Instead, Lemon was a "late-bloomer" who required several trips to the minor leagues before finally winning a regular berth with the 1956 Senators at the age of 28.

[1][2] However, the home run exploits of Lemon and his teammates were more than offset by poor pitching, and after multiple second-division finishes in the AL, Griffith moved the Senators to Minneapolis–Saint Paul after the 1960 campaign to become the Minnesota Twins.

In between, in 1968, he returned to Washington as manager of the expansion Senators, but his popularity as a player did not translate to a successful managerial record.

His club finished last in the ten-team American League, winning 65 games and losing 96 (.404)—but it did feature a fearsome, right-handed power-hitter in Frank Howard.

As a native son, and to honor his batting achievements with the original Senators, he was elected to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.