Vern Stephens

Vernon Decatur Stephens (1920–1968) played shortstop in Major League Baseball from 1941 through 1955, spending key years with the St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox. A right-handed hitter nicknamed "Little Slug," he finished his career with a .286 batting average, 247 home runs, and 1,174 RBI across 1,720 games. Stephens was an eight-time All-Star and three-time American League RBI champion. He led the Browns to their only American League pennant in 1944, pacing the league with 109 RBI that season, and won the AL home run title in 1945 with 24. He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006.