Ted Lyons, baseball player, 1923-1946

Ted Lyons

⭐ Hall of Fame 1955

Born: 12/28/1900 in Lake Charles, LA, USA

Died: 7/25/1986 in Sulphur, LA, USA

MLB Debut: 1923-07-02 | Final Game: 1946-05-19

Bats: B | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 200 lbs

Full name: Theodore Amar Lyons

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Biography

Ted Lyons was a prominent American professional baseball pitcher whose career spanned from 1923 to 1946. Born in 1900, Lyons became known for his durability and skill on the mound, achieving a career record of 260 wins and 230 losses. His earned run average (ERA) stood at 3.67, complemented by a total of 1,073 strikeouts and 23 saves. Despite competing in an era that featured some of baseball's toughest hitters, Lyons maintained a solid presence in the game, evidenced by his selection as an All-Star once during his career. Lyons's contributions to baseball were further recognized with his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955, cementing his legacy in the sport's history. He played during a transformative time in baseball, witnessing the transition from the deadball era to the more offensively charged environments of the later years. Known for his control and composure, Lyons carved out a significant place among the pitching elite, and his achievements continue to be celebrated by baseball historians and fans alike.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
4.0 4.0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.250 0.250 0.500 0.750

Pitching

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1.0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 6.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1935 4.0 4.0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0.250 0.250 0.500 0.750

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1935 1.0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0.0 6.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
260 230 594 484 356 27 23 4161.0 4489 1696 223 1121 1073 3.67 0

Career ERA 3.67 vs. league average 4.19 across their career seasons — 12.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1923 CHW AL 2 1 9 1 0 0 0 22.7 30 16 15 6 6.35 4.03 (-58%) -
1924 CHW AL 12 11 41 22 12 0 3 216.3 279 117 72 52 4.87 4.13 (-18%) -
1925 CHW AL 21 11 43 32 19 5 3 262.7 274 95 83 45 3.26 4.55 (+28%) -
1926 CHW AL 18 16 39 31 24 3 2 283.7 268 95 106 51 3.01 4.11 (+27%) -
1927 CHW AL 22 14 39 34 30 2 2 307.7 291 97 67 71 2.84 4.08 (+30%) -
1928 CHW AL 15 14 39 27 21 0 6 240.0 276 106 68 60 3.98 4.13 (+4%) -
1929 CHW AL 14 20 37 31 21 1 2 259.3 276 118 76 57 4.10 4.60 (+11%) -
1930 CHW AL 22 15 42 36 29 1 1 297.7 331 125 57 69 3.78 4.80 (+21%) -
1931 CHW AL 4 6 22 12 7 0 0 101.0 117 45 33 16 4.01 4.10 (+2%) -
1932 CHW AL 10 15 33 26 19 1 2 230.7 243 84 71 58 3.28 4.13 (+21%) -
1933 CHW AL 10 21 36 27 14 2 1 228.0 260 111 74 74 4.38 3.86 (-14%) -
1934 CHW AL 11 13 30 24 21 0 1 205.3 249 111 66 53 4.87 4.29 (-13%) -
1935 CHW AL 15 8 23 22 19 3 0 190.7 194 64 56 54 3.02 4.35 (+30%) -
1936 CHW AL 10 13 26 24 15 1 0 182.0 227 104 45 48 5.14 4.59 (-12%) -
1937 CHW AL 12 7 22 22 11 0 0 169.3 182 78 45 45 4.15 4.34 (+4%) -
1938 CHW AL 9 11 23 23 17 1 0 194.7 238 80 52 54 3.70 4.35 (+15%) -
1939 CHW AL 14 6 21 21 16 0 0 172.7 162 53 26 65 2.76 4.28 (+36%) -
1940 CHW AL 12 8 22 22 17 4 0 186.3 188 67 37 72 3.24 4.21 (+23%) -
1941 CHW AL 12 10 22 22 19 2 0 187.3 199 77 37 63 3.70 3.94 (+6%) -
1942 CHW AL 14 6 20 20 20 1 0 180.3 167 42 26 50 2.10 3.57 (+41%) -
1946 CHW AL 1 4 5 5 5 0 0 42.7 38 11 9 10 2.32 3.59 (+35%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
705 1563 162 364 49 9 5 149 0 73 201 0.233 0.270 0.285 0.556 -6244.0

Career AVG .233 vs. league average .277 across their career seasons — 15.9% below league average.

Career OBP .270 vs. league average .341 across their career seasons — 20.8% below league average.

Career SLG .285 vs. league average .392 across their career seasons — 27.2% below league average.

Career OPS 0.556 vs. league average 0.733 across their career seasons — 24.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1923 CHW AL 9 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0.200 — — — — 0.0
1924 CHW AL 41 77 10 17 0 1 0 6 0 5 13 0.221 .283 (-22%) .345 (-20%) .389 (-37%) .734 (-29%) -379.0
1925 CHW AL 43 97 6 18 3 0 0 7 0 3 13 0.186 .288 (-36%) .349 (-38%) .407 (-47%) .756 (-43%) -746.7
1926 CHW AL 41 104 7 22 1 1 0 3 0 1 10 0.212 .279 (-24%) .345 (-37%) .390 (-38%) .735 (-38%) -697.4
1927 CHW AL 41 110 16 28 6 2 1 9 0 6 17 0.255 .282 (-10%) .344 (-15%) .392 (-5%) .736 (-10%) -219.8
1928 CHW AL 49 91 10 23 2 0 0 8 0 1 9 0.253 .280 (-10%) .342 (-24%) .395 (-31%) .737 (-27%) -446.3
1929 CHW AL 40 91 7 20 4 0 0 11 0 9 13 0.220 .289 (-24%) .353 (-18%) .415 (-37%) .769 (-28%) -453.6
1930 CHW AL 57 122 20 38 6 3 1 15 0 2 18 0.311 .293 (+6%) .354 (-9%) .429 (+1%) .784 (-3%) -119.9
1931 CHW AL 42 33 6 5 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 0.152 — — — — 0.0
1932 CHW AL 49 73 11 19 2 1 1 10 0 4 10 0.260 .275 (-5%) .335 (-8%) .391 (-9%) .726 (-9%) -113.6
1933 CHW AL 51 91 11 26 2 1 1 11 0 4 6 0.286 .270 (+6%) .329 (-4%) .377 (-4%) .707 (-4%) -72.9
1934 CHW AL 50 97 9 20 4 0 1 16 0 3 19 0.206 .278 (-26%) .340 (-28%) .392 (-29%) .733 (-29%) -500.4
1935 CHW AL 29 82 5 18 4 0 0 6 0 3 4 0.220 .279 (-22%) .342 (-25%) .399 (-33%) .742 (-29%) -419.6
1936 CHW AL 26 70 2 11 0 0 0 5 0 5 12 0.157 .283 (-45%) .349 (-39%) .404 (-61%) .753 (-51%) -614.4
1937 CHW AL 23 57 6 12 0 0 0 3 0 9 14 0.211 .276 (-24%) .342 (-7%) .398 (-47%) .740 (-29%) -245.4
1938 CHW AL 24 72 9 14 2 0 0 4 0 2 9 0.194 .272 (-29%) .341 (-37%) .392 (-43%) .734 (-40%) -497.3
1939 CHW AL 21 61 5 18 3 0 0 8 0 5 7 0.295 .274 (+8%) .342 (+2%) .393 (-12%) .735 (-6%) -51.1
1940 CHW AL 22 75 4 18 4 0 0 7 0 2 7 0.240 .267 (-10%) .335 (-23%) .387 (-24%) .722 (-24%) -305.2
1941 CHW AL 22 74 8 20 2 0 0 6 0 2 6 0.270 .262 (+3%) .332 (-13%) .373 (-20%) .705 (-17%) -209.2
1942 CHW AL 20 67 10 16 4 0 0 10 0 3 7 0.239 .253 (-6%) .323 (-13%) .349 (-15%) .672 (-14%) -152.4
1946 CHW AL 5 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
P 594 0 219 943 51 57

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1923 CHA P 9 0 3 7 0 1
1924 CHA P 41 0 3 43 5 2
1925 CHA P 43 0 8 80 4 3
1926 CHA P 39 0 16 91 5 3
1927 CHA P 39 0 13 79 2 3
1928 CHA P 39 0 20 60 7 6
1929 CHA OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1929 CHA P 37 0 21 66 5 4
1930 CHA P 42 0 14 77 6 5
1931 CHA P 22 0 4 18 1 3
1932 CHA P 33 0 11 42 2 1
1933 CHA P 36 0 10 49 1 3
1934 CHA P 30 0 12 50 4 4
1935 CHA P 23 0 9 31 0 2
1936 CHA P 26 0 12 38 0 2
1937 CHA P 22 0 6 33 0 3
1938 CHA P 23 0 9 46 1 1
1939 CHA P 21 0 9 22 3 3
1940 CHA P 22 0 12 24 3 1
1941 CHA P 22 0 17 36 1 3
1942 CHA P 20 0 8 41 1 4
1946 CHA P 5 0 2 10 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 594
Right Field 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1930 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1930 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1927 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1927 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1927 TSN All-Star P
1926 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1926 Baseball Magazine All-Star P4
1925 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Baylor University Waco TX 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1942 Most Valuable Player AL 12th 23.0 336 0
1941 Most Valuable Player AL 15th 12.0 336 0
1940 Most Valuable Player AL 27th 2.0 336 0
1939 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 13.0 336 0
1935 Most Valuable Player AL 13th 10.0 80 0
1932 Most Valuable Player AL 19th 5.0 80 0
1928 Most Valuable Player AL 22th 2.0 64 0
1927 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 34.0 64 0
1925 Most Valuable Player AL 20th 5.0 64 0