Barry Lyons (baseball) - Fighting For A Mets Job

Fighting For A Mets Job

Ed Hearn was traded to the Kansas City Royals shortly before the 1987 season in a one-sided trade that brought eventual star pitcher David Cone to the Mets. More importantly for Lyons, the trade gave him sole backup duty and he played in 53 games, batting .254 with 24 RBI in 1987.

Lyons was back to sharing backup duties in 1988 and 1989 when the Mets traded for Mackey Sasser. In 1989, the aging Carter missed ten weeks after surgery giving Lyons a shot at starting but Lyons soon injured his foot. Sasser used the opportunity to prove himself as a starter. Despite the missed opportunity, Lyons had career highs of 79 games and 235 at bats in 1989 but only managed a .247 average with 27 RBI. It was the only season in which he led the team in games caught.

After 1989, the 35-year-old Carter was released and Lyons was in a two-way battle with Sasser for starting duties. Lyons got most of the starts early in 1990 but hit terribly. Although he was a solid defensive catcher, Sasser was clearly the better hitter and quickly became the regular starter. While Sasser wound up at .307 for 1990, Lyons' sub-.240 average prompted the Mets to release him in early September and his career was all-but-over at age 30.