Books and articles about Steve Kemp

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A highly touted hitter while at the University of Southern California, Kemp was the first player chosen in the nation in the January 1976 draft. After only one season in the minors he was the Tigers' starting left fielder in 1977. He had a looping, lefthanded batting stroke and was neither fast nor graceful in the field, but he made the AL All-Star team in 1979 when he hit .318 with 26 HR'N-(((and 105 RBI. Kemp was traded to the White Sox for outfielder Chet Lemon after the 1981 season and spent only one season in Chicago before signing with the Yankees as a free agent. His batting average wilted to .241 under the pressure of high expectations in New York, and after the 1984 season he was traded with Tim Foli to the Pirates for Dale Berra and Jay Buhner. Battling vision problems, he hit only three home runs in 105 games with Pittsburgh in 1985-86 before retiring. (SCL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » November 27, 1981: The Tigers trade OF Steve Kemp to the White Sox for OF Chet Lemon. » December 9, 1982: In what will turn out to be a pair of unwise deals, the Yankees sign free-agent OF Steve Kemp to a 5-year contract, and trade OF Dave Collins, pitcher Mike Morgan, and minor leaguer Fred McGriff to the Blue Jays for P Dale Murray and minor leaguer Tom Dodd. » April 5, 1983: At Seattle, the Mariners open with a 5–4 win over the Yankees. Gaylord Perry makes his 9th Opening Day start, but the win goes to reliever Bryan Clark. Richie Zisk, a Yankee Opening Day nemesis, hits a two-run homer in Seattle's 4-run 3rd inning to chase Ron Guidry. New York chases Perry in the 6th with back-to back homers by Dave Winfield and Steve Kemp. Steve Henderson scores the winner in the 7th when he hits his 3rd single, steals second, takes 3rd on a grounder and scores on a sac fly. » September 8, 1983: Yankees OF Steve Kemp will miss the rest of the season with a fractured cheekbone after being struck in the face by an Omar Moreno line drive during batting practice in Milwaukee. Kemp hit just .242 with 12 home run and 49 RBI in the first year of his 5-year, $5.45 million contract. New York wins today, 6–5. » July 6, 1985: At Pittsburgh, a 2-out single by Marvell Wynne plates the winning run as the Pirates sink the Padres, 8–7. Steve Kemp homers for Pittsburgh, and would've added a single but is thrown out at 1B in the 7th by RF Tony Gwynn in a 9–3 putout. » February 4, 1990: The St. Petersburg Pelicans get home runs from Lamar Johnson and Steve Kemp and rout the West Palm Beach Tropics 12–4 to win the first-ever championship of the Senior Professional Baseball Association.