor league teams before retiring in 1931. During his professional baseball career, Lamb played 2,007 games and had 7,703

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s, 2,349 hits, 593 doubles, 77 triples, and 123

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s. He was mostly a third baseman in the majors and mostly an outfielder in the minors. Lamb died in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

, in 1955.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Lyman 1895 births 1955 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen St. Louis Browns players Minor league baseball managers Joplin Miners players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Wichita Falls Spudders players Beaumont Exporters players Baseball players from Nebraska Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Fairbury Shaners players