Reuben Crandol "Dummy" Stephenson (September 22, 1869 – December 1, 1924) 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ce ...

of the late 19th century. He played in eight games as an outfielder for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in 1892.

Biography

Stephenson was born in the Petersburg section of

Upper Township, New Jersey Upper Township is a large township in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,373, reflecting an increase of ...

. He was given the nickname "Dummy" due to his

deafness Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. Stephenson's professional baseball career spanned 1892 to 1898, plus a final season in 1900. His major league experience was limited to eight games as a

for the

in September 1892, during which he batted 10-for-37 (.270) with five

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs). Stephenson then played in the

Pennsylvania State League The Pennsylvania State League was an American minor league baseball sports league that operated from 1892 to 1895, then became the first Atlantic League (1896–1900), Atlantic League. The league member teams were exclusively based in Pennsylvania ...

during 1893 and 1894 for three different teams. He spent 1895 in the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

, 1896 in the

Virginia League The Virginia League was a minor league baseball affiliation which operated in Virginia and North Carolina from 1906 to 1928. It was classified as a "C" league from 1906 to 1919 and as a "B" league from 1920 to 1928. The most famous alumni to c ...

, 1897 back in the New England League, and 1898 in the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

. His final professional season was spent in the Atlantic League in 1900, after which he played in

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

leagues for several years. Statistics for most of Stephenson's minor league seasons are incomplete; he had a

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 ...

over .300 per the limited records available. In addition to his primary positions as a centerfielder and

, he pitched in at least one game during both the 1893 and 1894 seasons. Stephenson died on December 1, 1924, in Trenton, New Jersey and was interred at the Union Cemetery in

South Dennis, New Jersey South Dennis is an unincorporated community located within Dennis Township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its postal ZIP Code is 08245. The post office was es ...

; he was survived by his wife and three daughters.

Notes

References

External links

1869 births 1924 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Philadelphia Phillies players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from New Jersey Reading Actives players Harrisburg Senators players Philadelphia Colts players Fall River Indians players Pawtucket Phenoms players Norfolk Braves players Portsmouth Browns players Petersburg Farmers players Hampton Clamdiggers players Newport Colts players Auburn Maroons players Johnstown Mormans players Palmyra Mormans players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Harrisburg Ponies players People from Upper Township, New Jersey Sportspeople from Cape May County, New Jersey Deaf baseball players American deaf people {{US-baseball-outfielder-1860s-stub