MLB / Players

Chet Lemon

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right

Listed at6 ft 0 in · 190 lb

BornFebruary 12, 1955 · Jackson, MS, USA

MLB debutSeptember 9, 1975

Final gameOctober 3, 1990

Seasons16 (1975–1990)

Chicago White Sox 1975–1981; Detroit Tigers 1982–1990

Percentile snapshot

1988 season — qualified batters

144

27.9

582

33.3

512

34.9

38.8

135

32.6

61.2

51.9

62.8

RBI

45.7

66.7

60.5

3.9

80.6

.264

40.3

OBP

.346

63.6

SLG

.436

66.7

OPS

.782

67.4

wRC+

121.9

66.7

OPS+

121.5

68.2

wOBA

.352

65.9

sWAR

2.8

57.4

of 130 qualified 1988 batters (min 502 PA)

Career, era-adjusted

wRC+

122.8

83.1

OPS+

120.9

80.4

sWAR

48.4

98.7

wRC+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; OPS+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1975	9	38	35	2	9	2	0	0	1	2	6	1	0	.257	.297	.314	.612	71.3	72.0	.289	0.0
1976	132	497	451	46	111	15	5	4	38	28	65	13	7	.246	.298	.328	.626	82.9	83.0	.298	1.0
1977	150	627	553	99	151	38	4	19	67	52	88	8	7	.273	.343	.459	.803	118.1	116.9	.358	3.8
1978	105	416	357	51	107	24	6	13	55	39	46	5	9	.300	.377	.510	.887	149.7	147.1	.398	3.9
1979	148	632	556	79	177	44	2	17	86	56	68	7	11	.318	.391	.496	.887	139.5	138.2	.395	5.5
1980	147	604	514	76	150	32	6	11	51	71	56	6	6	.292	.388	.442	.830	132.2	128.2	.379	4.6
1981	94	383	328	50	99	23	6	9	50	33	48	5	8	.302	.384	.491	.874	158.3	154.0	.400	4.2
1982	125	512	436	75	116	20	1	19	52	56	69	1	4	.266	.368	.447	.815	129.0	124.8	.369	3.1
1983	145	573	491	78	125	21	5	24	69	54	70	0	7	.255	.350	.464	.814	128.5	126.2	.365	4.2
1984	141	573	509	77	146	34	6	20	76	51	83	5	5	.287	.357	.495	.852	134.5	135.9	.374	4.5
1985	145	575	517	69	137	28	4	18	68	45	93	0	2	.265	.334	.439	.773	112.6	112.1	.343	3.1
1986	126	457	403	45	101	21	3	12	53	39	53	2	1	.251	.326	.407	.733	99.7	100.0	.327	1.8
1987	146	553	470	75	130	30	3	20	75	70	82	0	0	.277	.376	.481	.857	132.3	130.6	.377	4.3
1988	144	582	512	67	135	29	4	17	64	59	65	1	2	.264	.346	.436	.782	121.9	121.5	.352	2.8
1989	127	472	414	45	98	19	2	7	47	46	71	1	5	.237	.323	.343	.666	92.4	90.0	.313	0.5
1990	104	378	322	39	83	16	4	5	32	48	61	3	2	.258	.359	.379	.738	110.0	105.8	.344	1.2

Career totals

1,988

266th-most career G

7,872

313th-most career PA

6,868

334th-most career AB

973

390th-most career R

1,875

366th-most career H

396

207th-most career 2B

215

337th-most career HR

RBI

884

420th-most career RBI

749

323rd-most career BB

1,024

372nd-most career SO

.2730

OBP

.3548

SLG

.4423

OPS

.7971

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	TB
1984-05-01	BOS @ DET Gameday	5	2	3	0	0	2	4	0	9
1987-08-26	DET @ MIN Gameday	5	3	3	0	0	2	4	0	9
1985-09-01	ATH @ DET Gameday	3	3	3	0	0	2	3	1	9
1988-06-17	TOR @ DET Gameday	4	3	3	1	1	1	3	1	9
1988-09-06	TOR @ DET Gameday	3	2	3	0	0	2	2	1	9

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.

Honors

3× All-Star

Major awards only — the awards table also records Player of the Week, and forty of those would bury seven MVPs. Hover for the years.