Gene Stephens

From SoSH

Glen Eugene "Gene" Stephens (born January 20, 1933 in Gravette, Arkansas) was an outfielder signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1951. In a 12-year career, Stephens played for the Red Sox (1952-53 and 1955-60), Baltimore Orioles (1960-61), Kansas City Athletics (1961-62) and Chicago White Sox (1963-64).

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Transactions 5 External Links

Overall Career

Stephens, a left-handed-hitting outfielder, appeared in 693 games for the Red Sox between 1952 and 1960 before he was traded in the summer of 1960 to the Kansas City A's for Willie Tasby. Stephens was a part-time player who never acquired more than 270 at-bats in a season (which he did in 1958 and 1959).

His finest season came in 1955, when he put up a .293/.374/.459 line in 157 at-bats. Stephens was never able to recapture that season, as evidenced by his career line of .240/.325/.355.

Moment in the Sun

• Stephen's career highlight came on June 18, 1953. During a game against the Detroit Tigers, the Red Sox scored 17 runs in the 7th inning on way to a 23-3 rout. Stephens had 3 hits in that 7th inning, setting a Red Sox record (and tying the major leauge record) for most hits in an inning. Johnny Damon would later tie this record 50 years and 9 days later, tallying 3 hits in a 25-8 beating of the Florida Marlins (the Marlins would go on to beat the Yankees in the 2003 World Series).

Trivia

• From 1955 through 1959, Stephens averaged nearly 120 games per season but only 1.67 at-bats per game.

Transactions

• Before 1951 Season: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent.
• June 9, 1960: Traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Baltimore Orioles for Willie Tasby.
• June 8, 1961: Traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Marv Throneberry.
• Before 1963 Season: Sent from the Kansas City Athletics to the Chicago White Sox in an unknown transaction.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis