Career
A powerful, right-handed hitting and throwing outfielder, Lemon teamed with first baseman Roy Sievers (and later with slugger Harmon Killebrew and outfielder Bob Allison) to form the most formidable home run-hitting tandem in the 60-year history of the first Washington Senators franchise. A free-swinger who three times led the American League in striking out, Lemon and his teammates benefitted from new Washington owner Calvin Griffith"s decision to move the left field fences closer to home plate in the Senators" cavernous ballpark, Griffith Stadium. Lemon smashed 27 homers in 1956, also leading the league in triples, then followed with 26 (1958), 33 (1959) and 38 (1960).
However, the home run exploits of Lemon and his teammates were more than offset by poor pitching, and after multiple second-division finishes in the Alabama, Griffith moved the Senators to Minneapolis-Saint Paul after the 1960 campaign to become the Minnesota Twins.
But Lemon left his stroke behind in Washington, and after only 14 homers in Minnesota in 1961 and an injury-ruined 1962, his career wound down quickly. His last year as a player, 1963, was divided among the Twins, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox.
All told, he appeared in 1,010 games over all or parts of 12 major league seasons and batted.262 with 164 home runs. Lemon remained in the game as a coach for the Twins, serving two different terms (1965-1967.
1981-1984) in that role, including with the 1965 pennant-winning team
In between, in 1968, he returned to Washington as manager of the expansion Senators, but his popularity as a player did not translate to a successful managerial record. His club finished last in the ten-team American League, winning 65 games and losing 96 (404)—but it did feature a fearsome, right-handed power-hitter in Frank Howard. Lemon was fired after only one season.
Jim Lemon died from cancer at the age of 78 in Brandon, Mississippi.
