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Chet Lemon in bad shape from multiple strokes

The Mighty Mite
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Lip Man 1 Grand Master

Lip Man 1

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Chet has had different and unusual health problems for a long time. Very sad as he was a great player and seems like a good person.

Had a great interview with him in 2004.

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greg775 Grand Master

greg775

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So sad. He could cover so much ground. One time in Comiskey somebody hit a shot to right center. Chet started out so far away from the ball. He wasn't in the camera shot at all. Then suddenly he dives and gets it. I was at an event once that Chet was at and got to visit with him. I actually asked him about that play and he described it and remembered it. He modestly admitted he made some great catches in his career. Of course he hit the ball as anybody on the Hitmen in 77. I remember imitating not only hit batting stance but the way he pounded his mitt on his thigh waiting for high flies to come land in his mitt. Favorite player by far. Very sad story. Best wishes.

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Lip Man 1 Grand Master

Lip Man 1

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15 minutes ago, greg775 said:

So sad. He could cover so much ground. One time in Comiskey somebody hit a shot to right center. Chet started out so far away from the ball. He wasn't in the camera shot at all. Then suddenly he dives and gets it. I was at an event once that Chet was at and got to visit with him. I actually asked him about that play and he described it and remembered it. He modestly admitted he made some great catches in his career. Of course he hit the ball as anybody on the Hitmen in 77. I remember imitating not only hit batting stance but the way he pounded his mitt on his thigh waiting for high flies to come land in his mitt. Favorite player by far. Very sad story. Best wishes.

From my interview with Chet:

ML: One of the problems I guess you could call it for big leaguers is that they make everything look so easy but that had to be a tremendous change for you going from the infield to center field. Describe to me some of the drills and work that you had to do to be able to pull this off.

CL: "It was a challenge and it took a lot of work but I wanted it. I used to say there are no bad hops in the sky. I’d say to myself that no matter where the ball was hit I was going to beat the ball to the spot. I became a student of the game, that’s where a lot of the work was done. After a few years I knew all the pitchers and how they were going to throw to hitters. I knew the signs, I knew where the ball was going to go if a right handed pull hitter was up and one of our pitchers threw him a breaking ball for example."

"It got to the point where for me; it was a lot of fun to rob guys of hits. Bobby Bonds said to me one time that I was one of the best young outfielders he had ever seen. This was a guy who played with Willie Mays, and for him to say that to me...boy that was special. Cal Ripken Senior also told me that I was one of the toughest outfielders to go from first to third on. That was because I was always very aggressive charging balls."

ML: With the thousands of games that you played Chet I don’t know if you’ll remember this one play, but if so, I’d like to know what you can tell me. It was on July 3, 1977. The Twins were in town and the Sox beat them the first three games to take over first place.

I was in the stands that day and in the second game of that double header one of the Twins hit a drive into the gap in left center with a man on base. You sprinted backwards and to your right and at the last second stretched out your left arm making a shoe top backhanded catch before crashing face first into the wall. Do you remember that play?

CL: "Oh yea! One time I was invited to appear on that kids TV show they used to have “The Baseball Bunch,” hosted by Johnny Bench. What they do before you come on is show a minute or so of highlights from what you’ve done and that play was on there. I remember it! Anytime you start hitting the warning track you know you’re only a step or two away from the wall. "

"That was one of the things about playing center field in Comiskey Park when I was there. They had such a big center field and you had a lot of room to roam. (Author’s Note: In most of the years Lemon was with the Sox there was no center field fence. The barrier was the base of the original grandstand where the scoreboard was located... 445 feet away!) It was terrifying. You could never take a pitch off. You always had to be on your P’s and Q’s. I was always fearful that if I made a mistake or didn’t get to a ball, you could play it into a double or triple or if it went over your head in center, an inside the park home run."

"I remember another catch that I made and boy I wish I had the video of it. We were at home and a guy hit a ball over George Orta’s head at second, so it was in right center field. I went after it and said ‘I got it.’ Richie (Zisk) started over and said ‘you take it.’ The problem was the ball was curving away from me! I kept running and running and running and the ball kept curving. Richie had already backed off so it was up to me. Finally as I get to the right field foul line I dive and make the catch. I get up and start brushing all this chalk off me, meanwhile Richie is laughing and the fans are giving me a standing ovation."

Edited by Lip Man 1
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caulfield12 Grand Master

caulfield12

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1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

From my interview with Chet:

ML: One of the problems I guess you could call it for big leaguers is that they make everything look so easy but that had to be a tremendous change for you going from the infield to center field. Describe to me some of the drills and work that you had to do to be able to pull this off.

CL: "It was a challenge and it took a lot of work but I wanted it. I used to say there are no bad hops in the sky. I’d say to myself that no matter where the ball was hit I was going to beat the ball to the spot. I became a student of the game, that’s where a lot of the work was done. After a few years I knew all the pitchers and how they were going to throw to hitters. I knew the signs, I knew where the ball was going to go if a right handed pull hitter was up and one of our pitchers threw him a breaking ball for example."

"It got to the point where for me; it was a lot of fun to rob guys of hits. Bobby Bonds said to me one time that I was one of the best young outfielders he had ever seen. This was a guy who played with Willie Mays, and for him to say that to me...boy that was special. Cal Ripken Senior also told me that I was one of the toughest outfielders to go from first to third on. That was because I was always very aggressive charging balls."

ML: With the thousands of games that you played Chet I don’t know if you’ll remember this one play, but if so, I’d like to know what you can tell me. It was on July 3, 1977. The Twins were in town and the Sox beat them the first three games to take over first place.

I was in the stands that day and in the second game of that double header one of the Twins hit a drive into the gap in left center with a man on base. You sprinted backwards and to your right and at the last second stretched out your left arm making a shoe top backhanded catch before crashing face first into the wall. Do you remember that play?

CL: "Oh yea! One time I was invited to appear on that kids TV show they used to have “The Baseball Bunch,” hosted by Johnny Bench. What they do before you come on is show a minute or so of highlights from what you’ve done and that play was on there. I remember it! Anytime you start hitting the warning track you know you’re only a step or two away from the wall. "

"That was one of the things about playing center field in Comiskey Park when I was there. They had such a big center field and you had a lot of room to roam. (Author’s Note: In most of the years Lemon was with the Sox there was no center field fence. The barrier was the base of the original grandstand where the scoreboard was located... 445 feet away!) It was terrifying. You could never take a pitch off. You always had to be on your P’s and Q’s. I was always fearful that if I made a mistake or didn’t get to a ball, you could play it into a double or triple or if it went over your head in center, an inside the park home run."

"I remember another catch that I made and boy I wish I had the video of it. We were at home and a guy hit a ball over George Orta’s head at second, so it was in right center field. I went after it and said ‘I got it.’ Richie (Zisk) started over and said ‘you take it.’ The problem was the ball was curving away from me! I kept running and running and running and the ball kept curving. Richie had already backed off so it was up to me. Finally as I get to the right field foul line I dive and make the catch. I get up and start brushing all this chalk off me, meanwhile Richie is laughing and the fans are giving me a standing ovation."

Jorge Orta as well

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WhiteSox2023 Grand Master

WhiteSox2023

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5 minutes ago, pcq said:

Chet was more valuable than Steve Kemp who he was traded for. 

5 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

Kemp stayed one year and signed IIRC with the Yankees.

Since this era of baseball was before my time, may I ask why in the holy fuckballs the Sox traded a 26-year old, .874 OPS, two time All-Star (at that point) center fielder for anyone, much less Steve Kemp?

Edited by WhiteSox2023
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The Mighty Mite Grand Master

The Mighty Mite

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14 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Since this era of baseball was before my time, may I ask why in the holy fuckballs the Sox traded a 26-year old, .874 OPS, two time All-Star (at that point) center fielder for anyone, much less Steve Kemp?

I think the Sox were looking for more power, Chet never hit 20 homers in a season with the Sox and Kemp was coming off 2 big seasons with the Tigers. There also was a problem with Chet having a verbal agreement with the Sox making him the highest paid Sox player but then the Sox signed Carlton Fisk to big bucks and then Chet wanted more but the Sox balked and then Lemon traded after the 1981 season.

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WhiteSox2023 Grand Master

WhiteSox2023

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15 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

I think the Sox were looking for more power, Chet never hit 20 homers in a season with the Sox and Kemp was coming off 2 big seasons with the Tigers.

Awful.  He hit 17 with the Sox and later hit 17+ in 6 seasons with the Tigers, with his single season high being 24 homers.  Meanwhile, Steve Kemp topped off at 26 homers in one season and played left field?  😩

Analytics definitely weren’t a big thing back then because they would have said that along with his gold glove defense in CF (how did he never win one?), he was likely among the most valuable players in baseball, and he was still young at only 26.  So brutal…

He was basically a way better Mike Cameron.

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