
He got the name Duffy while his mother was listening to an old radio program called Duffy’s Tavern just before she gave birth to him. She began to laugh at the program when she fainted & awoke in hospital asking “How’s Duffy?” during labor.
The Dyer family eventually moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Dyer became a star athlete in baseball, basketball & football where he was the quarterback of the team.
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He hit .325 with 4 HRs 38 RBIs & 15 stolen bases, making All Conference. He played outfield there until 1966 when he converted to catching.
He was originally chosen by the Milwaukee Braves but decided to stay in school.
In 1966 he was named to the Sporting News College All American team & eventually was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the first round of the 1966 draft, the ninth pick overall.
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In the 1969 off season he was almost traded along with Nolan Ryan & Ed Kranepool to Atlanta for Joe Torre & Bob Aspromonte but the deal fell through. Dyer made the 1969 Mets squad out of Spring Training as a third string catcher to Jerry Grote & J.C. Martin.
1969 Championship Season: On Opening Day 1969, Dyer was called out of the bull pen by Gil Hodges to pinch hit in the game against the expansion Montreal Expos.

On May 30th he singled in the bottom of the 8th inning breaking a 3-3 tie, leading the Mets to a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants. In mid June he went back to AAA Tidewater because the team needed a catcher, there he batted .313 with five HRs in 35 games, posting a perfect .1000 fielding %.
He was back with the Mets in August & three games into his return he hit a three run HR off San Diego’s Joe Niekro leading the Mets to a 3-2 win.
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1969 Post Season- World Series: Dyer made one appearance in the 1969 World Series. In Game #1 he came into pinch hit for Tom Seaver in the top of the 6th inning, grounding out to short. Dyer earned a championship ring in his rookie season.
After the Championship: In 1970 he got into 59 games although he batted just .209 with 2 HRs, three extra base hits, 12 RBIs & a .308 on base % he did have some key hits.

On May 31st he came to bat as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 14th inning of a tie game against the Houston Astros. Dyer singled off Denny Lemaster scoring Ken Boswell with the game winning run. His other HR came on August 7th at Atlanta as he tied the game with a two run shot off Pat Jarvis, leading the Mets to the 4-2 win.
On June 23rd his two run 10th inning HR at Wrigley Field led the Mets to a 12-10 win over the Cubs. He had another big hit on September 9th as he drove in two runs with a single, in a game against the Phillies at Shea Stadium, leading New York to a 3-1 win.
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1971 Season: In 1971 his defensive numbers were similar: a 991 fielding %, while throwing out 35% of base stealers trying to steal. At the plate he raised his batting average from .209 the previous year to .231 with a pair of HRs, seven doubles 18 RBIs & a .308 on base % in 59 games.
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A month later he was the hero once again, coming to the plate with the bases loaded in the 9th inning. This time he singled off the St. Louis Cardinals Frank Linzy scoring Cleon Jones with the game winner. Ed Kranepool had tied the game with a double earlier in the 9th.
1972 Season: In April 1972, when the Mets acquired Rusty Staub from Montreal, Dyer received an early morning phone call. The team asked if he would give up his uniform number 10 for Staub. At first he said yes, but quickly called them back changing his decision to a No, after his wife informed him of the #10 displayed on his 1969 World Series ring.
That season as Jerry Grote suffered through injuries, Dyer saw action in 91 games behind the plate. He had a fantastic year defensively; throwing out 51% of would be base stealers, while leading the league nailing 40 base runners.
He had the third best fielding percentage in the N.L. (.993) & was fourth in put outs (690). He was also involved in helping turn over a career high 12 double plays. At bat he batted an identical .231 with career highs in HRs (8) doubles (17) triples (3) & RBIs (36).
Player of the Week Award: On the week of June 12th through June 18th, he won the NL Player of the week award. During a six game hit streak, he hit HRs in back to back games in Atlanta driving in a total of five runs.
For a brief period he became the teams main catcher under manager Yogi Berra who felt Dyer was more of a HR threat than Grote.

Dyer was more upset than Seaver it seemed, as he tossed Lee’s bat in anger from the home plate area & then ripped off his catchers gear in the dugout with disgust.
Quotes- Duffy Dyer: "I was all psyched up for a no hitter. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had hit a HR. But it was the right pitch & Tom threw it in the right spot".
At the end of July he hit a three run HR in the second game of a double header against the Pirates & two days later hit another two run shot against the Montreal Expos.
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Off Season Hobby: Dyer made flower arrangements in the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, at a show called "Artistry In Flowers" in the off season.
1973 Mets Pennant Season: He suffered through injuries like so many other Mets in the 1973 NL pennant season, but still played in 70 games, hitting only .185 with a .245 on base %, one HR, six doubles, one triple & nine RBIs.
On July 10th he drove in the only run of a 1-0 Mets win against the Houston Astros. Dyer didn’t see much action as Grote returned to top form down the pennant stretch in August & September.
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Behind the plate that season, he was outstanding throwing out 40% of base stealers (5th in the NL), posting a .994 fielding percentage & only making one error. He didn’t see any post season action as work horse Jerry Grote took the load for every inning of every post season game.
In 1974 he hit only .211 in 63 games (142 at bats) without any HRs while driving in 10 RBIs. In his final two Mets games he drove in a run with a hit in each game.
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At first he was devastated by the trade, because he loved playing in New York with the Mets family, which was a tight organization up to that point. Things were slowly changing & three years from now the family was all gone.
Pirates Manager said Dyer would be a great addition to his team, serving as a more than adequate back up for Manny Sanguillen.

In 1976 another career thrill was catching native New Yorker, John Candelaria's no hitter that August. Defensively on the year he threw out over 40% of would be base stealers once again.
It always seemed the more playing time Dyer got, the better he was. In 1977 he had another outstanding defensive season, leading all NL catchers in fielding percentage (.996) making only two errors in a career high 94 games.

For 1979 he signed as a Free Agent with the Montreal Expos , after one season playing in 28 games he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for future Mets manager Jerry Manuel. He would finish his playing career there in 1981 playing behind Lance Parrish.
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Mets Career: In his Mets career he played in 375 games batting .219 with 230 hits 16 HRs 35 doubles 7 triples & 97 RBIs. Dyer has four Mets walk off career hits to his credit. He is eighth behind the plate catching 326 Mets games.
Retirement: After his playing days he was a long time minor league manager, serving in the Twins, Brewers and Tigers organizations. He won two manager of the year awards as well as two championships as manager helm in 1985 & 1986.

He then moved on to manage the Blue Port Blue Fish (2001-2002) of the Independent League.
He was a scout in the Mets organization in 2003 & 2004 until the Omar Minaya era began. He always wanted an MLB managers job, but it never panned out. In the next two years he was once again manager in the Independent League at Erie.

In 2014 Dyer was announced to be the inaugural manager for the Kenosha Kingfish of the Northwoods Collegiate Summer League, he would manage there for four seasons.
Honors: Back during his playing days Dyer had a popular fan base at the popular local bar in Woodside Queens, Donovan's. The traditional Irish Pub fell in love with him from his Opening Day 1969 HR & supported him until he left New York. The Pub is still going strong today.
Amazing Mets Reunions: Dyer was proudly on hand for the 1969 Mets 40th Anniversary reunion at Citi Field in 2009 & once again for the 50th Anniversary in 2019. Dyer was also on hand for the 20th Anniversary of the 1973 Mets, a reunion at Shea Stadium in 1993.

Quotes- Lynn Dyer on her baseball life: "I'm telling you the positives out weigh the negatives. We've met so many wonderful people in baseball & I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I don't think our kids would either, even though they were yanked out of school & put in different schools."
On Duffy's first career HR on Opening Day1969: "Lavonne Koosman had told me Lynn there's an apartment right down the street from where we're living.' It's so hard to find an apartment in New York & it was near Shea Stadium. So I left the game to go see this apartment to see if it was available. Duff got to pinch hit & I hear it on the radio, that he hit a three run pinch HR & I'm going 'Oh Yea- that was memorable"

The two dads both married girls named Lynn & had their first children at the same time. The families, including Cami Dyer & Jamie McAndrew have been life long friends, in an Amazing story. see the link: https://nysportscene.com/2016/mcandrew-dyer-battery-strikes/
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