I agree that Vern Stephens and Joe Gordon are long overdue to be inducted. Regrettably, I’m pretty sure that some of the writers voting are not nearly old enough to remember either of them. I’m not, either. But, I do remember reading about them and noticing that just about every baseball board game during my childhood featured both as “All-Stars.” As a child in Chattanooga, TN, I remember Ellis Clary playing for the Southern League champion Lookouts. It’s good to see all three names together in an article. Wasn’t Willie Miranda (also of the Browns) a member of that championship Lookout team, as well?

Very interesting list of nominees there; it looks like somebody really did their research this time around. About time!

Gordon probably has the best chance of enshrinement. From that list, I’d probably follow Gordon with Reynolds and Ferrell (the wrong Ferrell brother is already in the Hall of Fame). Dahlen and White are probably deserving as well, but played more than 100 years ago.

Stephens was a rarity for his day - a power-hitting shortstop. But for some reason, he never really captivated the fans or the media during his time; as one of the first power-hitting shortstops, he probably compares with Harlond Clift, who was one of the first of the power-hitting third basemen.

Vern was probably a better fielder than his reputation - for some reason, power-hitting shortstops never really get or got their due as defensive players (the stereotype of shortstops is still “good field no hit”).

The shortstop I really feel sorry for, though, is Alan Trammell, who has virtually no chance of making the Hall of Fame despite being perhaps the best AL shortstop out there during his day. He was a solid fielder and a terrific hitter, but he’s been superceded by the current crop of big-hitting shortstops and suffers by comparison.

I understand the Gordon pick, but as unheralded as he was, I still don’t see Stephens in the hof. Are they merely voting by position and “era”? Was he a better player than Kenny Boyer, Ron Santo, Marty Marion, Richie Allen, Andre Dawson, Mort Cooper, among others?

As to Santo, Boyer, Allen and Dawson: All three started their careers long after 1942, so they’re not germane to the discussion of these players nominated here. They’ll get their chances, as I understand it, with another committee. (As an aside, Santo is probably the best player currently eligible not in the HoF, at least according to historian and researcher Bill James.) Was Stephens better than Marion? Depends on how you read the numbers, but I think so. (I’m sure Stephens is far more qualified for the Hall than Mort Cooper.) Stephens actually had a good career, better than anyone recalls. His years in Boston in the late ’40s and early ’50s were superb, and he did well in MVP voting, which is an important gauge of how he was perceived at the time he played. I think he’s a good choice for nomination. I’d place him maybe third of these ten, behind Gordon and Dahlen, about even with Ferrell and Reynolds, maybe.

Obviously, I meant to say “all four.” Oops!

Ray,

Stephens was obviously a better offensive player than Marion, but one has to remember that shortstop was, until relatively recently, considered a “defensive” position, which is why Mark Belanger, for instance, was far more highly regarded in his time than his contempoary Rico Petrocelli.

Marty may have been the greatest defensive shortstop of all pre-Ozzie, and I think for that reason alone he ought to be considered for the HOF - but given the modern era’s emphasis on offense, Stephens will make it into the Hall before the Octopus does.

As a Browns’ fan in 1944, I idolized Vern Stephens and now I am excited that he may be named to the Hall of Fame. I no longer hold the Hall of Fame in high regard, however, because the Cardinals’ shortstop that year, Marty (Mr. Shortstop) Marion has not been admitted to the Hall although Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto, his shortstop contemporaries who tried mightily but couldn’t field nearly as well, have been in Cooperstown for years! Marion was THE shortstop of the ’40s and is as deserving of the Cooperstown honor as his teammates Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst and Enos Slaughter. Stan, Red and Enos may have had better statistics but Marty was the glue that held them together! Mart first, then Vern!

Jerry,

I’ll grant Marion’s defensive greatness, but I’d rank him second in the pre-Ozzie era. I think from all evidence, Honus Wagner remains the best shortstop ever, at the plate and in the field. I’m not sure Marion’s offensive production, even with his defensive greatness, is enough for the HoF, although I think he was better than Rizzuto, whose election to the HoF was a major error. (Rizutto’s election should thus not be used as evidence for anyone else’s induction: The “if one, then the other” theory is a bad way to approach the Hall.) To me, the fact that Stephens put up the batting numbers he did during an era when shortstop was primarily a defensive position — and that he played shortstop well enough to play for the great Red Sox teams of the late 1940s — is enough for me to put him near the top of that list of ten. It would be interesting to know how close Marion came to making that list of ten . . .

stephens is probably third on the list, behind Reynolds and Gordon, maybe a touch ahead of Ferrell [who should have been an OF]