One of the earliest power hitting shortstops, Stephens had some good years with this team in the 40's, and was the best player on their lone pennant winner in 1944. Opinions of his fielding differ, but it is clear that he was neither as bad of a shortstop with the glove as Rafael Ramirez nor as brilliant as Mark Belanger. Stephens hit homers, would occasionally hit over . 300 and drove in lots of runs with both St. Louis and the Red Sox. After joining the potent Red Sox lineup in the late 40's, Stephens put up some RBI numbers that were gargantuan for any player, never mind a shortstop. A hard partying kind of guy, Stephens career ended in the mid 50's. Not a great player, but a very good hitter in his best seasons.
