Early Mets Career
Lyons was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, graduated from Biloxi High School and attended Delta State University where he was an NCAA All-American catcher. He was taken in the 25th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers but didn't sign. He was then taken in the 15th round of the 1982 Draft by the Mets and agreed to a contract.
Lyons came up slowly through the Mets' minor leagues while batting near or above .300 from 1983 to 1986. As a sign of the Mets' coming years of dominance, Lyons was on minor league teams that won championships at the A, AA and AAA levels. Lyons himself was named the Most Valuable Player of the South Atlantic League in 1984.
Lyons moved one big step down the catching depth chart when the Mets traded for the Montreal Expos' superstar catcher, Gary Carter, before the 1985 season. Lyons spent most of the Mets' 1986 championship season playing for the AAA Tidewater Tides but was brought up to the majors early on. Fellow Tidewater catcher Ed Hearn was also brought up early in 1986 and hit well, pushing Lyons down to third-string. Consequently, Lyons only managed to play in six games including two starts – all before July – and never got a hit for the eventual World Champions. (Despite his lack of playing time, Lyons and other rarely-used players eventually received belated World Series rings).
Read more about this topic: Barry Lyons (baseball)
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