Jerry Lynch

Gerald Thomas Lynch

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 189 lb.
• High School Bay City Central High School
• Debut April 15, 1954
• Final Game October 2, 1966
• Born July 17, 1930 in Bay City, MI USA
• Died April 1, 2012 in Austell, GA USA

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Biographical Information

Jerry Lynch became one of the greatest pinch-hitters of his era, and one of the best pinch-hitters of all time. Although he appeared in 1184 major league games, only 710 of them were in the field (mostly as a left fielder). He had 116 career pinch hits.

He had only one season with more than 400 at-bats, that being 1958 when he hit .312 with 16 home runs in 420 at-bats with the Cincinnati Redlegs.

He became more or less a regular outfielder (he appeared in 98 games) as a rookie with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954, making his debut at age 23 on a team whose average age was 26. That year, he and Toby Atwell had back-to-back homers twice in one game; no Pirate duo would copy them until Neil Walker and Gaby Sanchez in 2014. He played for the Pirates until 1956, then was drafted by Cincinnati. He played with the Redlegs/Reds until 1963, when he was traded back to Pittsburgh for Bob Skinner. He finished his career with Pittsburgh in 1966. He was a member of the Reds' 1961 World Series team, going 0 for 3 with a walk as the Reds lost in 5 games to the New York Yankees; he had hit a career-high .315 in 96 games that year and his 25 RBI as a pinch-hitter that year are still tied for the major league record (with Joe Cronin in 1943 and Rusty Staub in 1983).

After his retirement, he went into business with former teammate Dick Groat, owning and managing golf courses in the Atlanta, GA area. On June 6 1978 The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Lynch was about to be named head coach of Point Park College. Two days later The Pittsburgh Press reported that Lynch and AD Jerry Conboy could not agree to terms.