Anyone who has ever had the pleasure to meet and get to know former MLB player and baseball analyst Steve Lyons has indeed experienced a pleasure. Simply put, Lyons is easily one of the nicest and most approachable guys in the baseball analyst business – bar none.

Unfortunately, those of us who came to know Lyons as both a friend and colleague received a bit of bad news on Saturday morning when Lyons himself tweeted that he would not be returning as the analyst for the Dodgers non-NL West television broadcasts next season.

As noted by Eric Stephen of True Blue LA, Lyons has called Dodgers games from 2005-2013 and was a part of pre-game and post-game shows on Fox Prime Ticket. However, with Fox’s long-running contract with the Dodgers scheduled to expire on October 31 when the team embarks on its new 25-year contract with Time Warner Cable worth upwards of $8 billion, Lyons was apparently not included in the transition plans.

Steve Lyons
(Photo credit – Keith Allison)

Lyons, a first round draft pick (19th overall) by the Red Sox in the 1981 amateur draft, spent the better part of 10 seasons in the majors with the Red Sox, White Sox, Braves and Expos primarily as a utility infielder and outfielder. And though he ended his career with a somewhat quiet .252 batting average and 19 home runs, he etched himself in baseball lore forever when his dropped his pants to clear dirt from them during a nationally televised game, thus living up to his nickname “Psycho” – a nickname that he affectionately still carries to this day.

Steve’s friendliness, baseball knowledge and approachability, along with his frequent interaction with Dodger fans on Twitter, made him a huge favorite among Dodger fans and he will truly be missed. But rest assured, Steve will land on his feet somewhere – the good ones always do.

Godspeed to you, Psycho.

Author’s Note: Eric Collins, who did the play-by-play with Lyons, also will not be returning next season.