Lemon strides to field and takes a right turn LAKELAND - Chet " Lemon couldn't wait to ' get started with his new team, so manager Sparky Anderson didn't wait to get the veteran outfielder ; started in his new posi tion: right held. The manager's move on the opening .,. day of spring training Monday caused rJ, barely a ripple. He simply made official I, what nearly everyone had assumed: :: Kirk Gibson will be the Tigers' center ;"fielder, and newcomer Lemon, after five years in the Chicago White Sox center field, will take up residence in Tiger Stadium's sometimes-treacher-: ous right field. LEMON AND Gibson, along with outfielderfirst baseman Rick Leach, showed up in training camp Monday to begin early workouts on a volunteer basis. The only men required to be there this week are the pitchers and catchers: "I wasn't going to do it right away," said Anderson, about the outfield lineup. "But when Chet was finished in the batting cage, he asked me where I '.' wanted him to go to practice in the I outfield. I said, 'Well, why don't you go out there (to center field) with Gibby and just get to know him.' "He said, 'Now wait a minute, Skip-, per, I want to go practice where I'm : going to be playing, so where do you want me to go?' So I told him, 'Okay, go on out there (to right). You're a veteran. I know you can handle it.' " The manager has several reasons for ; putting Lemon in right and leaving Gibson in center, with another newcomer, Larry Herndon, in left. For one, Lemon has a stronger throwing arm, a valuable asset for a right fielder. Also, Gibson has enough raw speed to outrun the mistakes he'll make as he develops into a bona fide big league outfielder. : "Gibby can run like hell," Anderson f 7- I Bfi2SI Bragg said. "If he makes a mistake in center field, he can outrun it. If he makes them in left or right, there's not the room to outrun the mistake." ALSO, ANDERSON said, Gibson's hell-for-leather aggressiveness could pose a danger in either left or right. "I don't want to be picking him out of the seats someday." Right field was not what Lemon would have preferred, but the 27-year-old accepted the move with grace and even enthusiasm. "I'm looking forward to the challenge," said Lemon, who is well aware that playing right field in Tiger Stadium is one of the toughest defensive jobs in the major leagues. "I'm an aggressive player, and I like to throw. One thing about playing right field, I'll get a chance to make more throws (to the bases). A center fielder in Comiskey Park or Tiger Stadium doesn't really get that much chance to throw, because when he gets the ball he's a long way out there and everybody's yelling, 'Oh, no, no, throw it to the cutoff!' "It's still going to be an adjustment," he added, "not only in our ball park but in every park in the league ... But if we're going to get the notoriety we should have as an outfield, we have to play together as a team, and I want to get started working on that right away. "What makes the Oakland outfield so good is that they play as a team, but I'll tell anyone we've got every bit as much talent in our outfield as Oakland has. We've just got to play together as a team." .