Denny Lyons

[Cowtipper]

Denny Lyons played from 1885 to 1897, hitting .310 with an OBP of .407 and an OPS+ of 139. In 1890, he led the league in OBP, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and OWP.

Of all the players that are similar to him, only one is in the Hall of Fame: Ross Youngs. The other players he is similar to are Oyster Burns, Tip O'Neill, Red Rolfe, Pepper Martin, George Grantham, Elmer Smith, Henry Larkin, John Stone and Roy Johnson.

The Baseball Page ranks Lyons as the 36th best third baseman of all time.

What say you about Denny Lyons? Should he be in the Hall of Fame?

(Oh yeah, my super awesome Hall of Famer similarity scores project is done! I successfully made it through every single Hall of Famer. Now, I'm working on guys who had support in the BBFHOF elections...so at least someone, at some point in time, supported the guys I'm going to do.)

[Fuzzy Bear]

Denny Lyons played from 1885 to 1897, hitting .310 with an OBP of .407 and an OPS+ of 139. In 1890, he led the league in OBP, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and OWP.

Of all the players that are similar to him, only one is in the Hall of Fame: Ross Youngs. The other players he is similar to are Oyster Burns, Tip O'Neill, Red Rolfe, Pepper Martin, George Grantham, Elmer Smith, Henry Larkin, John Stone and Roy Johnson.

The Baseball Page ranks Lyons as the 36th best third baseman of all time.

What say you about Denny Lyons? Should he be in the Hall of Fame?

(Oh yeah, my super awesome Hall of Famer similarity scores project is done! I successfully made it through every single Hall of Famer. Now, I'm working on guys who had support in the BBFHOF elections...so at least someone, at some point in time, supported the guys I'm going to do.)

I can't see putting Lyons in.

I could be wrong. Lyons had a .693 career Offensive Winning Percentage, which is pretty good. His better stats, however, were accumulated in the American Association, which, as I understand, is the weaker league.

Lyons is the kind of guy that I would like to learn about what consideration he did (or did not) get when the HOF opened. There were guys still alive at that time who saw Lyons play, or played with him. Why was there no groundswell to induct Lyons as a pioneer? Why didn't any of the Old-Timers' committees of the forties see fit to tap Lyons? And why, if he got the brush off then, should he be reconsidered now? Is he really a George Davis? I don't really think so.

[Buzzaldrin]

I don't penalize him for the AA, since I believe that the AA 1885-1889 was the equal of the NL. His best season, however, was his abbreviated 1890 campaign- which I do penalize him for, since 1) he missed a lot of time that year, and 2) 1890 was a very diluted season in all three leagues. He only really played seven full seasons, and only one after he was 27, and for a position player in the 1890s that's too few for me to consider seriously. However, a few more seasons, even at sub peak levels, would give him serious consideration.

What happened to him in the 1890s that limited him and ended his career, was a a chronic injury or what?

[Paul Wendt]

Lyons is the kind of guy that I would like to learn about what consideration he did (or did not) get when the HOF opened. There were guys still alive at that time who saw Lyons play, or played with him. Why was there no groundswell to induct Lyons as a pioneer? Why didn't any of the Old-Timers' committees of the forties see fit to tap Lyons?
pioneer? 1866 is his birth year, not his debut

They elected only four people older than Hugh Duffy and Ed Delahanty. Lyons was only a little older, essentially their contemporary, so his election would not have been out of character in that way, although he would have been only the second AA star, with Tommy McCarthy another contemporary.