Full Moon

A hot July evening in Detroit set the scene. 81 degrees at game time. 14,770 fans in attendance witnessed a back and forth game between two starting pitchers, who had their good stuff that night.

Ace in the making, Jack McDowell was on the mound for the White Sox. Veteran Dan Petry took the ball for the Tigers.

No matter what you hear, there were less than 15,000 people in Tiger Stadium that night. Almost 100,000 people claim to have been inside the stadium for this particular game.

The White Sox were surging in the AL West. The Tigers were slowly sinking in the AL East, playing just good enough to keep near .500. The Tigers would eventually win this game, in the bottom of the ninth, 5 to 4. A Tigers victory wasn't what was mentioned at the office the next day or on Johnny Carson or David Letterman the next night.

The moment in question did not effect the outcome of the game. It didn't even lead to scoring. This particular event caused the Tiger fans to applaud a White Sox batter to be called safe. It was indeed a strange night in Detroit.

The Tigers were ahead 4 to 1, when the top of the fifth inning started. The first batter up for the White Sox was Steve Lyons. He dragged a bunt to the first base side of the infield, then he ran like hell to first base. First baseman Cecil Fielder charged for the ball and pitcher Dan Petry had to cover first. It looked like Lyons had a shot at being safe, so he slid headfirst into first base. First base umpire, Jim Evans, called Lyons safe.

Dan Petry immediately had a beef with the call. While Petry and Evans were debating the call, Steve noticed some pebbles and dirt had gotten into his pants. Without much thought of where he was, he unbuckled his belt and proceeded to shake the dirt loose, like many players do. The only problem was that in shaking the dirt out, Steve had automatically lowered his pants to the knees.

The second that Steve heard the crowd react, he pulled up his pants, but the damage had been done. He turned around to see the same crowd which he just mooned. His face turned beet red and he had a chuckle. What else could he do in that situation? Cecil Fielder let out a hearty laugh. Petry and Evans stopped their discussion. All eyes were on Steve Lyons.

When the crowd finally died down, the game resumed. The situation was one man on first base and no one out. Scott Fletcher grounded out to the shortstop, who forced out Lyons at second. As Lyons returned to the dugout, he saw ladies waving dollar bills at him and yelling things like, "Take it off!"

Sammy Sosa then proceeded to ground out to the shortstop who forced Scott Fletcher at second. Ozzie Guillen decided to mix things up by grounding out to the second baseman and recording the third out at first base.

It just goes to show that the White Sox could kill an inning in any decade. This is not a new thing. Despite not having a thing to do with the outcome of the game, Steve Lyons was the talk of the town. He did countless interviews and to this day is still asked to repeat the story.

What would this story be without a picture? For the first time on any White Sox site, here is a grainy black and white picture of the incident. Somewhere, in my archives of videotape, I have this game recorded. If I ever run across it, I should be able to get a better picture and possibly get the act on YouTube.

Would this be the Detroit version of Moons Over My Hammy?

Psycho

I will never forget that image as long as I live. Steve Lyons slides into first base, gets up and starts dusting himself off. A few seconds later I see the unbuckling of pants. I think to myself that he's brushing dirt off and tucking his shirt back in. No big deal. Then I see bare thigh and a quick hike up with the pants. Then Steve Lyons with a face as red as his previous Sox team in Boston. All he did then was laugh.

I can only imagine this happening to Steve Lyons. He frequently dove into first base, like a poor man's Pete Rose. I won't remember Steve Lyons in that way though. I'll remember him as the player who played every position in meaningless exhibition game against the Cubs. I'll remember him high-fiving a fan who caught a foul ball. I'll remember him as a player who tried to make the game fun and always seemed like he was having a good time, even if you weren't in on the joke.

I chose to showcase his 1990 Fleer card for two reasons. In my opinion, it was his most successful year and he always reminded me of Nellie Fox in this photo. The way the shadows hit his face made me think of the wad of chewing tobacco that always seemed to be in Nellie's mouth. He also looks like a pretty decent guy in the photo. The sky makes him look larger than life and he seems confident like a superhero. This is definitely my favorite card of Steve Lyons.

There's only one way he'll be remembered as a player. Bunting to get on base on July 16, 1990. Steve's called safe. The Tiger's pitcher disagrees and argues with the umpire. Steve feels something down his leg. He pulls his pants down and brushes away the dirt. Then the crowd goes ballistic.

Steve was one of the bright spots in a lot of the bad Sox teams of the late 80's. He was also part of the resurgence in 1990 that almost got the Sox into the playoffs. The White Sox had two no-hitters that year. Melido Perez had one. Andy Hawkins of the Yankees had the other. The Sox won both games. That is how special the 1990 team was. But since they didn't make the playoffs, Steve Lyons is the one thing that sticks out from that season.

After the self-pantsing, women would sit behind the Sox dugout waving dollar bills and calling out to him. This is the strange world of Steve Lyons. One that is self created, but strange nonetheless. I wonder if he ever got any women's phone numbers from that.

The sad thing is now that may get overshadowed by something Steve did off the field, in the broadcast booth during the 2006 playoffs. He was making comments about Lou Piniella "hablaing Espanol" and said shortly afterward, "I still can't find my wallet." Then Steve compounded everything by saying, "I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now". He was promptly fired for making racial comments that Fox Sports found inappropriate.

Still, I will fondly remember Steve Lyons as a player who always had a smile, always cared for the fan and always made every play seem like the most important of his career.