8801170797
DETROIT FREE PRESS
880417
Sunday, April 17, 1988
METRO FINAL
1F
MITCH ALBOM
SEE ALSO STATE EDITION 1F
Copyright (c) 1988, Detroit Free Press
162-GAME HIT STREAK: LEMON IS ON HIS WAY
He'll be hitting and hitting and he will never stop. It will be September
and Mr. Chet Lemon will have hit in every game.
"Are you worried about today?" a reporter from Sports Illustrated will ask
him, pushing to the front of the media mob. "What if today is the day your
streak finally ends?"
"Gosh, I don't know," Lemon will say, banging the dirt off his spikes.
"Yesterday you asked me that, and I got two hits. And the day before you
asked me that, and I got three hits."
He will be the unbelievable story of the year. Chet Lemon. Hot bat. Came
out hitting in the first game of the season and just refused to stop. He
will have passed Paul Molitor and Pete Rose and Joe DiMaggio. "Streak" will be
too weak a word. He will be going for the Clean Sweep. A hit in every game.
Hot, hot, hot.
"How has all this hitting changed your life?" a reporter from CNN, standing
on a ladder, will ask him. "What's different about baseball for you now?"
"Well, I seem to say hello to a lot more of the first basemen," Lemon will
say, adjusting his cap. "Other than that, nothing special."
Would this be too funny? Would this be too much? Chet Lemon, the
notoriously slow-starting batter? Chet Lemon, the guy who was known for his
fielding all these years? That Chet Lemon? A hit in every game? Would that be
too much?
"WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL GOING?" a reporter from
"60 Minutes," hanging out of a helicopter, will scream to him. "WHEN DID YOU
REALIZE YOU WERE ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF HISTORY?"
"Where? . . . " Lemon will say.
Keep the $100 bills coming
Would this be too funny? Chet Lemon. Still hitting in September. Well, why
not? Isn't this the time for such speculation? The beginning of the season?
The time when sluggers hit .600 and pitchers have 0.00 ERAs and some guys hit
in every game of the year?
Hasn't Lemon done that? Nine games played. A nine-game hitting streak. He
began the season in Boston with a triple, and followed with a single, and now
he has 12 hits, including two on Saturday (batting average .343), and he just
keeps going. He has to stop, sooner or later.
Then again, maybe he doesn't.
"What's been the most memorable moment so far?" a reporter from the Wall
Street Journal will ask, speaking through a megaphone.
"Well, let's see," Lemon will say, slipping the red doughnut weight around
his bat, "I liked the 100th game. The fans threw $100 bills. And the 119th.
That was when they tried to intentionally walk me four times -- but I sneaked
out in Lou Whitaker's uniform and hit a double. That was fun."
"Did Lou want credit for the hit?"
"No, just a few of the $100 bills."
A hit in every game. The most perfect of perfect seasons. Fans will come
to Tiger Stadium with bags of citrus fruit. All Cokes will be served with a
slice of lemon. All beers will be served with a slice of lemon. All hot dogs
will be served with . . . well, you know.
Lemon's famous frayed glove will become the baseball rage: Kids will leave
their new gloves in the driveway and beg their fathers to run over them with
the station wagon. All through the country, center fielders will be switching
to right field.
"Did you know this would happen?" reporters will ask Tigers manager Sparky
Anderson. "Is that why you switched Lemon to right field this season?
"Boys, boys," Sparky will chuckle, leaning back, smoking his pipe. "Of
course."
No time to relax at nine
A hit in every game. Why not? Someone ran the idea by Lemon after the
Tigers' 4-2 victory Saturday.
"One hundred and sixty-two in a row?" he said, laughing. "Well. I guess I
better bear down, huh?"
Bear down. Sure. Already he is among just a half-dozen guys still alive in
the chase. One by one they will fall. Lemon will go on. Hot, hot, hot.
Soon the video people will be here, capturing it all with a camera. Soon
the people from Life magazine will be here, chronicling the whole crazy ride.
"THE DRIVE FOR 162!" the story will read. Hot, hot, hot.
Wherever he goes, he will be trailed by cameras and microphones and
soothsayers and gypsies. Lemonade will become the team drink. Lemon Pledge
will become the team furniture polish.
"Chester, what is your favorite color?"
"Chester, what is your favorite drink?"
"CHESTER! CHESTER! CHESTER!"
"Excuse me, fellas," he will say, with his impish grin, "I have to hit
now."
It will be the most incredible achievement in baseball history, the streak
to end all streaks, the story to end all stories, a hit in every game. Chet
Lemon, Mr. Hot Bat. Hot, hot, hot.
Unless he doesn't get a hit today.
Which could happen. Hmmm.
Did you know Mike Henneman hasn't given up a run yet this season? . . .
Mitch Albom will sign copies of "The Live Albom" today from noon to 1:30 at
Community Newscenter, 1301 S. University, Ann Arbor, and from 2:30 to 4:30 at
Little Professor Book Center, 37115 Grand River, Farmington.
COLUMN;HUMOR;BASEBALL;CHET LEMON;HITTING STREAK;BATTER;
DTIGERS