Vern Stephens

Infobox MLB retired
name=Vern Stephens
position=Shortstop
birthdate=birth date|1920|10|23
city-state|McAlister|New Mexico
deathdate=death date and age|1968|11|3|1920|10|23
city-state|Long Beach|California
bats=Right
throws=Right
debutdate=September 13
debutyear=by|1941
debutteam=St. Louis Browns
finaldate=June 30
finalyear=by|1955
finalteam=Chicago White Sox
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.286
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=247
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=1,174
teams=
* St. Louis Browns (by|1941-by|1947)
* Boston Red Sox (by|1948-by|1952)
* Chicago White Sox (by|1953)
* St. Louis Browns (by|1953)
* Baltimore Orioles (by|1954-by|1955)
* Chicago White Sox (by|1955)
highlights=
* 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".

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 that began their careers before 1943 to be considered by the Veterans Committee for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame 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

ee 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
* Chicago White Sox all-time roster

External links

*baseball-reference|id=s/stephve01
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=stephve01 Baseball Almanac]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Stephens_Vern.stm Baseball Library]
* [http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Stephens.Vern.Obit.html The Deadball Era]