Robert Loyd Stephenson (August 11, 1928 – March 20, 2020) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played 67

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, primarily at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. Stephenson threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed . He attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. Stephenson struggled offensively during his professional career. The .243

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

he recorded in part-time duty (as a backup to

Alex Grammas Alexander Peter Grammas (April 3, 1926 – September 13, 2019) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager and coach. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Grammas played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinn ...

) for the 1955 Cardinals was the highest batting mark of his five-year (1950–1951; 1954–1956) pro career. Of his 27 Major League

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, only three went for extra bases — and all three were doubles. From June 21 through July 21, Stephenson had 22 hits in 50

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

(.440) over 16 games, including 12 as St. Louis' starting shortstop. He had a nine-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 plate ...

from June 26 through July 5. On June 17, 1956, Stephenson was traded as the player to be named to complete a deal St. Louis had made with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

on June 14 of that year, but never appeared in another major league game. Stephenson died on March 20, 2020.

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1928 births 2020 deaths Baseball players from Oklahoma People from Jackson County, Oklahoma Columbus Red Birds players Houston Buffaloes players Major League Baseball shortstops Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Omaha Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub