Barry Lyons: 1988 N.L. Eastern Champion Mets Backup Catcher (1986 - 1990)

Barry Stephens Lyons was born June 3, 1960 in Biloxi, Mississippi. The six foot one, southern man was an All American catcher at Delta State, University. 

He was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1981, but did not sign. The next year Lyons was drafted by the New York Mets in the 15th round & this time he did sign.

In 1984 with the A ball Lynchburg Mets, Lyons batted .316 with 12 HRs & 87 RBIs winning the Carolina league MVP. His MLB career was set back in 1985 when the Mets acquired All Star, Gary Carter. Lyons Mets' future was now to be the Hall of Famer Carter’s back up .

That same season Lyons continued to hit well at AA Jackson, driving in 108 runs while batting .307 with 11 HRs. The Mets minor league teams he played for all won championships at all three different minor league levels.

Mets Career: Lyons started out on the Mets squad in April 1986, getting his MLB debut on April19th at catcher, as Gary Carter was inserted in the left field spot. Lyons went 0-3 but drove in a run with a sac fly in the Mets 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. But after going hitless in nine games, he was sent down to AAA Tidewater, losing his backup job to Ed Hearn.

1986 World Champions: Originally after the Mets had won the 1986 World Series; Lyons, Terry Leach, Dave Magadan and Randy Myers were not set to get World Series rings. But Randy Myers campaigned to have rings made for them all, with the Mets permission he managed to get it done

1987: Just before the season began, Lyons got a chance to play when Ed Hearn was traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher David Cone. Lyons officially now became Gary Carters back up for the next two seasons until Mackey Sasser arrived on the scene. 

On April 26th, he hit his first career HR a pinch hit shot in a 7-4 Mets loss. On June 7th in the second game of a double header Lyons had a three-hit game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In July, he had a five game hit streak, while driving in three runs. On July 22nd, he helped spark a Mets come back win against the Pirates, when he singled to tie up the game & then later scored the winning run on a Lee Mazzilli pinch hit single. 

On August 20, 1987, Lyons had one of his biggest moments as he hit a game winning grand slam, off the San Francisco Giants Kelly Downs at Shea Stadium. "We were 2 1/2 games out after that game," Lyons said. "I felt I helped the team."

Overall, in 1987 he played in 53 games, batting .254 with 4 HRs 4 doubles & 24 RBIs. Behind the plate he threw out 22% of would-be base stealers while posting a .984 fielding % in 49 games. 

1988 NL Eastern Champs: Lyons played in just 50 games (32 at catcher) this year, batting .231 while sharing the back up duties with Mackey Sasser. 

On August 2nd, he hit a rare triple, it came at Shea Stadium against the Cubs, off Jamie Moyer, scoring Kevin McReynolds & Gary Carter in the 3-1 Met win. In September 2nd, in what was a preview of that years NLCS, Lyons 2nd inning RBI base hit off the Dodgers John Tudor turned out to be the game winning run in the 2-1 thriller vs. Doc Gooden at Shea. Lyons did not play in the post season.

1989: The aging Gary Carter missed ten weeks of action, giving Lyons a chance to start. 

In May he hit HRs in back-to-back games & got his average up over the .320 mark for a brief time. On June 7th he had a pair of hits with three RBIs at Wrigley Field in a 10-5 Mets win at Chicago. He drove in runs in his next two games as well.


Unfortunately, Lyons injured his foot and missed most of the month of July. Upon returning from his injury, he drove in five runs over his first seven games back. He would have multi-hit games, in hiss firs two games back. On August 8th he homered against the Phillies in a 9-0 Mets blow out.

In September another hot streak had him drive in five runs over a four-game stretch. 

That season he put up career highs in RBIs (27) games played (79) & at bats (235) but only hit .247. Behind the plate he threw out a career best 27% of base stealers & posted a .980 fielding percentage.

1990: By 1990 Gary Carter was at the end of his Hall of Fame career, he got released by the Mets. This led to Lyons and Mackey Sasser battling for the vacant catcher’s job. Lyons was the opening day catcher & hit a HR in the Mets 12-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

He was better than Sasser defensively, but he hit only .238 and was sent back to AAA Tidewater where he hit only .171. He was released in early September, getting picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played in nine games with the 1991 Dodgers, was granted free agency & got picked up by the California Angels where he played in just two games.

He spent the next three seasons in the minors, and then had one last hurrah with the Chicago White Sox in 1995. That year he had career highs in average (.266) & HRs (5) playing in just 27 games. He enjoyed a six-game hitting streak and his only career four RBI game. At the end of the season he retired at age 35. 

Career Stats: In his seven-year career Lyons batted .239 with 150 hits 26 doubles 5 HRs 16 RBIs & a .304 on base %. At catcher he threw out 23% of would-be base stealers with a .981 fielding % in 207 games.

Retirement: After baseball he became a minor league manager & a broadcaster for the Nashville Sounds. He also ran the Barry Lyons Baseball Academy for over 25 years.

In 2002, Lyons was involved in bringing pro baseball back to his hometown of Biloxi becoming the GM for the amateur Biloxi Breeze. 

In 2014 he helped the Biloxi Shuckers, become an AA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. In June of 2015, the team honored him with his own day at the ballpark.

Hard Times: During Hurricane Katrina his home was destroyed & he lost all his possessions, including his 1986 World Series ring. Luckily his family all managed to survive as they rode out the storm.

He fell onto hard times with drugs & alcohol. His marriage to his first wife Marsha fell apart as well. He eventually found help through Christian rehab programs by 2012.

Family: Barry married his second wife Julie & has one daughter, Danielle.