Friday, June 23, 2023

#255 Bob Lemon - Cleveland Indians


Robert Granville Lemon
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher


Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  180
Born:  September 22, 1920, San Bernardino, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1938 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1941-1942; 1946-1958
As a Manager:  Kansas City Royals 1970-1972; Chicago White Sox 1977-1978; New York Yankees 1978-1979, 1981-1982
Hall of Fame Induction:  1976
Died:  January 11, 2000, Long Beach, CA (age 79)

The first 10 games Bob Lemon played with the Indians in 1941 and 1942 were as a pinch-hitter, pinch-runner or back-up third baseman.  He'd miss all of 1943, 1944 and 1945 while serving during World War II, and come back as a pitcher in 1946.  After a few mediocre seasons, Lemon emerged in 1948 as one of the premier pitchers in the game.  Lemon was 20-14 in 1948, leading the league with 20 complete games and 10 shutouts, including the no-hitter he threw on June 30, 1948.  He was 2-0 in the 1948 World Series, in which the Indians defeated the Braves in six games.  Lemon was an All-Star every season between 1948 and 1954, winning at least 20 games in seven seasons and helping the Indians reach the World Series in 1948 and 1954.  He was one of several future Hall of Famers in the Indians' pitching rotation during the 1950s along with Bob Feller (#200) and Early Wynn (#187).  Lemon led the league in wins three times, in complete games five times and in innings pitched four times.  The workhorse crossed the 200-innings pitched plateau in nine straight seasons between 1948 and 1956, hitting a career-high 309 2/3 innings pitched in 1952.

Lemon was 207-128 lifetime, with a 3.23 ERA and 1,277 strikeouts over 2,850 innings pitched.  After retiring as a player, Lemon began a long career as a big league coach and manager.  He was the pitching coach for the Indians (1960), Phillies (1961), Angels (1967-1968), Royals (1970) and Yankees (1976).  Lemon's managerial career saw him go 430-403 in eight seasons with three different teams, guiding the Yankees to a World Championship in 1978.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976, and the Indians retired his #21 in 1998.

Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #34
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Walt Dropo (#238) post, back in February.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and this Lemon card is the last of 16 from series three.   Lemon is one of eight Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers) from that Original 44 haul, along with Ed Mathews (#107), Yogi Berra (#110), Willie Mays (#130), Red Schoendienst (#165), Wynn, Larry Doby (#250) and Hoyt Wilhelm (#307).

The Card / Indians Team Set
Like a lot of the players featured in Series 3 of the set, and I'm keeping track of these, Lemon had appeared exclusively in Bowman sets in 1954 and 1955.  I'm assuming Lemon is standing in the infield of Cleveland's Municipal Stadium in the "action" photo, although I could be wrong.  The cartoon panels on the back highlight his league-leading 18 wins in 1955, and his six seasons of winning at least 20 games.  He'd have his final 20-win season in 1956.  The final cartoon panel mentions the start of his career as a "slugging infielder."  In 1942, while playing for the Double-A Baltimore Orioles, then a farm team of the Indians, Lemon batted .269 with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs.

1956 Season
Now 35 years old, Lemon was one of three 20-game winners for the Indians along with Wynn and Herb Score (#140).  Lemon went 20-14 with a 3.03 ERA over 255 1/3 innings pitched.  His 21 complete games tied him for the league lead with Billy Pierce (#160).  On September 11th, Lemon recorded his 200th career victory in a 3-1 win over the Orioles.  He hit a two-run home run in the second inning, the 36th of his career, which proved to be the margin of victory.  The Indians would finish in second place, nine games behind the pennant-winning Yankees.

Phillies Career
Lemon joined the Phillies coaching staff for their 1961 season, lasting only a year as the awful team's pitching coach.  He joined Gene Mauch's staff in Mauch's first full year at the helm, along with fellow coaches Peanuts Lowrey and Al Vincent.  

The Phillies were 47-107-1 in 1961, with Art Mahaffey by far the team's best pitcher with a 11-19 record and a 4.10 ERA.  Al Widmar would replace Lemon on the coaching staff for the 1962 season.

1949 Bowman #238
1951 Bowman #53
1952 Topps #268
1957 Topps #120
1979 Topps #626

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #238
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1952, 1956-1958, 1960, 1971-1972, 1977-1979
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Donruss #215

383 - Lemon non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 6/21/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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