Pitcher, New York Yankees
Age: 33 (July 22)
6th season
with Yankees
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’1” Weight: 182
Prior to 1977:
A Pennsylvania
native, Albert Lyle, who obtained the nickname “Sparky” from his family, tried
out for a local teen team at age 13 and was told that he didn’t throw hard
enough to be a pitcher. At Reynoldsville-Sykesville High School, he starred in
football and basketball and began pitching for an American Legion team in
DuBois. Throwing primarily fastballs and curveballs, Lyle ran up high strikeout
totals. Signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1964 for $400 per month, he was
initially assigned to Bluefield of the Rookie-level Appalachian League where he
pitched in seven games, four of them starts, and went 3-2 with a 4.36 ERA
before finishing the year with Fox Cities of the Class A Midwest League, where
in six starts he posted a 3-1 record and a 2.31 ERA with 51 strikeouts over 35
innings pitched. Drafted away from Baltimore by the Boston Red Sox in the
offseason, Lyle spent 1965 with Winston-Salem of the Class A Carolina League,
where for all but five of his 37 appearances, he was utilized as a reliever.
Struggling with his control, he issued 55 walks and tossed 10 wild pitches over
87 innings and went 5-5 with a 4.24 ERA. Thanks to input he received from
former Boston hitting great Ted Williams, Lyle worked on developing his slider,
which became his best pitch. Advancing to Pittsfield of the Class AA Eastern
League in 1966, he was almost exclusively a relief pitcher and over 40
appearances produced a 4-2 tally with a 3.65 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 74
innings. Lyle started the 1967 season with Toronto of the Class AAA
International League and was 2-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 16 games when he was called
up to the Red Sox in July. As Boston battled to a closely-won pennant, Lyle
appeared in 27 games and went 1-2 with a 2.28 ERA, 5 saves, and 42 strikeouts
over 43.1 innings. A sore arm kept him out of the World Series loss to St.
Louis. As the club’s top lefthanded reliever in 1968, he posted a 6-1 tally and
11 saves with a 2.74 ERA while appearing in 49 games and striking out 52
batters over 65.2 innings. Lyle led the Red Sox with 17 saves in 1969, to go
along with an 8-3 record and 2.54 ERA in 71 appearances. The save total rose to
20 in 1970, but otherwise Lyle had a lesser season with a 1-7 tally and 3.88
ERA in 63 appearances. 1971 started on a sour note when Lyle was fined $500 for
showing up to spring training overweight. He went on to appear in 50 games and
produced a 6-4 mark with 16 saves and a 2.75 ERA. In the spring of 1972 Lyle
was traded to the Yankees for first baseman Danny Cater and shortstop prospect
Mario Guerrero. He had an outstanding ’72 season, leading the AL with 35 saves
to go along with a 9-5 record and 1.92 ERA in 59 appearances. He helped the
Yankees to stay in contention until the season’s final week and placed third in
league MVP balloting, while also being named AL Fireman of the Year by The
Sporting News. Lyle continued to be the ace of the bullpen in 1973, recording
27 saves with a 2.51 ERA and 5-9 tally in 51 appearances. He was an All-Star
for the first time. In 1974 his record was 9-3 with 15 saves and a 1.66 ERA in
66 appearances. In 1975 the numbers slipped to 6 saves and a 5-7 mark in 49
appearances, along with a 3.12 ERA. The Yankees compiled 70 complete games and
only 20 saves in all (LHP Tippy Martinez topped the staff with 8). The Yanks
won the AL East and the pennant in 1976 and Lyle contributed a league-leading
23 saves along with a 7-8 record and 2.26 ERA in 64 appearances, although his
performance was less impressive down the stretch. With the club favored to
repeat in 1977, Lyle was well established as a top relief pitcher.
1977 Season Summary
Appeared in 72 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 72 [1]
Games Started –
0
Complete Games
– 0
Wins – 13
Losses – 5
PCT - .722
[Non-qualifying]
Saves – 26 [2]
Shutouts – 0
Innings Pitched
– 137
Hits – 131
Runs – 41
Earned Runs – 33
Home Runs – 7
Bases on Balls
– 33
Strikeouts – 68
ERA – 2.17
[Non-qualifying]
Hit Batters – 2
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 10
[9, tied with Steve Stone & Tom Johnson]
League-leading games
pitched were +1 ahead of runner-up Tom Johnson
Midseason
Snapshot: 7-3, G – 41, ERA - 1.59, SV – 15, SO - 44 in 85 IP
Most
strikeouts, game – 5 (in 4 IP) at Baltimore 4/27
10+ strikeout
games – 0
Fielding
Chances – 26
Put Outs – 2
Assists – 22
Errors – 2
DP – 0
Pct. - .923
Postseason
Pitching: (ALCS vs. KC Royals – 4; World Series vs. LA Dodgers – 2)
G – 6, GS – 0, CG
– 0, Record – 3-0, PCT – 1.000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 14, H – 9, R – 2, ER – 2,
HR – 1, BB – 0, SO – 5, ERA – 1.29, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
AL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
All-Star
6th
in AL MVP voting (79 points, 1 first place vote, 20% share)
AL Cy Young
voting (Top 6):
Sparky Lyle,
NYY: 56 pts. – 9 of 28 first place votes, 40% share
Jim Palmer,
Balt.: 48 pts. – 6 first place votes, 34% share
Nolan Ryan,
Cal.: 46 pts. – 6 first place votes, 33% share
Dennis Leonard,
KCR: 45 pts. – 5 first place votes, 32% share
Bill Campbell,
Bos.: 25 pts. – 1 first place vote, 18% share
Dave Goltz,
Min.: 19 pts. – 1 first place vote, 14% share
Yankees went 100-62
to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 2.5 games over the Baltimore
Orioles and Boston Red Sox. In a season filled with tumult, including a
nationally-televised dugout confrontation in a game at Boston between manager
Billy Martin and RF Reggie Jackson (the club’s most high profile free agent
acquisition coming into the season), the Yankees stuck close to the top of the
division until taking over first place for good on August 23 and finishing
strong while the Orioles and Red Sox fell short. Won ALCS over the Kansas City
Royals, 4 games to 2. Won World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to
2, highlighted by Jackson’s three-home run performance in the decisive game.
Aftermath of ‘77:
The arrival of
free agent RHP Rich Gossage in the offseason reduced Lyle’s role in 1978.
Gossage took over as the bullpen closer and recorded 27 saves to Lyle’s 9. The frustrated
Lyle appeared in 59 games and produced a 9-3 record and 3.47 ERA as the Yankees
again won the World Series. In the offseason, he was traded to the Texas
Rangers as part of a ten-player deal. As part of a Texas bullpen where RHP Jim
Kern was the closer, Lyle appeared in 67 games and went 5-8 with 13 saves and a
3.13 ERA. He played most of 1980 with the Rangers until he was dealt to Philadelphia
in September. Effective in 14 innings of action, he helped the Phillies wrap up
the NL East title. Ineligible for the postseason that produced a World Series
victory, Lyle returned to Philadelphia for the strike-interrupted 1981 season
and went 9-6 with two saves and a 4.44 ERA in 48 appearances. He started 1982
with the Phillies and was sold to the Chicago White Sox in August. In what
proved to be his last season, he pitched in a total of 45 games and produced a
3-3 tally (all with the Phils) and 3 saves with a 4.62 ERA. Released by the
White Sox in the offseason he retired after having pitched in 899 major league
games (all in relief) in which he compiled a 99-76 record with 238 saves and a
2.88 ERA with 873 strikeouts in 1390.1 innings. Appearing in 13 postseason
games, Lyle was 3-0 with one save and 9 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched.
With the Yankees he appeared in 420 games and went 57-40 with 141 saves, a 2.41
ERA, and 454 strikeouts over 745.2 innings pitched. Lyle was a three-time
All-Star and twice led the American League in saves. In 1998 he became manager
of the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League. The club won five
league titles under his direction. A sculpture of Lyle and Patriots founding
owner Steve Kalafer was placed outside the team’s home ballpark in Bridgewater,
New Jersey.
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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