NewsLongtime Rangers executive to retire
Lyons, VP of community development, honored by team
By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com
11/12/09 5:39 PM EST
The Rangers are losing a big piece of their Foundation.Norm Lyons, the vice president of community development and a fixture in the team's front office for the past 17 seasons, is retiring.
The Rangers honored him Wednesday at an organization luncheon at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. His retirement is effective on Nov. 15.
"Norm has been a great ambassador for the Rangers, and we will miss him," Rangers president Nolan Ryan said. "He has been very visible and has represented the Rangers in every corner of our community. By talking to people and having his ear to the ground, he was able to find out what was needed and made it his business to figure out a way for the Rangers and our Foundation to make life better for people we could help." The Rangers also announced that Lyons will be the recipient of the 2009 Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award, presented annually to a member of the Rangers organization for outstanding service in the community.
"Working with the Texas Rangers and the Foundation has given me the opportunity to meet some wonderful people I never would have met," Lyons said. "It has kept me grounded and very thankful for my life. It has given me so many different experiences and perspectives on life. I got the better of the deal."
As the club's vice president of community development, Lyons was largely responsible for the creation and growth of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation as well as numerous other community programs for the club.
He joined the Rangers on July 31, 1993, and under his direction and leadership, the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation has raised and disbursed more than $11 million to help those in need.
Under Lyons, Foundation programs helped more than 230 promising high school students in need of financial help and also built nine youth ballparks, which has given thousands of children the opportunity to play baseball.
The Foundation also created a partnership with Habitat for Humanity that has resulted in the building of 23 homes for those in need, a partnership with the Arlington Independent School District to teach schoolchildren Texas history lessons at the Ballpark, "Pitching Success," a program designed to give young girls the self-confidence to make the right choices in the face of negative peer pressure, and an annual "Organ Donor Night," which was started in 1995. He also created the Rangers' annual appreciation nights to recognize and honor the contributions of local teachers and police/firefighters.
Jesse Sanchez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
