Biographical

Portrait of Vern Stephens

Vern Stephens 3BRed Sox

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Career Summary
Years PA AVG OBP SLG TAv WARP
15 7240 .286 .355 .460 .085 10.3
Birth Date10-23-1920
Height5' 10"
Weight185 lbs
BatsR
ThrowsR

Standard

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB BB SO HBP SF SH RBI SB CS AVG OBP SLG TAv VORP FRAA WARP
1941 SLA 20 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1942 SLA 21 145 619 575 84 169 26 6 14 249 41 53 0 3 92 1 3 .294 .341 .433 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1943 SLA 22 137 571 512 75 148 27 3 22 247 54 73 0 5 91 3 2 .289 .357 .482 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1944 SLA 23 145 628 559 91 164 32 1 20 258 62 54 1 6 109 2 2 .293 .365 .462 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1945 SLA 24 149 632 571 90 165 27 3 24 270 55 70 1 5 89 2 1 .289 .352 .473 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1946 SLA 25 115 488 450 67 138 19 4 14 207 35 49 0 3 64 0 1 .307 .357 .460 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1947 SLA 26 150 634 562 74 157 18 4 15 228 70 61 0 2 83 8 4 .279 .359 .406 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1948 BOS 27 155 716 635 114 171 25 8 29 299 77 56 2 2 137 1 0 .269 .350 .471 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1949 BOS 28 155 711 610 113 177 31 2 39 329 101 73 0 0 159 2 2 .290 .391 .539 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1950 BOS 29 149 693 628 125 185 34 6 30 321 65 43 0 0 144 1 0 .295 .361 .511 .285 45.9 -4.5 4.0
1951 BOS 30 109 415 377 62 113 21 2 17 189 38 33 0 0 78 1 2 .300 .364 .501 .281 23.3 3.0 2.7
1952 BOS 31 92 337 295 35 75 13 2 7 113 39 31 1 2 44 2 2 .254 .343 .383 .271 14.3 3.2 1.9
1953 CHA 32 44 143 129 14 24 6 0 1 33 13 18 0 1 14 2 0 .186 .261 .256 .214 -4.1 -1.8 -0.6
1953 SLA 32 46 186 165 16 53 8 0 4 73 18 24 0 3 17 0 0 .321 .388 .442 .294 9.1 -0.4 0.9
1954 BAL 33 101 393 365 31 104 17 1 8 147 17 36 0 7 4 46 0 3 .285 .311 .403 .265 16.1 -5.5 1.1
1955 BAL 34 3 7 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .286 .167 .169 -0.2 0.0 -0.0
1955 CHA 34 22 65 56 10 14 3 0 3 26 7 11 0 1 1 7 0 0 .250 .328 .464 .288 3.1 0.3 0.3
Career17207240649710011859307422472991692685683711742522.286.355.460.085107.6-5.710.3

Advanced

'opp' stats - quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
YEAR Team Lg G PA TAv oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG oppTAv BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ FRAA BRR BVORP BWARP VORP WARP
1941 SLA MLB 3 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1942 SLA MLB 145 619 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1943 SLA MLB 137 571 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1944 SLA MLB 145 628 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1945 SLA MLB 149 632 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1946 SLA MLB 115 488 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1947 SLA MLB 150 634 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1948 BOS MLB 155 716 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1949 BOS MLB 155 711 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1950 BOS MLB 149 693 .285 .266 .345 .393 .000 .000 114 17.2 17.7 8.1 -4.5 2.8 45.9 4.0 45.9 4.0
1951 BOS MLB 109 415 .281 .257 .327 .372 .000 .000 112 9.4 11.6 1.5 3.0 1.5 23.3 2.7 23.3 2.7
1952 BOS MLB 92 337 .271 .250 .318 .358 .000 .000 105 3.5 8.7 2.9 3.2 0.1 14.3 1.9 14.3 1.9
1953 CHA MLB 44 143 .214 .264 .330 .378 .000 .000 99 -7.2 4.1 0.6 -1.8 -0.3 -4.1 -0.6 -4.1 -0.6
1953 SLA MLB 46 186 .294 .256 .322 .373 .000 .000 100 6.4 5.0 0.7 -0.4 -1.4 9.1 0.9 9.1 0.9
1954 BAL MLB 101 393 .265 .252 .315 .366 .000 .293 92 2.1 10.6 1.4 -5.5 0.0 16.1 1.1 16.1 1.1
1955 BAL MLB 3 7 .169 .243 .312 .366 .000 .167 115 -0.7 0.2 0 0.0 0.2 -0.2 -0.0 -0.2 -0.0
1955 CHA MLB 22 65 .288 .255 .322 .381 .000 .256 100 1.9 1.8 0.2 0.3 -0.6 3.1 0.3 3.1 0.3
CareerMLB7240.085.080.102.117.081.2893332.659.715.4-5.72.3107.610.3107.610.3

Statistics For All Levels

Year Team Lg PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO TAv VORP FRAA WARP
1941 SLA MLB 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1942 SLA MLB 619 84 169 26 6 14 92 41 53 1 3 .294 .341 .433 .139 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1943 SLA MLB 571 75 148 27 3 22 91 54 73 3 2 .289 .357 .482 .193 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1944 SLA MLB 628 91 164 32 1 20 109 62 54 2 2 .293 .365 .462 .168 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1945 SLA MLB 632 90 165 27 3 24 89 55 70 2 1 .289 .352 .473 .184 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1946 SLA MLB 488 67 138 19 4 14 64 35 49 0 1 .307 .357 .460 .153 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1947 SLA MLB 634 74 157 18 4 15 83 70 61 8 4 .279 .359 .406 .126 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1948 BOS MLB 716 114 171 25 8 29 137 77 56 1 0 .269 .350 .471 .202 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1949 BOS MLB 711 113 177 31 2 39 159 101 73 2 2 .290 .391 .539 .249 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
1950 BOS MLB 693 125 185 34 6 30 144 65 43 1 0 .295 .361 .511 .217 .285 45.9 -4.5 4.0
1951 BOS MLB 415 62 113 21 2 17 78 38 33 1 2 .300 .364 .501 .202 .281 23.3 3.0 2.7
1952 BOS MLB 337 35 75 13 2 7 44 39 31 2 2 .254 .343 .383 .129 .271 14.3 3.2 1.9
1953 CHA MLB 143 14 24 6 0 1 14 13 18 2 0 .186 .261 .256 .070 .214 -4.1 -1.8 -0.6
1953 SLA MLB 186 16 53 8 0 4 17 18 24 0 0 .321 .388 .442 .121 .294 9.1 -0.4 0.9
1954 BAL MLB 393 31 104 17 1 8 46 17 36 0 3 .285 .311 .403 .118 .265 16.1 -5.5 1.1
1955 BAL MLB 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .286 .167 .000 .169 -0.2 0.0 -0.0
1955 CHA MLB 65 10 14 3 0 3 7 7 11 0 0 .250 .328 .464 .214 .288 3.1 0.3 0.3

Injury History beta

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation

Compensation

Year Team Salary

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status

Details

BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

Vern Stephens is referenced in the following articles.

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  Title Author Date
Wezen-Ball: Cliff Mapes and Questionable UmpiringLarry Granillo2012-09-26
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Hit and Run: Fat Elvis' Swan SongJay Jaffe2012-08-31
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Hit and Run: The Keltner All Stars, Part IJay Jaffe2012-01-13
The Lineup Card: 11 Memorable Breakdowns, Antics, and TiradesBaseball Prospectus2011-08-18
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Hit and Run: Stuck in the Middle with YouJay Jaffe2011-07-25
The BP Broadside: What the Heck is an RBI Whore?Steven Goldman2011-05-27
The BP Broadside: The Annotated WARP Leaders II: Did Ernie Banks Write the Book of Love?Steven Goldman2011-05-25
Prospectus Q&A: Chris WertzDavid Laurila2010-07-14
This article requires BP Premium accessYou Could Look It Up: On Droughts and DraftsSteven Goldman2009-08-11
This article requires BP Premium accessOn the Beat: The Winter MeetingsJohn Perrotto2008-12-09
Every Given Sunday: Winter Meetings PreviewJohn Perrotto2008-12-07
This article requires BP Premium accessYou Could Look It Up: A Guide to the New Veterans Committee Ballot, Part 2Steven Goldman2008-08-28
This article requires BP Premium accessYou Could Look It Up: A Guide to the New Veterans Committee Ballot, Part 2Clay Davenport2008-08-28
Doctoring The Numbers: Marlins, White Sox, and RaysRany Jazayerli2008-01-23
This article requires BP Premium accessThe Class of 2007: The Hitters, Part TwoJay Jaffe2007-01-08
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Today: Driving the StoryJoe Sheehan2006-06-26
This article requires BP Premium access2005--Setting the Stage: The Secret History of BaseballSteven Goldman2005-03-22
This article requires BP Premium accessLeast Competent Criminals: The Least Efficient Base-Stealing Teams EverJim Baker2004-07-30
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Matchups: Bescrewed EditionJim Baker2004-07-06
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Today: The Politics of GloryJoe Sheehan2003-10-14
This article requires BP Premium accessWhy Great Offenses Often Don't Win: An Anecdotal Journey through the Valley of DespairSteven Goldman2003-09-16
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Q&A: Mark Armour & Dan Levitt, Part IJonah Keri2003-08-14
This article requires BP Premium accessProspectus Today: BookishJoe Sheehan2003-06-26
The Great Slide Backwards: Which Teams Will Lose 20 More Games this Season?Mark Armour2003-04-09


BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2009-03-30 18:30:00Jim Rice - Hall of Famer?
(john from chicago)		Before I answer, let me acknowledge that (a) Jim Rice was my favorite player growing up, and (b) I'm a "big Hall" kind of guy.

With that context, I disagree with what seems to be the prevailing sabermetric opinion, including here at BP, that Rice was obviously unworthy as a HOF selection. I don't think he's a no-brainer Hall of Famer, but I think he has a legitimate argument.

Rice's case is obviously one built on peak value, not career length. Also, the argument has been that he is less valuable according to sabermetric models than how he was regarded at the time. His OBP, home park, double-play totals, and positional adjustments are counterbalanced by the notion that he was the most "feared" hitter or his day. But how do you actually assess how "feared" he was, and how that reputation played out in his peak value.

I actually did some work on this back when the election was on people's minds. Rice had 6 Top 10 finishes in the MVP voting.

Among players with exactly 6 Top 10 finishes, 11 are in the HOF, 6 are active or too recent, and only 4 are not in the Hall (Vern Stephens, Dave Parker, Andres Galarraga, Fred McGriff). Even among those with just 5 such finishes, the ratio is 17 HOF, 6 not HOF, 5 active. There's a reasonable case that players with Rice-like peaks get into the Hall about 2/3rd of the time.

Of course, all of Rice's Top 10 finishes were in fact Top 5 finishes. All of the players with 6 such rankings are in the Hall (4) or obviously qualified barring PED-externalities (Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols, A-Rod). Of those with exactly 5 Top 5 MVP years, only Pete Rose and Dave Parker aren't in the Hall or active.

Sorry for taking so much time to answer this one, but I think Rice looks better through contemporary views than through a modern analytical lens, and I don't think it's silly to consider that perspective. (Keith Woolner)


BP Roundtables

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