Tom Lyons

Thomas Joseph Lyons

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 195 lb.

• High School Downers Grove North High School

• Born March 22, 1983 in Winfield, IL USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Tom Lyons pitched professionally for nine years, peaking at A ball.

The Detroit Tigers took Tom in the 40th round of the 2001 amateur draft. He was 1-0 with a 6.43 ERA for the 2001 GCL Tigers but whiffed 22 in 14 innings. With the same club in 2002, he improved to 2-2, 2.97 and struck out 36 in 30 1/3 IP. Moving up to the Oneonta Tigers in 2003, he posted a 2-5, 4.41 record. He tied for 8th in the New York-Penn League with eight wild pitches.

Lyons was one of many Americans to join the Greek national team for their first European Championship, the 2003 Euros. He was 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA and fanned 10 in 10 innings to tie Dennis van Hoof, Silvio Censale, Patrick Beljaards, Tetsuhiro Monna, Robin Roy and Pedro Pablo Belmonte for the lead in wins. He helped Greece win the Silver Medal. He only pitched two games for Oneonta in 2004 (1-1, 2.61), presumably due to injury, and was not with Greece for the 2004 Olympics.

In his final season in the Tigers chain, the Illinois native split 2005 between the GCL Tigers (1-2, 3.45 in 7 G) and Oneonta (0-1, 11.85 in 6 G), walking 25 and allowing 32 hits and 9 wild pitches in 29 1/3 IP. Moving to the independent leagues, the right-hander pitched in 2006 for the Calgary Vipers (1-8, 6.54) and Rockford Riverhawks (4.40 ERA in 13 G). He tied for 4th in the Northern League in losses. He had a 1.83 WHIP, 6.25 ERA and 3-6 record with two saves in 39 games for the 2007 Vipers.

Back with the Greek team in the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers, he allowed 6 walks, 4 hits and 3 runs (1 earned) while fanning six in 7 innings against Russia; A.J. Brack saved the 5-3 victory. In the event finale with a spot in the 2010 European Championship at stake, he again got the call against the Russians, facing Viacheslav Vasilyev. Lyons was much better this time, striking out 15 in a perfect game 5-0 win, including fanning the side (Sergey Vorotilin, Yury Bakalets and Nikita Monakhov) in the 9th. Lyons was an easy pick for tourney MVP.

Signing with the Schaumburg Flyers for 2009, Lyons was 2-6 with a 6.00 ERA. He was 1-1 with two saves and a 3.81 ERA in 31 outings for the 2010 Flyers. He finished his pro career 14-32 with four saves and a 5.34 ERA in 155 games (41 starts). In 347 1/3 IP, he allowed 399 hits and 176 walks while striking out 265.