When was Chet Lemon diagnosed with polycythemia vera? Health struggles explored as baseball World Series champion dies at 70

Chet Lemon, a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the 1984 World Series Champion team, has passed away after battling blood cancer on May 8, 2025, at his home in Apopka, Florida. He was 70.

According to Chet Lemon's wife, Gigi Lemon, he was sleeping on his reclining sofa and was found unresponsive. Lemon played for the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers from 1975 to 1990. The Tigers took to X to confirm his death and wrote:

“The Detroit Tigers join all of baseball in mourning the passing of Chet Lemon. While he was a World Series Champion and All-Star on the field, perhaps his biggest impact came off of it. That includes creating the Chet Lemon Foundation and dedicating much of his post-playing career to youth baseball development. Our thoughts are with Chet’s family, friends and all those he coached, mentored and inspired.”

In 1990, Lemon was diagnosed with polycythemia vera, a blood disorder that results in an overabundance of red blood cells, per a report in the Baseball Hall. It was then he retired from the Tigers, after he suffered a series of clots and at least 13 strokes, which left him unable to walk or talk. Since then, he has made 300 visits to the hospital, according to a report in USA Today Sports.

Here are more details about his health struggles in the past.

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Exploring the health trials of Chet Lemon in the past decade

According to Huron Daily Tribune, Chet Lemon played 15 full major league seasons, six with the Chicago White Sox before joining the Tigers from 1982 to 1990.

He was diagnosed with polycythemia vera in 1990, but intended to play next year. In the spring of 1991, when he was training in Lakeland, he felt intense pain in his abdomen. He was released by the Tigers on the eve of the regular season and was taken to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida at Gainesville, per the Tampa Bay Times.

He was admitted to the hospital and was kept on blood thinners to prevent internal clotting. It left him bedridden for weeks. Eventually, he started his normal life and opened Chet Lemon’s School of Baseball in Lake Mary, Florida.

In 1999, he learned about his disease, which had caused an enlarged spleen that needed to be removed. In November 2001, he underwent spleen surgery. It weighed almost 15 times the amount of a normal spleen.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, it was a perilous surgery due to his faith as a Jehovah’s Witness, which prohibits blood transfusions. His chances of survival were very low as doctors told him he might not live through the day. He lost about 50 pounds from his 190-pound frame, and looked “like a skeleton.”

After the surgery, Lemon gradually recovered. He initially lacked physical strength and could only participate in baseball coaching in a limited capacity. Over time, he regained weight and some strength, but his health remained fragile. His blood samples were drawn weekly and sent to the Mayo Clinic for testing.

Despite these efforts, he suffered 13 strokes over the years due to polycythemia vera, which eventually left him unable to talk or walk.

Chet Lemon’s real name was Chester Earl Lemon, according to his profile on the Society for American Baseball Research. He was born on February 12, 1955, in Jackson, Mississippi. He was born to parents, Ralph and Gloria Lemon and was the oldest of all the siblings. On June 6, 1972, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the amateur draft with the 22nd overall pick.

Lemon had four children - Geneva, born in 1972, Chester Jr. in 1977, David in 1981, and Marcus in 1988, from his first wife Valerie Jones. They divorced in 1990. He then married Gigi Partee in the early ‘90s. They welcomed a daughter, Brianna, in 1998, per USA Today Sports.