American baseball player (born 1965)
Baseball player
Mark Alan Lemke
(born August 13, 1965) is an American former
Major League Baseball
player and current broadcaster. Nicknamed "the Lemmer", he was a popular second baseman for the
Atlanta Braves
from
1988
to
1997
. He won the
1995 World Series
with the Braves over the
Cleveland Indians
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Lemke grew up in
Whitesboro, New York
. He attended the now closed Sacred Heart Elementary Catholic school in West Utica. Lemke is also a graduate of
Notre Dame High School
in Utica.
Minor league
[
edit
]
Lemke was drafted in the 27th round of the
1983
amateur draft by the
Atlanta Braves
. Lemke decided against attending
Purdue University
and spent the next four years in the Braves'
minor league
system, spending time with the
Gulf Coast League Braves
,
Anderson Braves
,
Sumter Braves
,
Durham Bulls
,
Greenville Braves
, and
Richmond Braves
.
He made his major league debut on September 17, 1988, when the Braves called him up from AAA when the roster expanded to 40 players. In 1988, Lemke won the
Hank Aaron Award
as the top offensive player in the Braves' minor league system.
[1]
Lemke split time between the minor and major leagues until
1990
.
Career
[
edit
]
In his 11-year career, Lemke played in 62 postseason games and appeared in four World Series (
1991
,
1992
,
1995
,
1996
). He won a World Series with the Braves in 1995, and he led all Braves players with a .417 batting average in the 1991 World Series. He also was the last out in the 1996 World Series, when the New York Yankees won their first World Series in 18 years, popping out to Yankee third baseman
Charlie Hayes
with the count full. Lemke is the all-time record holder for most career plate appearances without being hit by a pitch (3,664).
[2]
Boston Red Sox
[
edit
]
The sharp fielding Lemke left the
Braves
after the
1997
season. On March 26, 1998, he signed as a free agent with the
Boston Red Sox
. While trying to turn a double play in a game against the
Chicago White Sox
on May 19, 1998, Lemke was injured in a collision with baserunner
Chad Kreuter
. He suffered a concussion that finished his season and essentially ended his major league career.
Post major leagues
[
edit
]
With his big league career over, Lemke decided to chase a dream and, in 1999, signed as a
knuckleball
pitcher with the
New Jersey Jackals
an independent
Northern League
team. Lemke, who also worked as an infield coach during his stint with the Jackals, was 5-1 with a 6.68 earned run average in 1999.
[3]
He returned the next season with the Jackals, but was released on June 20, 2000, after being hammered in his first few appearances. In that stint though, he was wild with his knuckleball and threw an independent league record nine wild pitches in successive at bats.
Currently, Lemke hosts the Braves pregame show on the
Braves Radio Network
with co-hosts
Leo Mazzone
and
Buck Belue
on
WCNN-AM
in Atlanta. Lemke also fills in on radio during
spring training
and road games during the
regular season
as
color commentator
, until 2008 with
Pete Van Wieren
and presently with
Jim Powell
In popular culture
[
edit
]
He is credited as the accidental namesake of
Homestar Runner
cartoon, when a friend of creators
Mike and Matt Chapman
,
of Montreal
band member
James Huggins
, unfamiliar with baseball terminology incorrectly referred to Lemke as the "home star runner" for the Braves.
[4]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]