Tim Lyon, one of the best known and respected coaches in the game has retired. Tim has been a longtime fixture in the USA Softball program, helping it grow and prosper over the years. In stepping away from current post at Head Coach/Manager of the USA Softball U23 team, Tim had this to say:
I have dedicated the past 25 years of my life to the USA National Program and it just seems like the right time to retire from coaching. I still plan to be involved in the game. On the national level the game has really changed, where the coaches have to also become fundraisers and that makes it even more difficult.
I would like to thank everyone who helped along the way, of course there is way too many to name without leaving someone out so I plan to speak to all of them on an individual basis and thank them. My best friends in life have come from softball, both here and abroad.
Mostly I would I like to thank the players, it has been a great journey together and I have so many amazing memories and will be telling stories for years to come.
-Tim Lyon
Highlights
Tim-LyonEditor’s Notes: I have had the pleasure to know Tim for the better part of twenty years, dating back to his days with the USA Junior Men’s team (which later became the U19 division). The list of players benefiting from Tim’s coaching is a veritable Who’s Who of fastpitch.
I recall very well the 2005 USA Jr. squad that traveled to Prince Edward Island, Canada to compete in the ISF World Championship (now called the World Cup). That was the “Adam Folkard” year for those that may remember. Tim was building the program from the ground up, spending a good amount of his time finding young talent, then teaching and training them as he did so well.
Kevin Castillo was one of the players on that 2005 USA Softball team that traveled to Prince Edward Island. Before his journey with USA Softball, Kevin had been a young player (barely a teenager) in the local leagues in Long Beach, California, where his father Paul, a former teammate of mine played and coached. Tim will no doubt remember the two tryouts that Kevin had, the first not going particularly well as Kevin was nursing an injury. But Tim saw something special in Kevin and the second tryout led to a spot on the USA Junior team, and later, a spot on the USA Men’s team for many years. Kevin was one of many young players that came up through USA Softball, learning about the game from Tim.
I was still pitching back then, and recall him bringing the USA Juniors to San Diego County, to compete in a men’s tournament being held there. It was a special weekend, for the kids, and also for the men competing against them, looking on, wishing that they (we) might have been a part of something so special in our earlier years. There was an aura to the group, as they gathered around Tim and his coaching staff of Scott Standerfer and Gary Mullican. The team was a tight knit group, with their pride showing in the way they carried themselves. Leading the way was Tim, Scott and Gary. All three of them were veterans of ISC World Tournaments, coaching some of the world’s best players, taking time to share their experience with these younger players. It was a role that Tim Lyon occupied for much of his coaching career, teaching the game.
Tim was instrumental in my entree into broadcasting fastpitch around the world and the growth of “Ballpark Radio“. Tim had listened to our early broadcasts of the ISC II Tournament of Champions broadcasts starting in 2004. In 2008, Tim called and inquired about broadcasting the ISF Junior World Championships in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Tim introduced me to George Arcand, the Whitehorse legend who was organizing and managing the event. I needed a map to find out where that was. But a month or two later, I was in Whitehorse with Kyle Smith, broadcasting the last three days of the event. Tim’s young charges in 2008 competed very well that year, nearly upsetting Canada, losing a 1-0 game with BJ Hunhoff in the circle.
Fast forward to 2014, and we wound up reprising the broadcasts for the 2014 ISF Junior Worlds, this time with streaming video broadcasts and the birth of “Ballpark Broadcasting“. Again, it was Tim, taking time from his coaching duties to help me reconnect with George Arcand, who in turn put Choyal Brown and his Sports Canada TV crew together with us. The result was streaming video broadcasts of the entire 2014 World, and thereafter, many other WBSC events.
Besides the broadcasting, the biggest effect Tim Lyon had on the game of fastpitch for me, was how the game was — could — or should be played. I spent many years pitching/playing in the San Diego area, in years when slap hitters ruled the roost. My formative years started under manager Ted Jensen, a pioneer in the game when it came to “small ball” and “slappers”. His teams often sported an entire lineup of left-handers. I recall pitching against Ted’s team, losing a game 4-1 when his hitters never got a ball out of the infield. “Get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em in” was the successful style of play for many teams of that era. Successfully so. But watching Tim’s teams during all of those broadcasts, I saw a different approach, and strategy. “Crooked numbers”. I asked him after games why he didn’t bunt or move runners over in certain situations that I expected him to. “21 outs” he would tell me. “You only get 21 outs, and I don’t like giving them away.” Over time, he made a believer out of me. His “Crooked Numbers” strategy produced multiple runs in innings, instead of playing for single runs in an inning. His teams could play for a run when needed, but enjoyed success often when hitting for wins.
I will miss seeing Tim around the ballpark, but know where to find one of the great minds, and coaches in the game.
Billy Hillhouse says
Tim remains one of my best friends and someone I have the utmost respect for. He had a meteoric rise in USA softball, first being in the coaching pool in 1998 I think. Then being on the men’s staff in 2000 before taking over the boy’s program and turning them around from the world basement to a contender. Also, one of the architects of the County Materials team in the early 2000’s, probably the best team every created man for man. The game needs more Tim Lyons, I’m glad to call him a friend.