What years did Vern Stephens play?

Vern Stephens played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1955.

Was Vern Stephens a pitcher?

No. Vern Stephens was a position player (Shortstop).

How many home runs did Vern Stephens hit?

Vern Stephens hit 247 career home runs with 1859 hits.

What was Vern Stephens's career batting average?

Vern Stephens batted .286 over his career, with 1,859 hits in 6,497 at bats.

How many RBI did Vern Stephens have?

Vern Stephens drove in 1,174 runs in his career.

Is Vern Stephens in the Hall of Fame?

No. Vern Stephens has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Vern Stephens

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1941-1955)

Vern Stephens was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1955 for 4 teams, including the St. Louis Browns, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,720 career games, he hit .286 with 1,859 hits, 247 home runs, and 1,174 RBI. Vern Stephens was a 8-time All-Star. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 19,363.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 12, 2026

AVG .286

HR 247

RBI 1,174

H 1,859

OPS .815

PIV 19,363

Position: Shortstop
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'10" / 185 lb
Born: 10/23/1920 in McAlister, NM, USA
Died: 11/4/1968 in Long Beach, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1941-09-13
Last Game: 1955-06-30
Awards: 8× All-Star

Full name: Vernon Decatur Stephens

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Career Batting Statistics

Vern Stephens — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,720	6,497	1,001	1,859	307	42	247	1,174	25	692	685	.286	.355	.460	.815	19,363

Career AVG .286 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +10.0% above league average.

Career OBP .355 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — +6.7% above league average.

Career SLG .460 vs. league average .373 across their career seasons — +23.3% above league average.

Career OPS .815 vs. league average .706 across their career seasons — +15.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Vern Stephens Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1941	SLA	AL	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1942	SLA	AL	145	575	84	169	26	6	14	92	1	41	53	.294	.253 (+16%)	.323 (+5%)	.349 (+24%)	.672 (+15%)	1471.0
1943	SLA	AL	137	512	75	148	27	3	22	91	3	54	73	.289	.255 (+13%)	.324 (+10%)	.346 (+39%)	.671 (+25%)	2318.4
1944	SLA	AL	145	559	91	164	32	1	20	109	2	62	54	.293	.261 (+12%)	.325 (+12%)	.357 (+29%)	.683 (+21%)	2288.6
1945	SLA	AL	149	571	90	165	27	3	24	89	2	55	70	.289	.260 (+11%)	.328 (+7%)	.354 (+33%)	.683 (+21%)	2199.4
1946	SLA	AL	115	450	67	138	19	4	14	64	0	35	49	.307	.256 (+19%)	.328 (+8%)	.358 (+28%)	.687 (+19%)	1460.8
1947	SLA	AL	150	562	74	157	18	4	15	83	8	70	61	.279	.262 (+6%)	.336 (+7%)	.376 (+8%)	.712 (+7%)	917.9
1948	BOS	AL	155	635	114	171	25	8	29	137	1	77	56	.269	.263 (+2%)	.340 (+3%)	.379 (+24%)	.719 (+14%)	1750.8
1949	BOS	AL	155	610	113	177	31	2	39	159	2	101	73	.290	.262 (+10%)	.343 (+14%)	.384 (+40%)	.727 (+28%)	3611.4
1950	BOS	AL	149	628	125	185	34	6	30	144	1	65	43	.295	.265 (+11%)	.346 (+4%)	.401 (+27%)	.747 (+17%)	2028.3
1951	BOS	AL	109	377	62	113	21	2	17	78	1	38	33	.300	.260 (+15%)	.336 (+8%)	.385 (+30%)	.721 (+20%)	1365.9
1952	BOS	AL	92	295	35	75	13	2	7	44	2	39	31	.254	.252 (+1%)	.326 (+5%)	.369 (+4%)	.696 (+4%)	275.6
1953	CHA	AL	44	129	14	24	6	0	1	14	2	13	18	.186	.264 (-30%)	.335 (-22%)	.397 (-36%)	.733 (-30%)	-619.4
1953	SLA	AL	46	165	16	53	8	0	4	17	0	18	24	.321	.264 (+22%)	.335 (+16%)	.397 (+11%)	.733 (+13%)	-619.4
1954	BAL	AL	101	365	31	104	17	1	8	46	0	17	36	.285	.261 (+9%)	.333 (-7%)	.390 (+3%)	.723 (-1%)	-197.8
1955	BAL	AL	3	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1955	CHA	AL	22	56	10	14	3	0	3	7	0	7	11	.250	.258 (-3%)	.332 (-1%)	.393 (+18%)	.726 (+9%)	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			1,720	6,497	1,001	1,859	307	42	247	1,174	25	692	685	.286	—	—	—	—	18,252

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Vern Stephens — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
6	22	2	5	1	0	0	0	3	3	.227

Playoff Batting by Year

Vern Stephens — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1944	WS	SLA	6	22	2	5	1	0	0	0	3	3	.227

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1719 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Vern Stephens — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	876	3259	568	995	137	637	.305
Away	843	3234	435	863	110	533	.267

Last 10 Games — Batting

Vern Stephens — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	BB	SO
1955-06-30	CHW	DET	L	1	0	0	0	0
1955-06-26	CHW	BOS	L	2	0	0	1	0
1955-06-25	CHW	BOS	W	3	0	0	0	0
1955-06-15	CHW	BAL	W	2	0	0	0	1
1955-06-15	CHW	BAL	L	1	0	0	0	0
1955-06-14	CHW	BAL	W	0	0	0	0	0
1955-06-05	CHW	NYY	L	4	0	0	0	1
1955-06-04	CHW	NYY	L	4	1	1	0	0
1955-06-01	CHW	BOS	W	3	0	0	1	0
1955-05-30	CHW	CLE	W	4	1	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Vern Stephens — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
3B	322	111	327	674	32	68
OF	11	0	20	3	0	0
SS	1330	0	2385	4150	269	853

Season-by-Season Fielding

Vern Stephens — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1941	SLA	SS	1	0	0	1	1	0
1942	SLA	SS	144	0	290	415	42	82
1943	SLA	OF	11	0	20	3	0	0
1943	SLA	SS	123	0	220	339	34	51
1944	SLA	SS	143	0	239	480	35	71
1945	SLA	3B	4	0	2	11	2	2
1945	SLA	SS	144	0	256	439	28	69
1946	SLA	SS	112	0	224	343	30	71
1947	SLA	SS	149	0	283	494	24	113
1948	BOS	SS	155	0	269	540	24	113
1949	BOS	SS	155	0	257	508	27	128
1950	BOS	SS	146	0	258	431	13	115
1951	BOS	3B	89	0	105	207	7	19
1951	BOS	SS	2	0	0	2	0	0
1952	BOS	3B	29	0	21	73	5	8
1952	BOS	SS	53	0	89	154	11	40
1953	CHA	3B	38	0	30	67	1	7
1953	CHA	SS	3	0	0	4	0	0
1953	SLA	3B	46	0	54	91	7	9
1954	BAL	3B	96	95	102	186	10	19
1955	BAL	3B	2	2	0	2	0	0
1955	CHA	3B	18	14	13	37	0	4

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Vern Stephens Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Third Base	322
Shortstop	1329
Left Field	9
Right Field	3

Awards & Honors

Vern Stephens — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1949	Baseball Magazine All-Star	SS
1945	Baseball Magazine All-Star	SS
1944	Baseball Magazine All-Star	SS
1942	Baseball Magazine All-Star	SS

College History

Vern Stephens — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Long Beach City College	Long Beach	CA	1938

Award Voting History

Vern Stephens — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1950	Most Valuable Player	AL	24th	6.0	336	0
1949	Most Valuable Player	AL	7th	100.0	336	1
1948	Most Valuable Player	AL	4th	121.0	336	0
1947	Most Valuable Player	AL	31th	1.0	336	0
1946	Most Valuable Player	AL	19th	6.0	336	0
1945	Most Valuable Player	AL	6th	94.0	336	0
1944	Most Valuable Player	AL	3rd	193.0	336	4
1943	Most Valuable Player	AL	9th	49.0	336	0
1942	Most Valuable Player	AL	4th	140.0	336	1

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Vern Stephens (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Vern Stephens

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Vern Stephens: the record in brief

Vern Stephens played a first major league game on September 13, 1941 and a last one on June 30, 1955. The team column moves through the St. Louis Browns (1941 to 1953), the Boston Red Sox (1948 through 1952), the Chicago White Sox (1953 through 1955), and the Baltimore Orioles (1954 to 1955). Listed as a shortstop, Stephens both batted and threw right-handed. The recorded size is 185 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame. Stephens was born on October 23, 1920, in McAlister, NM, USA. Stephens's death is recorded on November 4, 1968, in Long Beach, CA, USA. The given name on file is Vernon Decatur Stephens.

Stephens collected 1,859 hits in 6,497 at bats across 1,720 games, good for a .286 batting average, plus 247 home runs, 1,174 RBI, and 25 stolen bases. Stephens's career OPS of .815 combines a .355 on-base mark with .460 slugging. Set against a .260 league average for the same years, Stephens's .286 average sits 10.0% above it.

Frequently Asked Questions about Vern Stephens

What years did Vern Stephens play?: Vern Stephens played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1955.
Was Vern Stephens a pitcher?: No. Vern Stephens was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Vern Stephens hit?: Vern Stephens hit 247 career home runs with 1859 hits.
What was Vern Stephens's career batting average?: Vern Stephens batted .286 over his career, with 1,859 hits in 6,497 at bats.
How many RBI did Vern Stephens have?: Vern Stephens drove in 1,174 runs in his career.
Is Vern Stephens in the Hall of Fame?: No. Vern Stephens has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.