R.I.P. Chet Lemon. A true Tiger great.

[Motor City Sonics]

 

I leapt out of my seat screamed when this happened.     Always my #1 memory of Chet Lemon.

 

Edited Thursday at 05:21 PM by Motor City Sonics

[Motor City Sonics]

One of the last home games of 1991 was heavily-attended as Cecil Fielder was on Home Run 49 and nobody had seen 50 in years.  Ron Cameron asked me and my friends "Are you here just to see Cecil hit No. 50?" and I said "No, I'm here to see Chet hit No. 5".   And Chet did just that.   Loved him.  Always seem to play with a big smile on his face.   Didn't seem the least bit jaded.   I know his last years were a terrible struggle and I am glad he's not struggling anymore.   One of the most underrated Center Fielder's in MLB history, but not in these parts. 

Edited Thursday at 05:16 PM by Motor City Sonics

[Tiger337]

I talked about him in the game thread, but this makes me sad.  The 80s Tigers will always be my team and he was one my favorites.  

[Tigermojo]

Very sad news.

[RandyMarsh]

I was too young to really appreciate him but he always held a special place in my heart cause my late Father used to call me Little Chet as a child cause when I played little league my helmet/hat would always fall off when I ran and apparently that was something Chet was known for atleast in my Dad's eyes anyway. 

[Tiger337]

1 minute ago, RandyMarsh said:

I was too young to really appreciate him but he always held a special place in my heart cause my late Father used to call me Little Chet as a child cause when I played little league my helmet/hat would always fall off when I ran and apparently that was something Chet was known for atleast in my Dad's eyes anyway. 

Yes, he was known for that.  He was also known for diving head first into first base base and making occasional bonehead running plays. He was an excellent athlete though.  

[lordstanley]

37 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

 

I leapt out of my seat screamed when this happened.     Always my #1 memory of Chet Lemon.

 

Chet was always one of my favourites. That Game 3 is the only World Series game I have attended in person. The game was a blowout and a walk-fest and that was the one memorable moment. 

Edited Thursday at 05:45 PM by lordstanley

[Motor City Sonics]

18 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

Chet was always one of my favourites. That Game 3 is the only World Series game I have attended in person. The game was a blowout and a walk-fest and that was the one memorable moment. 

Marty Castillo's Home Run and diving double play come to mind too. 

[Arlington]

I always have an image of him trying to run down a  foul ball in Comisky from RF.  He didn't get to it, but I can still see him sprinting so hard covering so much ground.  RIP Chet. 

[papalawrence]

Wow, so sad to hear. Excellent baseball player. His children speak to what a great and humble father and man he was. RIP. 

[oblong]

One of my images of him is in his shorts with the White Sox.

They hated that trade.  Imagine how we'd feel if we didn't end up with Austin Jackson or Max Scherzer after trading Grandreson?

 

[papalawrence]

1 minute ago, oblong said:

One of my images of him is in his shorts with the White Sox.

They hated that trade.  Imagine how we'd feel if we didn't end up with Austin Jackson or Max Scherzer after trading Grandreson?

 

I didn't love the trade. I thought Kemp would be a perennial all-star. I was wrong, and I loved watching Chet all those years. Fwiw I also hated trading Leflore for Schatzeder. And who did they get for Jason Thompson? And even though it helped Detroit, Mickey Lolich should have been a Tiger for life

[oblong]

I was sad to see Kemp go but I was like 8 years old so.... whatever.  

 

[oblong]

[Motor City Sonics]

 

[papalawrence]

20 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

 

Gibbs might have botched that if it were hit his way

[buddha]

very underrated player in his day.

rip chet.

[holygoat]

I was old enough to love the Kemp-for-Lemon trade when it went down, because even though I really liked Kemp. I liked Lemon more despite him being a ChiSox. Chet will always be one of my all time favorite Tigers. RIP.

[CMU97]

Chet was always one of my favorite players, and we were spoiled watching him in Center for long. I met him once in spring training 1990, and he couldn't have been a nicer human being. I mean he went above and beyond for all the fans that day, took time to ask everyone he met and asked how they were doing, etc. Although he was clearly an established star in what turned out to be his last year, he made it feel like he was honored that you wanted an autograph and wanted to talk to him, not the other way around. That has always stayed with me, especially when I see someone in A ball snub a kid for an autograph. He was a class player, but also an exceptional human being. RIP Chet. 

[Tenacious D]

My HS friends and I would sit in the CF bleachers ($4) and just yell “Chester” until he acknowledged us, which he did on occasion.  Impossible not to like.

RIP, Chester

[IdahoBert]

I wish I could’ve been a part of all this. Having lived in the West 2,000 miles from Detroit for the last 51 years, it wasn’t until 21 years ago with the help of the Internet that I stumbled across MTS and was able to reacquaint myself with the team of my youth.

In the meantime this meant that by only reading box scores or seeing an occasional game on TV and never being within radio listening range I was essentially disconnected. But I enjoy hearing all of you relate your recollections from these times I missed and it makes me feel included.

Although I have to admit that waking up every morning for the last 51 years with a range of mountains outside my window and an endless sky above has not been a bad trade-off. Now I have where I live and the Tigers too.

[oblong]

9 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

My HS friends and I would sit in the CF bleachers ($4) and just yell “Chester” until he acknowledged us, which he did on occasion.  Impossible not to like.

RIP, Chester

We would do that with Larry Herndon.  We joined what was called the Pepsi/Tiger Fan Club.  Have no idea what it cost, couldn't have been much, and you got a few Tiger tickets in LF and a gift.   Larry would acknowledge us then we'd argue over who he was smiling to.

Did a lot of exploring at Tiger Stadium as a youth.  We found the clubhouse, then ran as fast as we could. 

[IdahoBert]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

We would do that with Larry Herndon.  We joined what was called the Pepsi/Tiger Fan Club.  Have no idea what it cost, couldn't have been much, and you got a few Tiger tickets in LF and a gift.   Larry would acknowledge us then we'd argue over who he was smiling to.

Did a lot of exploring at Tiger Stadium as a youth.  We found the clubhouse, then ran as fast as we could. 

Some of my greatest friends who grew up in or near Detroit related all these bleacher stories to me when we met as adults in our 30s in Tucson, Arizona, and I was so envious and to this day remain envious. They told me stories about going to a bar in Corktown and seeing Tram nurse a single beer for two hours after a game.

All these guys had a sort of “attitude“ which I guess is perhaps indigenous to the city. Maybe it was just contingent to them or to the time in place I don’t know. All of them also while we lived in Tucson, appeared in the movie filmed in Tucson called “the revenge of the nerds“ and there’s a scene where a reference is made to “alumni nerds“ and as the camera focuses in on my pals the theater crowd erupted in spontaneous laughter because they were an odd looking bunch. One of them died of a massive heart attack when he was only 50 — and fittingly — watching the baseball game. What a way to go.

[oblong]

I know Revenge of the Nerds very well.  Very well.

The bleachers in Tiger Stadium was sealed off from the rest of the stadium.  Underneath the bleachers in the lower deck was where they stored things so you couldn't go down there. In the rest of the stadium you had street level concourses/concessions as well as at the top of the lower deck.  If you sat in the upper deck you used those.  But if you tried to walk all the way aroudn the stadium they had chain link fences with an attendant near each side of the bleachers.  It was like being in prison.  It was the lower level concourses that had some hallways and doors that you could sneak through.  It was cold and damp everywhere and had a smell mixed of onions/peppers/beer, and probably piss.  

Coleman Young famously shut down the bleachers because people were getting rowdy.  We sat there for opening day in 1995, after the strike, and the season started later so it was nicer out.  Things got crazy as fans were kind of rebelling.  Women were flashing people. People ran on the field.  

 

[IdahoBert]

31 minutes ago, oblong said:

I know Revenge of the Nerds very well.  Very well.

Fast forward where they mention the alumni nerds and the three guys are my friend Kenny who owned a record store in Ann Arbor, John, who graduated from East High in 1965, and a guy I only knew as “the ace“ who was on Social Security disability for mental illness.