Chet Lemon

Chester Earl Lemon (born February 12, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.

A native of Jackson, Mississippi, he grew up in Los Angeles.

Lemon was born in 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, and moved to Los Angeles when he was six months old.

He attended John C. Fremont High School, where he played in the backfield with Ricky Bell on the football team and also starred on the baseball team.

He was drafted in the first round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft and played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox from 1975 to 1981 and for the Detroit Tigers from 1982 to 1990.

Lemon was drafted in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics.

He began his professional baseball career in 1972 playing for the Athletics' minor league team in Coos Bay-North Bend, Oregon.

After 38 games in Oregon, he moved up to the Burlington Bees in the Midwest League.

He remained with Burlington through the 1973 and 1974 seasons.

Lemon was traded along with Dave Hamilton from the Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Stan Bahnsen and Skip Pitlock at the non-waiver trade deadline on June 15,.

During the 1975 season, he batted .307 with eight home runs and 49 runs batted in for the Triple A Denver Bears to earn a call up to the White Sox that September.

An infielder in the minor leagues, Lemon played third base during his brief stint with the Chicago White Sox in.

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.

Lemon was known as one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball from 1977 to 1987.

In 1977, he led the American League with 512 outfield putouts, the fourth highest single-season tally in major league history and the highest tally since 1951.

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, a record that still stands.

He was selected as an American League All-Star in 1978, 1979, and 1984 and was the starting center fielder for the 1984 Detroit Tigers team that won the 1984 World Series.

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.

He also totaled over 400 outfield putouts in four other years (1979 and 1983-1985).

He also led the American League with 44 doubles in 1979 and led the league in times hit by pitch (HBP) four times, including a career-high 20 HBP in 1983.

Lemon was sometimes criticized for not standing for "The Star-Spangled Banner" due to his religious beliefs as a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

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, his 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.

On November 27, 1981, the Detroit Tigers acquired Lemon in a trade that sent Steve Kemp to the Chicago White Sox.

In his first season with Detroit, Lemon shifted from his regular position in center field, starting 92 games in right field and 25 in center field.