Mark Lemke

Mark Lemke
Second baseman
Born: August 13, 1965 (1965-08-13) (age 46) Utica, New York
Batted: Switch	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 17, 1988 for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
May 25, 1998 for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics
Batting average	.246
Home runs	32
Runs batted in	270
Teams
Atlanta Braves (1988–1997) Boston Red Sox (1998)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1995)

Mark Alan Lemke (born August 13, 1965 in Utica, New York) is a former Major League Baseball player. Nicknamed "The Lemmer", he was a popular second baseman for the Atlanta Braves from 1988 to 1997.

Biography

Mark is a second cousin twice removed of 1936 Union Party Presidential candidate William Lemke.

Early life

Lemke grew up in Utica, NY. He attended the now closed Sacred Heart Elementary Catholic school in West Utica. Mark is also a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Utica, NY.

Career

In his 11-year career, Lemke played in 62 post season games and appeared in 4 World Series (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996).

Lemke is the all time record holder for most career plate appearances without being hit by a pitch (3664).

Minor league

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 before making his debut on September 17, 1988 when the Braves called him up from AAA Richmond Braves when the roster expanded to 40 players. Lemke would split time between the minor and major leagues until 1990.

Boston Red Sox

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 smashed in a collision with Chicago baserunner Chad Kreuter. He suffered a concussion that finished his season and essentially ended his major league career.

Post major leagues

With his big league career over, Lemke decided to chase a dream and signed with the New Jersey Jackals, an independent Northern League team, as a knuckleball pitcher in 1999. 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.^[1] 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 9 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 man, until 2008 with Pete Van Wieren and presently with Jim Powell and Don Sutton.

In popular culture

He is credited as the accidental namesake of the popular 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.^[2]

References

1. ^ Mark Lemke UticaOD.com. July 19, 2000.
2. ^ "UMFM Interview - 20 May 2003". Homestar Runner Wiki. 20 May 2003. http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/UMFM_Interview_-_20_May_2003. Retrieved 16 July 2009. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Lemke, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 13, 1965
Place of birth	Utica, New York
Date of death
Place of death