Remembering the Tigers’ Hard-Swinging Outfielder Steve Kemp

Today the Detroit Tigers have a litany of left-handed hitting outfielders with Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Akil Badoo, and Parker Meadows, all of whom have shown great promise and flashes of brilliance.

Which brings to mind Steve Kemp, another lefthanded slugging outfielder who was first introduced to Tiger fans 46 season ago.

Following his junior season at the University of Southern California, where he still holds the school records for career batting average (.397) and single season batting average (.435) the 1975 All-American and two-time NCAA champion was chosen by Detroit as the first overall selection of the 1976 MLB January pre-draft.

Kemp played only one season in the minor leagues, when in 1976 he first batted .289 in 73 games with Double A Montgomery before being promoted to Triple A Evansville where in 52 games Kemp batted .386 with 11 homers and 38 homers.

The writing was on the wall that the days were numbered for slugging leftfielder and designated hitter Willie Horton, a fan favorite for 14 seasons in the Motor City.

Kemp credits Tiger Manager Ralph Houk for believing in him and taking the pressure off when he started his major league career with Detroit in 1977.

“Ralph told me that he was starting Willie Horton in left field on opening day, that he didn’t want me to play with the pressure of that game and that I was going to be the left fielder that season,” Kemp told the Detroit Free Press in 2020.

On April 12th, just five days after the opener Horton was traded to Texas for pitcher Steve Foucault.

Although Kemp said he went something “like 2 for 30” when he started out, the 22-year old finished that first season with a .257 average, 18 homers, and 88 RBI while patrolling left field for the Tigers alongside centerfielder Ron LeFlore and right fielder Rusty Staub.

Kemp was quickly appreciated by Tiger fans for the way he hustled and for earning the reputation as an old school, hardnosed player.

“Les Got Screwed”

In June of 1979, the same year that Kemp was selected to the All-Star squad, he was disappointed when the Tigers announced the firing of manager Les Moss, (whom Kemp played for in Montgomery) and that he was replaced by Sparky Anderson.

“Let’s face it, Les got screwed,” said Kemp. “We were finally playing above .500 when he was fired. We all loved Les. He was a great manager and many of us had played for him in the minors. He worked us hard but you really wanted to bust your ass for him. I didn’t understand it at the time but then later you realized that the Tigers had the chance to get Sparky, a high profile, world champion manager who was great with the media.”

1979 was the best season in Kemp’s 11-year major league career. He batted .318, with 26 homers and 105 RBI.  

Salary Dispute Hastens Exit from Detroit

As Kemp’s star continued to rise, he soon butted heads with the Tigers’ tight-fisted general manager Jim Campbell who the left fielder beat in two salary arbitrations, the second of which made him the highest paid player in franchise history at $600,000 a year.

One year short of free agency, on November 27, 1981, Kemp was traded to the White Sox for center fielder Chet Lemon, who went on to help win the World Series for Detroit three years later.

“I found out about my trade to Chicago from Joe LaPointe of the Free Press,” said Kemp. Neither Campbell nor Sparky Anderson ever called me, and to this day I feel frustrated and hurt by that. Campbell told the press that I had lost bat speed, but Charley Lau, my hitting coach in Chicago, sure didn’t think so. I hit everything from right center field to left center field. He didn’t touch my swing and said I was doing what he tried to coach hitters to do. Hit the ball inside out, drive the ball the other way and turn on it every once and awhile.”

In his five seasons with the Tigers from 1977 through 1981, Kemp batted .284 with 89 homers and 422 RBI.

Although he hit .286 with 19 homers in ’82 in Chicago, Kemp would never be the same player due to two major injuries.

Free Agent Contract with Yankees

After signing a five-year, $5.5 million contract with the Yankees he was inserted as the clean-up hitter between Dave Winfield and Don Baylor. Off to a quick start batting .333 with two homers and a triple, in the fourth game of the 1983 season he suffered a torn right shoulder muscle and bone chip in his chest after an outfield collision.

Playing through the injury that year, his career took another turn for the worse when on August 25th he was hit in the eye with a vicious line drive while walking to the outfield during practice. Kemp broke his orbital bone, cheekbone, and teeth. With diminished vision in his left eye, and the permanent loss of depth perception, “Kemper” never would be the same spray hitter.

Following the 1984 campaign he was traded to the Pirates where he played parts of two seasons and was released in May of 1986. He played in the minors for San Diego and Texas and made his last major league appearance on May 24, 1988, with the Rangers at age 33. In 1989 he played for the St. Petersburg Pelicans, the only team to be champion of the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association. Now 69 and living in California, Kemp has often participated in Tigers Fantasy Camps in Florida. He still considers himself a Tiger in his heart.