He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers.

After his major league days ended, he played a season in the Senior Professional Baseball Association.

In 1,168 games over eleven seasons, Kemp posted a .278 batting average (1128-for-4058) with 581 runs, 179 doubles, 25 triples, 130 home runs, 634 RBI, 39 stolen bases, 576 bases on balls, .367 on-base percentage and .431 slugging percentage.

Kemp played college ball at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, under hall of fame head coach Rod Dedeaux.

The Trojans won five consecutive College World Series titles in the early 1970s, and Kemp was part of the last two in 1973 in 1974; teammates included Fred Lynn, Roy Smalley, and Rich Dauer.