Baseball Hall of Fame Once Again Overlooks Vern Stephens

Vern Stephens must be rolling over in his grave. The former Browns and Red Sox shortstop once again got little support for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame while a player with far inferior numbers was voted in. When a player the caliber of Vern Stephens is snubbed time and again by the Veteran's Committee then there needs to be at least an explanation as to why.

Stephens was an exceptional power hitter for a shortstop, leading the 1944 St. Louis Browns to their only pennant before being sent to the Red Sox where he had a trio of absolutely monster seasons from 1948 through 1950. Vern knocked in 137, 159 and 144 runs in those three years to add to five other campaigns with at least 83 runs batted in. He hit at least 20 home runs six times and finished his injury-shortened career with 247 home runs and well over 1,100 RBI.

Consider that the VC voted in only one player, a contemporary of Stephens in Joe Gordon. Gordon was a second baseman for the Yankees and Indians who played eleven seasons. Gordon was a slick fielder who hit 6 more homers than Stephens but never had the sort of run producing years that Vern had, with his top RBI year being the 124 in 1948. He won the American League MVP in 1942 when the sportswriters decided to punish Ted Williams of the Red Sox for not joining the war effort right away. Williams won the Triple Crown that season for Boston but because he declared himself his mother's sole provider and was able to stay clear of World War II before enlisting the next season the voters "taught him a lesson" and chose Gordon instead.

Stephens has more RBI to his credit than a total of fifteen shortstops in Cooperstown. Players like Phil Rizzuto and Pee Wee Reese have only 274 more RBI combined than Vern Stephens had. Stephens though isn't the only player to get the shaft from the Veteran's Committee. The Cubs' Ron Santo also was left out once more, despite being the best third baseman in the National league for a decade and smashing over 350 homers.

While Santo garners much attention for his Hall of Fame snub Stephens is barely mentioned and that is a shame. He had incredibly similar numbers to Bobby Doerr, a Red Sox teammate for three seasons who went into the Hall of Fame in 1986 yet his exclusion is a foregone conclusion each time the Veteran's Committee gets together in December. Each year that passes brings baseball closer and closer to forgetting for good one of its first truly splendid slugging shortstops.