Chicago White Sox
An infielder in the minor leagues, Lemon played third base during his brief stint with the Chisox in 1975. He entered Spring training 1976 as the leading candidate for the third base job, but after failing to impress manager Paul Richards with his glove, was moved to the outfield. He made the transition seamlessly, as he made only three errors all season while logging a .992 fielding percentage in centerfield. He batted .246 with four home runs, 38 RBIs and 46 runs scored to earn Topps All-Star Rookie Teams honors.
He came into his own as both a hitter and centerfielder in 1977. He scored a career high 99 runs, while showing a dramatic increase in power, hitting fifteen more home runs than he had his rookie season. He also set an American League record with 524 total chances and 512 putouts in the outfield.
With the White Sox in sixth place in the American League West, ahead only of the expansion Seattle Mariners, Lemon was selected as his team's lone representative at the 1978 All-Star Game. Though he did not receive an at-bat, he entered the game in left field in the eighth inning, and committed an error in the National League's four run eighth. The White Sox finished the season in fifth, eventually passing the Oakland A's in the standings. Lemon went 2-for-5 on the second to last day of the season to bring his season batting average to .300. He sat out his team's final game.
In 1979, Lemon was again the sole White Sox player on the American League All-Star team. He entered the game in the second inning, and scored in the third after being hit by a Joaquín Andújar pitch. He ended the season with a .318 batting average and 86 RBIs, both career highs. He also hit 44 doubles, tying the Milwaukee Brewers' Cecil Cooper for the American League season best total.
The White Sox finished near the bottom of the division standings during most of Lemon's tenure with the club. With the addition of free agent catcher Carlton Fisk and designated hitter Greg Luzinski, the team improved to 31-22 and finished in third in the first half of the strike shortened 1981 season. For his part, Lemon batted .299 with three home runs and 22 RBIs in the first half. Though his team finished in sixth place in the second half, Lemon's stats improved, as he batted .305 with six home runs and drove in 28. Following the season, Lemon was traded to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Steve Kemp.
Read more about this topic: Chet Lemon
Famous quotes containing the words chicago and/or white:
“Must we really see Chicago in order to be educated?”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“We black women must forgive black men for not protecting us against slavery, racism, white men, our confusion, their doubts. And black men must forgive black women for our own sometimes dubious choices, divided loyalties, and lack of belief in their possibilities. Only when our sons and our daughters know that forgiveness is real, existent, and that those who love them practice it, can they form bonds as men and women that really can save and change our community.”
—Marita Golden, educator, author. Saving Our Sons, p. 188, Doubleday (1995)