Name: Steve Lyons
Rank: 88
Position: 3B/OF
Years With White Sox: 1986-1990
Steve Lyons was acquired by the White Sox at the end of June in 1986 in the deal that sent Tom Seaver to the Red Sox. “I’ve liked him since he came into professional baseball,” GM Ken Harrelson said. “The only reason we were able to get him is that Boston is in a divisional race.” Lyons appeared in 42 games for the White Sox following the trade, starting 35 of them, and hit a disappointing .203 while finding his way into manager Jim Fregosi’s doghouse.
Lyons saw his average improve in 1987, though it didn’t necessarily add up to additional playing time. Splitting time between Hawaii and Chicago, he appeared in only 76 games and saw a mere 193 at bats.
With an improved relationship with Fregosi in 1988, Lyons stepped in to become the regular third baseman after the Kenny Williams experiment came to an end in May. While his offense was serviceable enough, he struggled defensively, finishing the year with 25 errors. “It’s a huge embarrassment,” Lyons conceded. “I’m just not doing the job. I hate to think that our pitchers are scared of me playing third base, but that would be a natural thought.”
1989 saw Lyons move primarily to second base. The biggest moment of his season came at Yankee Stadium in June when a woman ran onto the field and accosted Lyons in the on-deck circle, giving him a big kiss. He finished the year hitting .264 with a career high 50 RBI.
With the White Sox returning to contention in 1990, Lyons saw himself out of a starting job. He clashed with new manager Jeff Torborg over his diminished playing time, due to the arrival of Robin Ventura at third base and the commitment to Scott Fletcher at second base. He managed some late-inning duty at first base, until Frank Thomas joined the big league club in August. In his new role, his average dropped to .192. The most famous, or infamous, moment of his career came on July 16 against the Tigers, when, after sliding into first base for a bunt single, he lost track of where he was and dropped his pants to remove the dirt from his slide. He quickly raised them back up, but the damage was done and a legend was born.
Despite his clashes with Torborg, Lyons managed to break camp with the White Sox in 1991, but lasted 4 games into the season, without getting in to any of them, before being released to make room for Charlie Hough, who was coming off the disabled list. “I started seeing there wasn’t an opportunity for me to get on the field anywhere,” said Lyons. “They had other guys to do the same kind of things that I was going to do.”
Lyons’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
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