Lemon played the first seven years of his career on the White Sox and was a back-to-back All-Star in 1978 and 1979. He played for the Tigers for the final nine years of his career and was an All-Star during that World Series title season in 1984.

Lemon was a three-time All-Star, and during the 1984 season, the outfielder earned his final All-Star nod in leading the Tigers to their first World Series title since 1968. That year, Lemon posted a .287 batting average with 20 home runs.