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Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle (born July 22, 1944) is an American former left-handed relief pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1967 through 1982. He was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox. A three-time All-Star, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award in 1977. He led the American League (AL) in saves in 1972 and 1976. With the Yankees, Lyle was a member of the World Series champions in 1977 and 1978. Lyle co-authored, with Peter Golenbock, ''The Bronx Zoo'', a 1979 tell-all book which chronicled the dissension within the Yankees in its World Series Championship seasons of 1977 and 1978. From 1998–2012, Lyle served as manager of the Somerset Patriots, a minor league baseball team of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. ==Early life and career== Lyle was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania on July 22, 1944, but grew up in nearby Reynoldsville. His father was a carpenter and general contractor, and his mother a seamstress at a coffin factory. He attended Reynoldsville High School where he played varsity football and basketball. During the spring of his junior year, he began playing American Legion baseball for the DuBois team because neither his high school nor Reynoldsville fielded an organized baseball squad.〔(MacLennan, Diane. "Sparky Lyle," Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). )〕〔(Weber, Bruce. "Sparky Lyle: Extra Innings," ''The New York Times'', Sunday, May 30, 2010. )〕 He once struck out 31 batters while pitching 14 of 17 innings in a state tournament game for DuBois. At the time, his pitching repertoire consisted of a fastball, curveball and changeup. He was brought in for a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates alongside Bruce Dal Canton. The Pirates only signed the latter after seeing that the speed of Lyle's pitches was no match for Dal Canton's.〔 Lyle did succeed in catching the attention of George Staller who was a scout for the Baltimore Orioles at the time. Lyle signed with the ballclub as an amateur free agent on June 17, 1964.〔 He spent the opening half of his first professional campaign in 1964 with the Bluefield Orioles. He appeared in seven games, three out of the bullpen. It was the first time he was used as a reliever, an idea which he suggested to manager Jim Frey. Later that season, he would earn a promotion to the Fox Cities Foxes, where he was used exclusively as a starting pitcher in six matches for the eventual Midwest League champions.〔〔(Sparky Lyle (minor league statistics & history) – Baseball-Reference.com. )〕〔(1964 Midwest League – Baseball-Reference.com. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sparky Lyle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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