Editing Vern Stephens

{{short description|American baseball player (1920–1968)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Vern Stephens
|image=Vern Stephens.jpg
|position=[[Shortstop]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{birth date|1920|10|23}}
|birth_place=[[McAlister, New Mexico]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1968|11|4|1920|10|23}}
|death_place=[[Long Beach, California]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=September 13
|debutyear=1941
|debutteam=St. Louis Browns
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=June 30
|finalyear=1955
|finalteam=Chicago White Sox
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.286
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=247
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=1,174
|teams=
* [[Baltimore Orioles#St. Louis Browns|St. Louis Browns]] ({{mlby|1941}}–{{mlby|1947}})
* [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{mlby|1948}}–{{mlby|1952}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|1953}})
* [[Baltimore Orioles#St. Louis Browns|St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles]] ({{mlby|1953}}–{{mlby|1955}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|1955}})
|highlights=
* 8× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1943 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1943]]–[[1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1946]], [[1948 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1948]]–[[1951 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1951]])
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders|AL home run leader]] (1945)
* 3× [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|AL RBI leader]] (1944, 1949, 1950)
* [[Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame]]
}}
'''Vernon Decatur Stephens''' (October 23, 1920 – November 4, 1968) was an American professional [[baseball]] player. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] as a [[shortstop]] from {{By|1941}} through {{By|1955}}.<ref name="Vern Stephens statistics">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stephve01.shtml |title=Vern Stephens statistics |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=November 16, 2019}}</ref> An eight-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]], Stephens was notable for being the {{mlby|1945}} American League home run champion and was a three-time American League [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|RBI champion]].<ref name="The Baseball Biography Project: Vern Stephens">{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/3442ca21|title=The Baseball Biography Project: Vern Stephens|last=Armour|first=Mark|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|access-date=November 16, 2019}}</ref> He was the [[cleanup hitter]] for the only [[St. Louis Browns]] team to win an [[List of American League pennant winners|American League pennant]] in {{By|1944}}, and was a top [[power hitter]] for the [[Boston Red Sox]]. Nicknamed "Little Slug", "Junior", and "Buster", Stephens batted and threw right-handed. He was inducted into the [[Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/redsox/history/red-sox-hall-of-fame |title=Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame members |work=mlb.com |access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref>

==Baseball career==
[[File:Pitching in to stop the Axis short, shortstop Vernie Stephens 8b08245v (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Stephens working in a shipyard during [[World War II]].]]
Stephens was born in [[McAlister, New Mexico]] while his parents were en route from Oklahoma to California.<ref name="The Baseball Biography Project: Vern Stephens" /> He attended [[Long Beach Polytechnic High School]] in [[Long Beach, California]].<ref name="The Baseball Biography Project: Vern Stephens" />

One of the strongest-hitting shortstops in major league history, Stephens compiled a .286 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] with 247 [[home run]]s and 1,174 [[run batted in|RBI]] in 1,720 games. In 1944, Stephens led the American League with 109 runs batted in as he led the Browns to their first and only [[1944 World Series|World Series appearance]] in St. Louis. He also led the league with 24 home runs in 1945.

Amid a salary dispute with the Browns, Stephens signed a five-year contract with the [[Azules de Veracruz]] of the [[Mexican League]] in [[1946 Mexican League season|1946]]. He played in two games for Veracruz, with one single in eight at bats, before deciding to return to the United States; his father, a minor league umpire, and the Browns scout Jack Fournier drove down and brought him across the border. Stephens' departure infuriated Mexican League president (and Azules owner) [[Jorge Pasquel]], but it saved him from the five-year suspension that [[Commissioner of Baseball]] [[Happy Chandler]] levied on the other major leaguers who "jumped" to Mexico.

After the 1947 season, he was traded along with [[Jack Kramer (baseball)|Jack Kramer]] to the Boston Red Sox, but later, after a brief stint with the [[Chicago White Sox]], returned to the Browns in 1953, their last season in St. Louis. Stephens was the only member of the pennant-winning 1944 St. Louis Browns who played with the Baltimore Orioles when the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954.

Stephens played five years with the Boston Red Sox from 1948 to 1952. [[Ted Williams]] said that he was the most effective of those who followed him in the batting order. In 1949, he batted in 159 runs (tied with Williams for the league lead) and hit 39 home runs, second only to Williams's 43. No other player in the American League had more than 24. Second baseman [[Bobby Doerr]], who was lionized in David Halberstam's book ''Summer of '49'', hit 18 home runs. 

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 [[Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009|2009]]. He was not selected.

==Death==
Vern Stephens died on November&nbsp;4, 1968 of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] in [[Long Beach, California]] at 48 years of age.<ref>{{cite news |title=Vern Stephens Dead at Age 48 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-shreveport-journal-vern-stephens-no/158886838/ |access-date=November 11, 2024 |work=[[The Shreveport Journal]] |date=November 5, 1968 |page=9|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>

==Highlights==
* 8-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|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 (baseball)|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 the 1944 American League Champion [[St. Louis Browns]] and the [[Baltimore Orioles]], the team the Browns franchise became after it moved to Baltimore in 1954
* Holds the MLB record for RBI in a season by a shortstop, with 159 in 1949
* Became the first shortstop to hit 30 home runs in a season, with 39 in 1949
* Attended Polytechnic High School, Long Beach, California (also attended by [[Tony Gwynn]], [[Chase Utley]], [[Milton Bradley (baseball)|Milton Bradley]], etc.)

==See also==
* [[Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders]]
* [[List of Boston Red Sox awards]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats|mlb=122749|espn=18054|br=s/stephve01}}
*[http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=stephve01 Baseball Almanac]
*{{Find a Grave}}

{{AL home run champions}}
{{AL RBI champions}}
{{Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Vern}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:American League home run champions]]
[[Category:American League RBI champions]]
[[Category:Baltimore Orioles players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Long Beach, California]]
[[Category:Baseball players from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach)]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox players]]
[[Category:Johnstown Johnnies players]]
[[Category:Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball shortstops]]
[[Category:Mayfield Browns players]]
[[Category:People from Quay County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:San Antonio Missions players]]
[[Category:Springfield Browns players]]
[[Category:Toledo Mud Hens players]]
[[Category:Azules de Veracruz players]]