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Glen Eugene Stephens
Chicago White Sox
Outfield
Born: January 20, 1933, Gravette, AR
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1952-1953, 1955-1960; Baltimore Orioles 1960-1961; Kansas City Athletics 1961-1962; Chicago White Sox 1963-1964
Died: April 27, 2019, Granbury, TX (age 86)
Gene Stephens enjoyed a 12-year big league career serving mostly as a back-up outfielder for four American League teams. His only time as a true starting player came when he served as the regular left fielder for the Red Sox in the late 1950s. He enjoyed his best seasons in 1955 (career high .293 average) and 1959 (career high 39 RBIs) and led all American League left fielders with assists in both those seasons as well. He entered the record books on June 18, 1953 when he became the first player in the modern era to collect three hits in one inning. Stephens, seeing regular playing time while Ted Williams was serving with the Marines, had a double and two singles off three different Tigers pitchers in a 23-3 Red Sox rout. His record has since been tied by Johnny Damon, also of the Red Sox, who also collected three hits in an inning on June 27, 2003.
For his career, Stephens hit .240 with 37 home runs and 207 RBIs over 964 games. Although he appeared in his last Major League game in 1964, he continued to play in the minor league systems of the Braves, Yankees, Pirates and Cubs through 1967. He appeared in 109 games in 1966 for the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League, batting .224.
Building the Set
The Card / White Sox Team Set
The back of this card contains Stephen's entire big league output and it's his final Topps flagship baseball card. It's a great career capper card, featuring a nice photo of Stephens actually wearing a White Sox uniform and holding a pair of bats.
August 21, 2020 from Charleston, SC - Card #167
In my largest (by volume) purchase to date, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in mid-August browsing the eBay store of seller mantlerulz and clicking Add to Cart on 30 different cards. We had previously added 29 cards to our set back in February from the Philly Show. The 30 cards, all commons, cost me $52 total (before shipping and taxes) with the cards ranging in prices from $1 to $6. I love this haul and I found the seller's store by accident when I was browsing eBay in an attempt to add a few more cheap cards from the set's first series. With this purchase, we've now passed the quarter mark for completion of the set. We still have a long way to go, and quite a few pricey cards to add, but any day I can add 30 commons in excellent shape and at very low prices is a great day. This Stephens card was $1.50, and with just three more cards to go we're nearing the end of this 30-card haul.
In my largest (by volume) purchase to date, I spent an enjoyable hour or so in mid-August browsing the eBay store of seller mantlerulz and clicking Add to Cart on 30 different cards. We had previously added 29 cards to our set back in February from the Philly Show. The 30 cards, all commons, cost me $52 total (before shipping and taxes) with the cards ranging in prices from $1 to $6. I love this haul and I found the seller's store by accident when I was browsing eBay in an attempt to add a few more cheap cards from the set's first series. With this purchase, we've now passed the quarter mark for completion of the set. We still have a long way to go, and quite a few pricey cards to add, but any day I can add 30 commons in excellent shape and at very low prices is a great day. This Stephens card was $1.50, and with just three more cards to go we're nearing the end of this 30-card haul.
The Card / White Sox Team Set
The back of this card contains Stephen's entire big league output and it's his final Topps flagship baseball card. It's a great career capper card, featuring a nice photo of Stephens actually wearing a White Sox uniform and holding a pair of bats.
The cartoon on the back highlights his .337 average in his first year of professional baseball, in 1951 with the High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms of the North Carolina State League.
1965 Season
Stephens started the season with the Indianapolis Indians, the White Sox top farm club, hitting just .215 over 52 games. As the back of this card indicates, he was released and joined the Atlanta Crackers. His Baseball Reference page doesn't have the exact date of this transaction, but this Topps card says he joined Atlanta in April. If that was the case, and he did join Atlanta in April, I'm not sure how he would have appeared in 52 games with Indianapolis. In any event, Stephens appeared in 72 games for the Crackers, and had a successful partial season by hitting .288. He departed the U.S. following the season to try his luck in Japan.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1953 Topps #248
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1953, 1956-1962, 1964-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1991 Topps Archives 1953 #248
42 - Stephens non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1965 Season
Stephens started the season with the Indianapolis Indians, the White Sox top farm club, hitting just .215 over 52 games. As the back of this card indicates, he was released and joined the Atlanta Crackers. His Baseball Reference page doesn't have the exact date of this transaction, but this Topps card says he joined Atlanta in April. If that was the case, and he did join Atlanta in April, I'm not sure how he would have appeared in 52 games with Indianapolis. In any event, Stephens appeared in 72 games for the Crackers, and had a successful partial season by hitting .288. He departed the U.S. following the season to try his luck in Japan.
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First Mainstream Card: 1953 Topps #248
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1953, 1956-1962, 1964-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1991 Topps Archives 1953 #248
42 - Stephens non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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