Mark Lemke

Mark Alan Lemke

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 167 lb.
• High School Notre Dame High School (Utica)
• Debut September 17, 1988
• Final Game May 25, 1998
• Born August 13, 1965 in Utica, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mark Lemke played second base on Atlanta Braves teams in the 1990s that were consistently division winners. He was popular with Braves fans and was nicknamed "the Lemmer".

Born in Utica, NY, he was drafted out of high school by the Braves in the 27th round of the 1983 amateur draft.

He was in the minors from 1983 to 1989, usually hitting for a modest average. His best year was with the Single A Durham Bulls in the Carolina League in 1987, when he hit .292/~.367/.485.

He had two cups of coffee in the majors in 1988 and 1989, and then in 1990 and 1991 he played a bigger role on the team and gradually won the second base job away from Jeff Treadway. 1991 was the first of the dominant Braves teams. In 1992, he became the starter at second base.

His best year as a hitter was 1994, when he put up numbers of .294/.363/.363.

He appeared in four World Series, and hit .417 in the 1991 World Series. In the games he started, he typically batted seventh in the lineup.

His entire career was with the Braves, except for 31 games in 1998 when he closed out his career with the Boston Red Sox.

Incredibly, Lemke went his entire career without being hit by a pitch, holding the record for most career plate appearances without a HBP.

According to similarity scores, the most similar player is infielder Wayne Causey from the 1950s and 1960s.

After baseball, he worked as a radio sports show host.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the Atlanta Braves in 1995

Related Sites

• Mark Lemke at the SABR Bio Project