totally random, vol. 2.6

Today’s subject: Barry Lyons. Lyons, a catcher who played parts of seven years in the major leagues, touched all the bases of Mississippi connections. He was born in Biloxi, where he was a standout talent at an early age, went on to star at Delta State for Boo Ferriss and then played for the 1985 Texas League champion Jackson Mets. He famously hit a game-winning homer in the JaxMets’ home opener in ’85. Lyons put up MVP-quality numbers in the Double-A loop in ’85 and made the New York Mets club the next season. He hung around the majors until 1995, though his career never really took off. His best year was probably 1989, when he played in 79 games for the Mets and batted .247 with three homers and 27 RBIs. He also threw out 27 percent of runners trying to steal, though he did commit 10 errors. He played for three more major league teams (battling back problems along the way) and finished with a career .239 average, 15 homers and 89 RBIs. It could be argued that he is the best big league catcher Mississippi has produced.
P.S. Delta State, which is ranked as high as No. 8 in one NCAA Division II poll, opened its season Friday with a 24-3 win at Montevallo. Jon Carnahan homered and drove in six runs; Michael Vinson and Kris Koerper had four hits and four RBIs each; and Aaron Newcomb yielded one run over five innings for the W. DSU has 17 lettermen back from a 30-19 team that missed the D-II regionals for a third straight year. The Statesmen should be very, very motivated in 2012.