| Chet Lemon |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHET LEMON | |
| major league players from mississippi | |
| american league all-stars | |
| chicago white sox players | |
| detroit tigers players | |
| major league center fielders | |
| 1955 births | |
| living people | |
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Lemon made his major league debut in 1975 with Chicago, before becoming a full time player the next season. He began his career as a Third Baseman before quickly switching to centerfield. In 1977 , he set an American League record with 524 Total Chances and 512 Putout s; in all, he recorded 400 or more outfield putouts in five different seasons, which is also an American League record. His first All-Star Game appearance came in 1978 . After the , Lou Whitaker , Jack Morris , Kirk Gibson and Lance Parrish were to form the core of a successful team through the early- to mid-1980s. Lemon arguably had his best season in 1984 , as he hit .287 with 20 Home Run s and 76 RBI , and collected a .990 Fielding Percentage while handling 421 total chances. The Tigers won the 1984 World Series , and Lemon's numbers were comparable with teammate and eventual Series MVP Trammell. In 1988 , Lemon hit his 200th career home run off Cleveland 's Scott Bailes . In the same game, Darrell Evans hit his 400th career home run. Also that season, Lemon moved from centerfield to Right Field to make room for speedy new acquisition Gary Pettis . Lemon also had a unique ability to be Hit By A Pitch ; in the 1980s, he was second only to Don Baylor by getting plunked 108 times. He also had a penchant for diving headfirst into first base. Lemon retired from baseball after the 1990 season. For his career, he hit 215 home runs, had 884 RBI, 396 doubles, a .273 batting average, and a career fielding percentage of .984. Soon after retiring, he became ill with a serious spleen disease, Polycythemia Vera . In December of 1990, Lemon successfully underwent surgery at the University Of Michigan , and has had two subsequent surgeries, the last of which removed his spleen. He now Coaches ''Chet Lemon's Juice'', a successful 18-and-under baseball team in Sanford, Florida . Lemon's son Marcus is a highly-regarded amateur player. Lemon is also the head coach for Eustis High School in Eustis, Fla. His son, who has committed with the University Of Texas At Austin , was the team's lead-off hitter in 2006 and is expected to be drafted in the early rounds of the 2006 amateur draft. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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