Vern Stephens

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Vern Stephens
Shortstop
Born: October 23, 1920(1920-10-23) McAlister, New Mexico
Died: November 3, 1968 (aged 48) Long Beach, California
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 13, 1941 for the St. Louis Browns
Final game
June 30, 1955 for the Chicago White Sox
Career statistics
Batting average	.286
Home runs	247
Runs batted in	1,174
Teams
St. Louis Browns (1941-1947) Boston Red Sox (1948-1952) Chicago White Sox (1953) St. Louis Browns (1953) Baltimore Orioles (1954-1955) Chicago White Sox (1955)
Career highlights and awards
8x All-Star selection (1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951)

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".

Contents 1 Career 2 Highlights 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] 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. 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 Browns scout Jack Fournier drove down and brought him back. Stephens died of a heart attack in Long Beach, California at 48 years of age.

[edit] Highlights

• 8-time All-Star (1943-44, 1945 [non-official game], 1946, 1948-51)
• 6 times Top 10 in MVP voting (1942-45, 1948-49)
• Led league in home runs (1945)
• 3 times led league in RBI (1944, 1949-50)
• Collected 440 RBI in three consecutive seasons (1948-50)
• 3 times Top 10 in batting average (1942-43, 1946)
• Twice led league in games played (1948-49)
• Inducted into Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame (2006)

[edit] See also

• 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
• Chicago White Sox all-time roster

[edit] 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 with Ted Williams 1950 with Walt Dropo)	Succeeded by Gus Zernial