Steve Lyons

Note: This page links to Steve Lyons, the former major leaguer. For the minor league player and coach, click here.

Stephen John Lyons
(Psycho)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.
• School Oregon State University
• High School Beaverton High School
• Debut April 15, 1985
• Final Game October 3, 1993
• Born June 3, 1960 in Tacoma, WA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

In Chicago's annual exhibition game between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox, Steve Lyons played one inning at every position, including pitcher. He is in fact one of the very few players in major league history to have played every position at least twice - a number of players have played all positions, but this usually includes a single token appearance at one or more of these.

In a league game, he slid into first base, called time to wipe the dirt off himself, totally forgot where he was, and started taking off his pants to get the dirt out of them. The roar of the crowd quickly brought the embarrassed hitter back to reality and he pulled them up. The tape of this incident became a blooper reel highlight for years afterwards.

He worked as a television broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks and for Fox Broadcasting, and later as an analyst on Boston Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. On October 14, 2006, he was fired by Fox for making a racially insensitive comment directed at colleague Lou Piniella's Hispanic heritage on the air during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. Lyons had been suspended without pay two years earlier for criticizing Shawn Green for abiding by his religion's laws and not playing on Yom Kippur. In August 2017, he was taken off the air by the Red Sox, not for anything he said, but because criminal allegations against him had surfaced. He had been charged in April with three misdemeanor counts including domestic assault, battery and witness intimidation in relation with an incident involving his girlfriend alleged to have taken place in California the previous January. All charges against him were dismissed on August 15th, however.

Steve appeared as a player in the 1994 movie Major League 2 and also appeared as himself on one episode of "Arli$$" in 2000.

Further Reading

• Donna L. Halper: "Steve Lyons", in Bill Nowlin and Leslie Heaphy, ed.: The 1986 Boston Red Sox: There Was More Than Game 6, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2016. pp. 117-124 ISBN 978-1-943816-19-4
• Steve Lyons: The Psycho 100: Baseball's Most Outrageous Moments, Triumph Books, Chicago, IL, 2009.

Related Sites

• Steve Lyons at the SABR Bio Project