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A photo of Vern Stephens.
Vernon Decatur Stephens (October 23, 1920 – November 3, 1968) was an American shortstop in professional baseball who played 15 seasons in the American League for four different teams. A native of McAlister, New Mexico, Stephens batted and threw right-handed. He was also nicknamed "Junior" and "Buster".
Career[]
One of the strongest-hitting shortstops in major league history, Stephens compiled a .286 batting average with 247 home runs and 1174 RBI in 1720 games. Breaking with American Major League baseball, Stephens signed a five-year contract with the Mexican League in 1946. He had been in Mexico only a few days when his father, a minor league umpire, and the Browns scout Jack Fournier drove down and brought him back to the United States.
Vern Stephens died of a heart attack in Long Beach, California at 48 years of age.
In August 2008, he was named as one of the ten former players who began their careers before 1943 to be considered by the Veterans Committee for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.
Highlights[]
- 8-time All-Star (1943-44, 1945 [non-official game], 1946, 1948-51)
- Six times in the Top 10 in MVP voting (1942-45, 1948-49)
- Led the American League in home runs during 1945
- Three times led the American League in RBI (1944, 1949-50)
- Collected 440 RBI within three consecutive seasons (1948-50)
- Three times in the Top 10 in batting average (1942-43, 1946)
- Twice led the American League in games played (1948-49)
- Was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006
- Only man to play for 1944 American League Champion St. Louis Browns and the Baltimore Orioles, the team the Browns franchise became after it moved to Baltimore in 1954
See also[]
- Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- List of Boston Red Sox awards
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- Baseball Almanac
- Baseball Library
- The Deadball Era
| Preceded by: Rudy York |
American League RBI Champion 1944 |
Succeeded by: Nick Etten |
| Preceded by: Nick Etten |
American League Home Run Champion 1945 |
Succeeded by: Hank Greenberg |
| Preceded by: Joe DiMaggio |
American League RBI Champion 1949-1950 (1949 tied with Ted Williams 1950 tied with Walt Dropo) |
Succeeded by: Gus Zernial |