Hello, all,

Jim Lemon was a tremendous power hitter, and that was necessary in old
Griffith Stadium. He was about 6-5 or 6-7, and when Lemon got all of a
pitch, it was gone. Sometimes he missed, but what Nat didn't in the late
'50's?

(I admit, I changed my batting stance to imitate Lemon, and for about three
years I never struck out.)

In the late '80's, my Dad, my son, and I met Lemon at a Myrtle Beach Blue
Jays game. I saw him chit-chatting with the Blue Jays manager, a regular on
the Pirates late-70's World Series teams. I turned to my Dad, and said,
"Say, is that Jim Lemon?". A guy behind us said, "Why, yes it is. He had a
store in my neighborhood". "And he had a store in my neighborhood, too,"
said my Dad. So not only did we spot Lemon, but found a former neighbor.
Lemon, for the record, used to own a supermarket about mid-way between the
West Hyattsville shopping center and Magruder Park. You could see the former
AL All-Star in there bagging groceries. Later, I think, he owned a
restaurant in Berwyn.

Lemon instantly spotted my early-'60's replica Senators hat and shook my
hand. He had the largest hands of any person I've ever met; I'm a normal
5'11, 180 pounds, but it was like my hand was engulfed in his. I could still
feel the power in his hands, even though he must have been about 60.

He said, "Yes, we'll get a team again. I'm sure of it."

And he was right, and I'm glad that he lived long enough to see it, but sad
that he's gone.

Nats forever,

John Welch


>From: "B.R. Wells" <heroscardsandcomics@...>
>Reply-To: thewashingtonsenators@yahoogroups.com
>To: thewashingtonsenators@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [The Washington Senators] IM MEMORY: James Robert Lemon, March 23,
>1928 - May 14, 2006
>Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 15:51:25 -0000
>
>MINNEAPOLIS -- Jim Lemon, a former All-Star outfielder and major
>league manager who once received personal congratulations from
>President Eisenhower after a slugging show, has died. He was 78.
>
>Lemon died Sunday at his home in Brandon, Miss. He had been ill with
>cancer.
>
>Lemon spent 26 seasons with the Washington Senators and Minnesota
>Twins as a player, manager, coach, scout and instructor. He also
>played for Cleveland, Philadelphia and the Chicago White Sox.
>
>"I saw him actually last year because we had our 40th reunion of
>our '65 World Series team," former teammate Jim Kaat said Monday
>night. "Lem was a fixture in that organization for years. I just
>knew him as a good, power-hitting outfielder when I came up, and
>just a pleasant guy."
>
>An All-Star in 1960, Lemon batted .262 with 121 doubles, 35 triples,
>164 home runs and 529 RBIss in 1,010 career games. He hit 33 home
>runs with 100 RBIss for the Senators in 1959 and had 38 homers and
>100 RBIss in 1960.
>
>Lemon hit four home runs in the 1955 Southern Association All-Star
>game. The performance that really got him noticed, however, came the
>next year.
>
>On Aug. 31, 1956, Lemon hit three straight home runs off Whitey Ford
>in a game the Senators lost to the New York Yankees. Eisenhower was
>in attendance that night at Griffith Stadium, and summoned Lemon to
>his box to shake his hand.
>
>Originally signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 1948, Lemon was
>bought by the Senators in 1954 and continued playing with the Twins
>after the franchise moved west in 1961. He was a regular in the
>lineup for six years.
>
>Lemon, who batted cleanup and played left field on opening day in
>1961 for Minnesota, retired in 1963. He continued to work in the
>game for the next 20 years, including serving as hitting coach on
>the 1965 Twins team that went to the World Series.
>
>"I think he had some strong ideas on hitting and later became a
>hitting coach," said Kaat, a pitcher who had 16 career home
>runs. "He actually helped me a little bit with my hitting because he
>used to say, 'Spread out, take a short stride and swing the bat like
>a hammer, not like a broom."
>
>Lemon took over for Gil Hodges and managed the Senators in 1968.
>They went 65-96, the worst record in the majors, and Ted Williams
>became Washington's manager in 1969.
>
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