Theodore Amar Lyons was born December 28, 1900 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Lyons never pitched in the minor leagues and never pitched in a World Series, but 21 seasons of yeoman work for the seldom-contending White Sox earned his 1955 election to the Hall of Fame.
Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 22 of the 2009 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 4 week of May.
May 22
1938 White Sox pitcher Ted Lyons records his 200th career win beating the Senators, 9-2.
Theodore Amar Lyons was born December 28, 1900 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Lyons never pitched in the minor leagues and never pitched in a World Series, but 21 seasons of yeoman work for the seldom-contending White Sox earned his 1955 election to the Hall of Fame.
He attended Baylor University with plans for a law career, but his college pitching made him a sought-after prospect. Upon graduation in 1923, he turned down an offer from the A’s to sign with Chicago for $300 a month and a $1,000 bonus. He joined the team in St. Louis on July 2 and relieved in the first Major League game he ever saw, retiring the three Browns he faced. He recorded his first 2 wins as a relief pitcher in a doubleheader on October 6, making him one of the first pitchers to perform the feat.
He worked his way into the starting rotation the following year, when he posted a 12-11 record and 4.87 Earned Run Average.
In 1925 he led the American League in victories, with 21, for a fifth-place team.
From 1925 through 1930, he averaged nearly 19 wins a season, although the White Sox never finished in the first division.
Late in 1925, in a game that Chicago uncharacteristically won 17-0, he held the Senators to no hits for 8-2/3 innings.
On August 21, 1926 Lyons no-hit the Red Sox, winning 6-0 in a game that took just 67 minutes to complete.
He went on to have his finest season in 1927, going 22-14 with a 2.84 Earned Run Average.
Lyons was at his crafty best in 1930, when he posted a 22 and 15 won/loss record and an American League leading total of 29 complete games for a team that finished 62-92.
A sore arm limited Lyons to just 22 games in 1931 and cost him his fastball.
His manager, Donie Bush, pronounced his arm “dead.” But Lyons developed a knuckleball and was soon pitching effectively again. In 1936, he helped pitch the club to its first finish in the American League first division since he had joined the team 14 years earlier; they finished third.
His most important weapon was excellent control. Never a strikeout pitcher, he walked only 1,121 batters in 4,161 innings pitched over his career, and at one point in 1939 he hurled 42 consecutive innings without issuing a base on balls.
Lyons was such a draw among the fans that, as his career began to wind down in 1939, manager Jimmy Dykes began using him only in Sunday afternoon games, which earned him the nickname “Sunday Teddy”. Lyons made the most of his unusual scheduling, winning 52 of 82 decisions from 1939 until his retirement as a player in 1942, including a stellar 1942 season in which he led the league with a 2.10 Earned Run Average and completed every one of his 20 starts.
After going 14-6 with 20 complete games in 20 starts as a 41 year old in 1942, Lyons entered Marines at the end of the season. At the end of World War II, he was discharged in December 1945.
He returned to the Sox in 1946 at age 45, the oldest player in the majors at the time. After making 5 starts for the club, Lyons retired on May 19th and became the team’s manager on May 25th.
Lyons later spent time as a Detroit Tigers coach from 1949 to 1953 and was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers staff in 1954.
He was one of baseball’s most consistent pitchers for two decades, winning 260 games in his 21 seasons.
He never appeared in a postseason game, as the White Sox were usually far behind the American League leaders during his career. However, New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy said, “If he’d pitched for the Yankees, he would have won over 400 games.”
Ted Lyons was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.
He died on July 25, 1986 in Sulphur, Louisiana
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: B
Back off
To pitch inside to a batter so that he moves away from the plate, thus giving the pitcher more room for his delivery.
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