Vernon Decatur Stephens, Jr.

We're on a short family trip and won't be able to post our own photographs until Tuesday, when we return home. However, I wanted to share with you the story that Lucy's grandpa John Felt told us about his memories of Vernon Decatur Stephens, Jr., who is sometimes forgotten in baseball history, perhaps in part because of illustrious contemporaries such as Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Pee Wee Reese.

Stephens was a three-time RBI champion, a strong fielding shortstop, an eight-time all star, and a well-liked teammate on some of the era's most successful teams, including the Red Sox. And Mr. Stephens was born in New Mexico!

We will post our own photos of the seven Vern Stephens cards here at the house (Bowman, Topps, Red Man, and others), along with details about our amazing day at Coors Field soon. But for now, here's John's story about Vernon Decatur Stephens, Jr.

I was 12 years old when I first starting drinking coffee at the Bakery Café in Wakefield, Nebraska and reading the newspaper about the lineup for the St. Louis Browns. My father delivered milk and I helped him. Sometimes my feet would freeze because of the holes in the floorboard of the panel truck that took us on our rounds, and at 5:00 a.m. on a chilly morning a hot cup of coffee tasted good.

It was during the War, and most of the baseball players, like my brother, had been drafted. A few players didn’t go. There was a one-armed outfielder in 1945, Pete Gray. Some other players who weren’t very good played for the majors during the War. But Vernon Decatur Stephens Junior, who was a good player, had flat feet and couldn’t go.

Junior Stephens was a shortstop and a strong hitter. He played in a subway series when the St. Louis Browns, American League, played the St. Louis Cardinals, National League, for the pennant.

He was traded to the Boston Red Sox. My future wife was attending North Park College in Chicago in 1952 and I took the train to Chicago to visit her. I went to the stadium to see Junior Stephens, playing for the Red Sox against the White Sox…but he was not in the lineup that day.

When we married, we went to New York City for our honeymoon. I was in the Air Force by that time, during the Korean War. We went to Yankee Stadium to see Junior Stephens play for the White Sox against the Yankees. He’d been traded again.

Junior Stephens was not in the lineup that day.

I took my new wife, on our honeymoon, on a second day to Yankee Stadium. Junior Stephens was in the lineup!

The White Sox would challenge the Yankees every year in May. They would fade later, but in May they would shine.

During his turn at bat, Junior Stephens grounded out to second base. He played third base in that game, rather than shortstop, because he was at the end of his career and just wasn’t as fast as he used to be. He had no hits, but reached third base on an error.

The last time Junior Stephens was to come up to bat, the bases were loaded and it was top of the ninth. The only thing that could happen, happened. A grand slam! I still remember the ball soaring out of the park.

And there Junior Stephens was in the dugout, applauding his pinch hitter.

All the young men I grew up with knew the lineup for the 1944 St. Louis Browns. I have a photograph of Junior Stephens after he was traded to Boston, with Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Dom DiMaggio. His last trade was to the Baltimore Orioles.

Junior Stephens had a good life, but died when he was only 48.