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Mickey Vernon

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Full Name: James Barton Vernon Primary Position: 1B
Height/Weight: 6' 2"/170 First Game: July 8, 1939
Birthdate: April 22, 1918 Final Game: September 27, 1960
Birthplace: Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania MLB Experience: 19 years
Bat/Throw: Left/Left
Rate this Player
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Contents

  • 1 Biography
    • 1.1 Career overview
      • 1.1.1 Fielding
    • 1.2 Highlights
  • 2 Statistics
    • 2.1 Batting Stats
    • 2.2 Fielding Stats
  • 3 Transactions
  • 4 Trivia
  • 5 Video Gallery
  • 6 Picture Gallery
  • 7 See Also
  • 8 Categories

[edit] Biography

James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (born April 22 1918 in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Washington Senators (1939-1948, 1950-1955) for the majority of his career, plus 4 other teams: the Cleveland Indians (1949-1950, 1958), Boston Red Sox (1956-1957), Milwaukee Braves (1959), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1960). Despite missing two seasons to military service during World War II, he retired with 2,495 hits, and holds the major league record for career double plays at first base (2,044), as well as American League records for career games (2,227), putouts (19,754), assists (1,444) and total chances (21,408). He batted and threw left-handed.

[edit] Career overview

Mickey Vernon attended Villanova University, before making his debut on July 8, 1939.

Vernon's best quality, according to most, was his sheer hitting skills. In 14 full seasons (400 at bats or more), Vernon batted over .335 twice, over .300 five times, and over .290 nine times.

It can be argued which season was his best; 1946 or 1953. In 1946, Vernon's stats with the Senators were jaw-dropping in the pure hitting area, however, his power numbers were not there yet. Vernon hit a career-high .353 (led the American League), with 8 home runs and 85 runs batted in. He had 14 stolen bases and 88 runs scored in 587 at bats. He had 207 hits, a career high. He had a .403 on base percentage and led the league in doubles with 51. It was his first real great season, and he made his first All-Star team.

In 1953, he put up all-around outstanding numbers, picking up a number of career highs. Again, he led the league in batting average with .337, and this time picked up 15 homers and 115 RBIs, a career high, in 608 at bats. His hit total came out to over 200 again, at 205, while his stolen base numbers went down to 4. He scored over 100 runs for the first and only time, at 101. Again, he led the league in doubles, this time with only 43, and again he had a .403 on base percentage. His 115 RBIs also came on a very bad-hitting Senators team that was 76-76 on the year. He won his second batting title. He won his first in 1946, this time he took it from AL MVP Al Rosen, who lost it to Vernon by a point. Rosen missed the triple crown because of that.

Through the 1940s and most of the '50s, he was consistently putting up very good numbers. He had his career high in home runs in 1954 with 20 (which was 8th in the league). He also had 97 RBIs, 14 triples, a career high, and yet again he led the league in doubles with 33. He also had 294 total bases, which was 2nd in the league, behind Minnie Miñoso.

Over time, Vernon became one of the most well-liked ballplayers, mainly through his unique personality and charismatic, but quiet, style. By his last game on September 27, 1960, before being released by the Pirates, he was the oldest player, at 42, by almost a year, and one of the most popular players in the game. He had spent that season as the Bucs' first-base coach before being activated, and earned a ring as a member of the 1960 World Series champions.

In a 20-season career, Vernon posted a quality .286 batting average with 172 home runs and 1311 RBI's in 2409 games. The left-hander averaged 88 RBI's a year, and had 11 seasons with 80 or more, 3 with 90 or more. He accumulated 1196 runs with 137 stolen bases and a .359 on base percentage. His career slugging percentage came out to .428, with a career high of .518 in 1953. He compiled 2495 hits, with 490 doubles and 120 triples, in 8731 at bats. He had 2741 career total bases, with his career high coming in 1953 (315).

In 1961, one year after his final appearance as a player, he was given the job of managing the expansion Senators in their first year of existence. He did so from 1961 until the beginning of 1963. He had a career record of 135-227, a .373 winning percentage. He was a major league coach for the Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, managed at the AAA and AA levels of the minor leagues, and served as a batting instructor in the Yankees' farm system before retiring from baseball.

He currently resides in Media, Pennsylvania.

[edit] Fielding

Playing in four different decades (1939-60), Vernon ended his career with 2,237 games at first base, second to only Jake Beckley (2,377) in major league history. He led the American League in fielding percentage four times, and the majors two times.

He became one of the few first basemen to finish his career with a .990 fielding percentage, and participated in more double plays than anyone else.

[edit] Highlights

  • 7-time All-Star (1946, '48, '53, '54, '55, '56, '58)
  • Top 10 in MVP voting 3 times (1946, '53, '54), coming the closest in 1953 finishing 3rd behind Al Rosen and Yogi Berra
  • 2-time batting champion (1946, '53)
  • Led the league in doubles three times (1946, '53, '54)
  • Top 10 in the league in triples 9 times (1941, '43, '46, '47, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55)
  • 2nd in the league in hits twice (1946, '53)
  • With 2495, is #81 on the all-time hit leaderboard [1]
  • Participated in 2044 double plays, the most in Major League history


[edit] Statistics

[edit] Batting Stats

Year Team G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 2B 3B BB SO HBP SH SB IBB GDP
1939 WAS A 76 276 23 71 1 30 .257 .317 .351 15 4 24 28 0 9 1 0 5
1940 WAS A 5 19 0 3 0 0 .158 .158 .158 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1
1941 WAS A 138 531 73 159 9 93 .299 .352 .443 27 11 43 51 0 7 9 0 12
1942 WAS A 151 621 76 168 9 86 .271 .337 .388 34 6 59 63 3 2 25 0 8
1943 WAS A 145 553 89 148 7 70 .268 .357 .387 29 8 67 55 10 8 24 0 10
1946 WAS A 148 587 88 207 8 85 .353 .403 .508 51 8 49 64 0 2 14 0 12
1947 WAS A 154 600 77 159 7 85 .265 .320 .388 29 12 49 42 0 3 12 0 12
1948 WAS A 150 558 78 135 3 48 .242 .310 .332 27 7 54 43 1 6 15 0 17
1949 CLE A 153 584 72 170 18 83 .291 .357 .443 27 4 58 51 2 15 9 0 8
1950 WAS A 90 327 47 100 9 65 .306 .404 .459 17 3 50 29 4 3 6 0 3
1950 CLE A 28 90 8 17 0 10 .189 .284 .189 0 0 12 10 0 3 2 0 0
1950 TOT A 118 417 55 117 9 75 .281 .379 .400 17 3 62 39 4 6 8 0 3
1951 WAS A 141 546 69 160 9 87 .293 .358 .423 30 7 53 45 2 1 7 0 11
1952 WAS A 154 569 71 143 10 80 .251 .353 .394 33 9 89 66 0 5 7 0 11
1953 WAS A 152 608 101 205 15 115 .337 .403 .518 43 11 63 57 4 4 4 0 15
1954 WAS A 151 597 90 173 20 97 .290 .357 .492 33 14 61 61 5 4 1 0 10
1955 WAS A 150 538 74 162 14 85 .301 .384 .452 23 8 74 50 3 4 0 9 17
1956 BOS A 119 403 67 125 15 84 .310 .403 .511 28 4 57 40 7 2 1 6 12
1957 BOS A 102 270 36 65 7 38 .241 .350 .393 18 1 41 35 5 1 0 2 9
1958 CLE A 119 355 49 104 8 55 .293 .372 .439 22 3 44 56 2 1 0 3 8
1959 MIL N 74 91 8 20 3 14 .220 .283 .363 4 0 7 20 1 0 0 1 2
1960 PIT N 9 8 0 1 0 1 .125 .222 .125 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total NL 83 99 8 21 3 15 .212 .278 .343 4 0 8 20 1 0 0 2 2
Total AL 2326 8632 1188 2474 169 1296 .287 .360 .429 486 120 947 849 48 80 137 20 181
Total 2409 8731 1196 2495 172 1311 .286 .359 .428 490 120 955 869 49 80 137 22 183

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year Team POS G GS INN PO A ERR DP TP PB SB CS PkO AVG
1939 WAS A 1B 75 0 0 690 40 11 75 0 0 0 0 0 .985
1940 WAS A 1B 4 0 0 41 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1941 WAS A 1B 132 0 0 1186 80 10 122 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1942 WAS A 1B 151 0 0 1360 95 26 109 0 0 0 0 0 .982
1943 WAS A 1B 143 0 0 1351 75 14 125 0 0 0 0 0 .990
1946 WAS A 1B 147 0 0 1320 101 15 133 0 0 0 0 0 .990
1947 WAS A 1B 154 0 0 1299 105 19 123 0 0 0 0 0 .987
1948 WAS A 1B 150 0 0 1297 113 15 128 0 0 0 0 0 .989
1949 CLE A 1B 153 0 0 1438 155 14 168 0 0 0 0 0 .991
1950 WAS A 1B 85 0 0 743 61 8 93 0 0 0 0 0 .990
1950 CLE A 1B 25 0 0 216 17 1 28 0 0 0 0 0 .996
1950 TOT A 1B 110 0 0 959 78 9 121 0 0 0 0 0 .991
1951 WAS A 1B 137 0 0 1157 87 8 121 0 0 0 0 0 .994
1952 WAS A 1B 153 0 0 1291 115 10 139 0 0 0 0 0 .993
1953 WAS A 1B 152 0 0 1376 94 12 158 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1954 WAS A 1B 148 0 0 1365 76 11 144 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1955 WAS A 1B 144 0 0 1258 69 8 137 0 0 0 0 0 .994
1956 BOS A 1B 108 0 0 930 58 11 96 0 0 0 0 0 .989
1957 BOS A 1B 70 68 575.2 662 51 6 47 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1958 CLE A 1B 96 87 781 774 50 11 90 0 0 0 0 0 .987
1959 MIL N LF 2 2 11.1 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .875
1959 MIL N 1B 10 4 56.2 54 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 .983
1959 MIL N RF 2 1 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1959 MIL N OF 4 3 22.1 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .917
Total LF 2 2 11.1 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .875
Total OF 4 3 22.1 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .917
Total 1B 2237 159 1413.1 19808 1448 211 2044 0 0 0 0 0 .990
Total RF 2 1 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000

[edit] Transactions

  • Signed as an amateur free agent by Washington Senators (1937).
  • Traded by Washington Senators with Early Wynn to Cleveland Indians in exchange for Ed Klieman, Joe Haynes and Eddie Robinson (December 14, 1948).
  • Traded by Cleveland Indians to Washington Senators in exchange for Dick Weik (June 14, 1950).
  • Traded by Washington Senators with Bob Porterfield, Johnny Schmitz and Tom Umphlett to Boston Red Sox in exchange for Karl Olson, Dick Brodowski, Tex Clevenger, Neil Chrisley and Al Curtis (November 8, 1955).
  • Claimed on waivers by Cleveland Indians from Boston Red Sox (January 29, 1958).
  • Traded by Cleveland Indians to Milwaukee Braves in exchange for Humberto Robinson (April 11, 1959).
  • Released by Milwaukee Braves (October 13, 1959).
  • Signed by Pittsburgh Pirates (September 1, 1960).
  • Released by Pittsburgh Pirates (September 30, 1960).

[edit] Trivia

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Retrieved from "http://armchairgm.wikia.com/Mickey_Vernon"

This page was last modified 16:28, 8 November 2007. Content is available under the GFDL.

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