Theodore Amar Lyons: "Tex," "The Baylor Bearcat"

• Born: December 28, 1900, Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Died: July 25, 1986, Sulphur, Louisiana
• Bats: both
• Throws: right
• Height: 5'11"
• Weight: 200 lbs
• Elected to Hall of Fame by BBWAA: 1955
• 217 votes of 251 ballots cast: 86.45%
• Major League Debut: July 2, 1923

     Ted Lyons spent his entire 21-year career with the seldom-contending Chicago White Sox of the American League. In 1925 he led the AL in victories with 21 for a fifth-place team; from 1925 to 1930, he averaged nearly 19 wins a season, although the White Sox never finished in the first division.

     He never appeared in a World Series, but he was a workhorse who logged innings and compiled 260 wins in his career. Twice he led the league in innings pitched, and he completed almost 75% of his starts.

     He had a very good moving fastball, a great curve and used a knuckleball to great effect.  He also had terrific control - he walked only 1,121 batters in 4,161 innings pitched over his career, and at one point in 1939 he hurled 42 consecutive innings without issuing a base on balls.

     He was so popular with the fans that beginning in 1939, White Sox Manager Jimmie Dykes began pitching him once a week, on Sundays, to take advantage of Lyons's tremendous popularity to draw large crowds. The Sunday-only pattern continued for ofur years, and Lyons had a .634 winning percentage (52-30) over that period.  In 1942 he led the AL in ERA (2.10) for the first time, completed all 20 of his starts and won 14.

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