Joseph Chester Stephenson (June 30, 1921 – September 20, 2001) was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

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), ...

who played for the New York Giants (1943), Chicago Cubs (1944) and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1947). Following his retirement as a player, Stephenson gained most of his fame as a scout for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

based in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, signing future All-Stars

Rick Burleson Richard Paul "Rooster" Burleson (born April 29, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop. Burleson, who played for three American League teams over 13 seasons, was a very intense ballplayer. Former Boston Red Sox teammate Bil ...

Dwight Evans Dwight Evans may refer to: * Dwight Evans (baseball) (born 1951), American former baseball player * Dwight Evans (politician) (born 1954), American politician {{hndis, Evans, Dwight ...

, Bill Lee and

Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1974 through 1990 as a center fielder with the Boston Red Sox, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Det ...

during his tenure of nearly 50 years as a scout in the Boston organization. Stephenson batted and threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and . A native of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and an alumnus of Michigan State University and

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, Stephenson's minor league career extended from 1941 through 1951. He caught in part of three big-league seasons in the 1940s. He posted a .179

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 ...

(12-for-67) with eight runs and four RBI in 29 games played. He was the father of Jerry Stephenson (1944–2010), like Joe a former MLB player (as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

) who became a longtime scout.

External links

Baseball Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Joe 1921 births 2001 deaths Baseball players from Detroit Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox scouts Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Clovis Pioneers players Fort Smith Giants players Jersey City Giants players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Lubbock Hubbers players Major League Baseball catchers Memphis Chickasaws players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Minor league baseball managers New York Giants (NL) players Roanoke Red Sox players San Jose Red Sox players Baseball players from Fullerton, California Springfield Rifles players Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players Waterloo White Hawks players Western Michigan Broncos baseball players

See also

External links