As a sign of the Mets' coming years of dominance, Lyons was on minor league teams that won championships at the A, AA and AAA levels.

[4] Lyons moved one big step down the catching depth chart when the Mets traded for the Montreal Expos' superstar catcher, Gary Carter, before the 1985 season.

Lyons spent most of the Mets' 1986 championship season playing for the AAA Tidewater Tides but was brought up to the majors early on.

[6] On Thursday, August 20, in a day game at Shea Stadium against the San Francisco Giants, Lyons came to bat with his team down 4–3, and hit a grand slam to give the Mets a 7–4 lead, which went on to become the final score.

Although he was an excellent defensive catcher, always appreciated by the Mets' pitching staff, Sasser was clearly the better hitter and quickly became the regular starter.

[8] While Sasser wound up at .307 for 1990, Lyons' sub-.240 average prompted the Mets to release him in early September, and his career was all-but-over at age 30.

He spent the next three seasons exclusively playing AAA level baseball – 1992 with the Houston Astros, 1993 with the St. Louis Cardinals and 1994 with the Cincinnati Reds.

He was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds' A-level Charleston Alley Cats in 1998 when he left the team after being denied a promotion.

He, his family and his father as well as his efforts to bring professional baseball to southern Mississippi were severely affected by Hurricane Katrina.

He and his family rode out the storm and lost their house and memorabilia – including his 1986 World Series ring – but all survived.

On December 15, 2022, Lyons was announced as the manager of the Lexington Counter Clocks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball for the 2023 season.