Sparky Lyle pitched for 16 years in the majors, and never started a game.
He began his career with Boston, and spent five years there; the Red Sox then
decided that the Yankees needed a boost, and traded Lyle to New York for Danny
Cater. Lyle had seven outstanding seasons in a Yankee uniform, twice leading
the league in saves. He was a lefty with a hard slider, and is credited with
helping Ron Guidry develop his great slider. Lyle was also a flake
in the classic lefty tradition, whose pranks included jumping naked onto
birthday cakes.
With his Cy Young Award and great playoff
pitching, Lyle was the toast of the town. But not for long. After the
season, the Yankees acquired Goose Gossage to be the closer. Gossage and
Lyle were a great combination in 1978, and led the Yankees to another World
Series that year. But Lyle picked up only 9 saves, and wasn't happy being
second fiddle to Gossage. He complained, and was traded after the season to
Texas. Lyle's first season with the Rangers was his last good one, and his
career ended soon after.
Dennis Leonard had his best season with the
Royals. Leonard three times won 20+ games in his career, and was a key to
the Royals' success in the late 1970's. He was a workhorse, not normally
a big strikeout pitcher, though he was this year. Leonard led the AL in
innings pitched in 1981, and then began to have serious arm problems; he missed
two full seasons, tried a comeback in 1986, and retired with 144 career
wins.
Though Lyle's season was very good, I'm not
sure that it was really Cy Young quality. The vote was a close one; Jim Palmer
was a close second, Nolan Ryan a close third, and Leonard a close fourth. Palmer
led the league in wins for the third straight year; Ryan also had one of
his best seasons. I think that Palmer, Ryan, and Leonard all had better
years than Lyle; Frank Tanana was probably better, too, but I will give
the edge to Lyle.
