Riggs Stephenson

Riggs Stephenson

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#EE1422
bgcolor2=#083884
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Riggs Stephenson


caption=
position=Left field
birthdate=January 5, 1898
city-state|Akron|Alabama
deathdate=death date and age|1985|11|15|1898|1|5
city-state|Tuscaloosa|Alabama
bats=Right
throws=Right
debutdate=April 13
debutyear=by|1921
debutteam=Cleveland Indians
finaldate=September 24
finalyear=by|1934
finalteam=Chicago Cubs
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.336
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=1515
stat3label=RBIs
stat3value=773
teams=
*Cleveland Indians (by|1921-by|1925)
*Chicago Cubs (by|1926-by|1934)
highlights=
* .336 career batting average is 22nd on all-time list
* .406 career on-base percentage is 46th on all-time list
* .880 career OPS is 90th on all-time list
* Led the National League in doubles (46) in by|1927
* Finished fifth in the National League MVP Award voting in by|1932
* Chicago Cubs Career Leader in Batting Average (.336)

Jackson Riggs Stephenson (January 5, 1898 - November 15, 1985) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Old Hoss",cite web
title = Riggs Stephenson Baseball Statistics
publisher = Baseball Almanac
author =
date =
url = http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=stephri01
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] Stephenson played for the Cleveland Indians from by|1921 to by|1925 and the rest of his career from by|1926 to by|1934 with the Chicago Cubs. Benefiting from the offensive surge of the late 1920s and early 1930s, he retired with a career batting average of .336, although he was only a full-time player from 1927 to 1929 and in 1932, with injuries and platooning limiting his role for the rest of his career.

Early years

Born in Akron, Alabama, Stephenson originally played baseball and football at the University of Alabama before he started his professional baseball career.cite web
title = Riggs Stephenson Biography
publisher =
author = David Zingler
date =
url = http://z.lee28.tripod.com/sbnsforgottenintime/id21.html
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] A natural athlete who excelled in both sports, Stephenson had a good reputation at the university. Former University of Alabama president George H. Denny described Riggs as "the embodiment of cleanliness, manliness, and courage."cite web
title = The Top 100 Cubs Of All Time - #77 Riggs Stephenson
publisher =
author = David Zingler
date = December 4 2006
url = http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/story/2006/12/4/0573/80725
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] Stephenson sustained a shoulder injury in a football game in 1920 when he dropped back and was tackled by a pair of linebackers. His injury to his right shoulder was so bad that he had to end his football career as a quarterback, and as a result it greatly affected his throwing abilities.cite web
title = Riggs Stephenson Baseball Biography
publisher = Baseball Library
author = Jack Kavanagh
date =
url = http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Stephenson_Riggs.stm
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] His throwing problems made it difficult for him to turn double plays, but his hitting compensated for those fielding woes.Fact|date=May 2008 Stephenson quit school at the Alabama and immediately made the jump to professional baseball, where he signed with the defending World Series champions Cleveland Indians at the age of 23.Fact|date=May 2008

With the Indians

Stephenson made his major league debut on April 13, by|1925,cite web
title = Riggs Stephenson Baseball Statistics and Status Information
publisher = Baseball-Reference
author =
date =
url = http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/stephri01.shtml
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] and continued to play limitedly during the remainder of the season. His weak arm and throwing difficulties weakened his fielding abilities at second base,Fact|date=May 2008 as seen by the 17 errors he committed in the 54 games he played at the position that season. However, Riggs' hitting compensated for his fielding woes; he hit 17 doubles among his 68 hits during his 65-game season that year.cite web
title = Stats for Riggs Stephenson
publisher = The Baseball Page
author =
date =
url = http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/stats/stephri01
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] Stephenson batted .330, reaching a mark that he would frequently surpass during the rest of his professional career.

The following season, Stephenson made the transition towards playing third base in the middle of the season. In 34 games at third base, 25 at second base and three in the outfield, he committed 11 errors, a sharp improvement from the previous season. He continued to shine at the plate, batting .339 in 86 games, with 24 doubles and 47 runs scored. In by|1923, Stephenson was moved back to second base and only committed thirteen errors and had a .970 fielding percentage in 66 games. He batted .319 for the season, finishing with 96 hits, 20 doubles and a .357 on base percentage. On September 14, Frank Brower hit a line drive directly to Boston Red Sox first baseman George Burns, and Rube Lutzke and Stephenson were tagged out to complete Burns' unassisted triple play, only the fourth in major league history. [cite web
title = List of the thirteen unassisted triple plays in Major League Baseball
publisher = Baseball-Reference
author =
date =
url = http://www.everything2.org/index.pl?node_id=131091
accessdate = 2006-12-25
]

Stephenson had limited playing time again in by|1924, only playing in 71 games. However, he batted a career-best .371 with 89 hits and a .439 on base percentage. He was sent to the outfield the following year, and played only 19 games before being sent back down the minor leagues by the Indians in order to make him a full-time outfielder.Fact|date=May 2008 After the season, the Indians traded him to the Chicago Cubs.Fact|date=May 2008

With the Cubs

Stephenson again played limitedly with the Cubs, but spent the whole season at left field. In by|1926, he batted .338 with 95 hits in just 82 games. The following season, his seventh in the majors, was the first complete season of his career. Riggs had a remarkable season, playing in 152 games while batting .344 with a .415 on base percentage. His batting average was fourth-highest in the National League, and he led the league in doubles with 46. He finished fifth in the league in hits and seventh in the league for scoring 101 runs. Riggs also placed 20th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting. He also earned the nickname "Old Hoss" because of his reliability as a hitter that season. Stephenson followed up with another solid performance in by|1928, batting .324 with 90 runs batted in and 166 hits.

by|1929 was a career year for Stephenson. He batted .362 on the year and had a .445 on base percentage, both fifth highest in the league. He finished with seventeen home runs, 110 RBIs and 179 hits. He also placed 23rd in the league's MVP Award voting this time around. Stephenson teamed up with fellow Cubs outfielders and future Hall of Famers Kiki Cuyler and Hack Wilson to be the only outfield trio in NL history to drive in over 100 runs each on the season. Stephenson was most useful in the 1929 World Series. Despite the Cubs' loss in five games to Connie Mack and the Philadelphia Athletics,cite web
title = 1929 World Series
publisher = Baseball-Reference
author =
date =
url = http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1929_WS.shtml
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] Stephenson collected six hits, including a double in Game 3cite web
title = Game 3 of the 1929 World Series
publisher = Retrosheet
author =
date =
url = http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B10110PHA1929.htm
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] and knocked in one and scored three runs. Stephenson followed up with another solid, but shortened season in by|1930. In 109 games, he collected 125 hits and had a career-high .367 batting average. Eighty games into the following season, on July 27, Stephenson broke his ankle in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. Danny Taylor, along with Cuyler and Wilson, saw significant playing time for the Cubs in left field in 1930 and 1931.

Stephenson came back in by|1932 and collected the most at bats of his career (583) and hit .324 with a team leading 85 RBIs.Fact|date=May 2008 He hit a career-best 49 doubles, which gave him the third-highest total in the league. He also finished fifth in the NL MVP Award voting. The by|1932 Cubs won the pennant over the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games, but were then swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series that featured the Babe's "called shot home run".Fact|date=May 2008 Stephenson collected eight hits, drove in four runs and batted a team-high .444 in the series.cite web
title = 1932 World Series
publisher = Baseball-Reference
author =
date =
url = http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1932_WS.shtml
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] Stephenson's injuries started to catch up to him, and his playing time slowly declined. He played only 97 games the following season, but maintained a solid .329 average with 114 hits.

by|1934 was Stephenson's final year in the major leagues. He spent most of his time as a pinch hitter, but only batted a career-low .216 in 74 at bats. The Cubs released him on October 30, and Stephenson subsequently retired from the major leagues.

Later years and legacy

Stephenson spent the next five years playing and managing in the minor leagues, but called it quits for good in by|1939. After baseball, he went back to Alabama, and he opened up a successful car dealership in Tuscaloosa and a lumber yard in Akron.cite web
title = Riggs Stephenson, 87, Dies; A Leading Hitter in Baseball
publisher = Associated Press
author =
date = November 16 1985
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E4DC1038F935A25752C1A963948260
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in by|1971. [cite web
title = Jackson Riggs "Old Hoss" Stephenson - Class of 1971
publisher = Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
author =
date =
url = http://www.ashof.org/index.php?src=directory&view=company&srctype=display&back=company&id=108&submenu=Inductees&pos=210,15,249
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] He died at the age of 87 at his Tuscaloosa home after suffering a long illness.

Stephenson has one of the highest lifetime batting averages of eligible 20th-century players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although his relatively short career (1310 games, 4508 at bats) was barely long enough to qualify for official recognition among the career leaders; other than Earle Combs and Shoeless Joe Jackson, every other 20th-century player with a .325 batting average exceeded 6000 at bats. Stephenson's .336 career batting average, 22nd highest in major league history, is also tied with that of Bill Madlock's for the highest in Cubs team history. Stephenson hit over .300 in all but two of his seasons in the big leagues.Fact|date=May 2008 Stephenson received a total of only eight votes in his four years on the Hall of Fame ballot in the late 1950s and early 1960s. [cite web
title = Riggs Stephenson Baseball Statistics and Player Info
publisher = The Baseball Cube
author =
date =
url = http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/riggs-stephenson.shtml
accessdate = 2006-12-25
] He was on the Veterans Committee ballot again in recent years, but failed to pick up any votes.

Career

Career Statistics:
"Hitting"

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

References

External links

*baseball-reference|id=s/stephri01
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Stephenson_Riggs.stm BaseballLibrary]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=stephri01 Baseball Almanac]
* [http://www.ashof.org/index.php?src=directory&view=company&srctype=display&back=company&id=108&submenu=Inductees&pos=210,15,249 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]

Persondata
NAME=Stephenson, Jackson Riggs
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH=January 5 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH=Akron, Alabama
DATE OF DEATH=November 15 1985
PLACE OF DEATH=Tuscaloosa, Alabama


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