Dennis Patrick Aloysius Lyons (March 12, 1866 – January 2, 1929) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player. He played

third base 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 ...

for the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National ...

(1885),

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

(1886–90),

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 ...

(1891),

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1892),

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(1893–94 and 1896–97), and

(1895). Lyons was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He reached base by a hit or a walk in 52 consecutive games in 1887. Lyons led the American Association in on-base percentage (.461), slugging percentage (.531) and OPS (.992) in 1890. In 1123 games over 13 seasons, Lyons posted a .310

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 ...

(1334-for-4300) with 933 runs, 244 doubles, 69

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 62

home runs 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 ...

, 756

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, 224

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

, 623

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, .407

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .442

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. He died in West Covington, Kentucky, at the age of 62.

Pro career

Denny Lyons began his pro career when he was 19 for the Columbus Stars of the Southern League in 1885. Later that year, he made his debut in the major leagues for the

of the National League. He appeared in just four games, serving as an understudy to regular third baseman Jerry Denny. Lyons' first stay in the major leagues would be brief. The Grays were a subpar team, one year removed from winning what is now recognized as the very first "World Series" the Grays were having financial issues and on the field, they struggled under the guidance of manager Frank Bancroft and the franchise folded after the 1885 season. In 1886, Lyons was back in the minor leagues, playing for the Atlanta Atlantas of the Southern Association. During his stay in Atlanta, he batted .327 while appearing in 79 games. His bat caught the attention of the Philadelphia Athletics and they purchased his contract from Atlanta. Once again, Lyons was the understudy, this time to journeyman infielder Jack Gleason. At the end of the season, Gleason was given his release and Lyons took over as Philadelphia's regular third baseman. Though the Athletics struggled to win on the field, Lyons was one of the team's best players, leading the team in batting with a .367 average. In 1887, Lyons had a 52 game hitting streak, which would be the all-time records. However, since 1887 was the lone season in which walks were considered hits, this streak is not recognized. In 1888, the Athletics had a winning season, and finished third in the standings, and for the second straight year, Lyons led the team in batting. He repeated this feat in 1889 as well. The 1890 season did not go well for the Athletics. The team finished in eighth place and then jumped from the American Association to the ill-fated Players League. In 1891, Lyons signed with the St. Louis Browns, a team managed by future owner of Chicago White Sox,

Charles Comiskey Charles Albert Comiskey (August 15, 1859 – October 26, 1931), nicknamed "Commy" or "the Old Roman", was an American Major League Baseball player, manager, and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the American League and was als ...

. Other key players for the Browns that season were future hall of fame outfielder Thomas McCarthy, and Billy Hoy, better known as

Dummy Hoy William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy (May 23, 1862 – December 15, 1961) was an American professional baseball center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902, most notably the Cincinnati Reds and two ...

who was a star outfielder despite being deaf since birth. In his lone season in St. Louis, Lyons not only led the team in batting, but also showed a little power at the plate as well, leading the team with 11 home runs. The next season, Lyons jumped leagues over to the National League, signing with the New York Giants. Though his batting average dipped (Lyons only hit .257) he still maintained his power, tying with

Buck Ewing William "Buck" Ewing (October 17, 1859 – October 20, 1906) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. He was renowned for both his offensive and defensive skills during his playing career. In 1939, Ewing was elected to the Baseb ...

for the most home runs on the team with 8. From 1893 till 1897, Lyons spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis. Browns. Lyons still had his stroke at the plate, batting over .300 for a few of those seasons, his stay in the major leagues was coming to an end. On July 23, 1897, Lyons played in his last major league contest, an 8-7 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. A fastball from pitcher

Amos Rusie Amos Wilson Rusie (May 30, 1871 – December 6, 1942), nicknamed "the Hoosier Thunderbolt", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the late 19th century. He had a 10-season career in the National League (NL), w ...

broke several of Lyons' fingers. In 1898 Lyons appeared in several games for Omaha Omahogs/St. Joseph Saints of the class A Western League and finished his career as an active player the following season with the Wheeling Stogies of the Interstate League. He would become a manager and part time player for the Beaumont Oil Gushers of the class C South Texas League in 1903. At the age of 40, Lyons would spend his last year in organized baseball as a manager of the Lake Charles Creoles, also a member of the class C South Texas league. On January 2, 1929, Denny Lyons died.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Denny 1866 births 1929 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball third basemen Providence Grays players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players St. Louis Browns (AA) players New York Giants (baseball) players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Browns (NL) players Minor league baseball managers Columbus Stars players Atlanta Atlantas players Omaha Omahogs players St. Joseph Saints players Wheeling Stogies players Beaumont Oil Gushers players Baseball players from Cincinnati

Pro career

See also

References

External links