Steve Kemp

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.