James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (April 22, 1918 – September 24, 2008) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the Washington Senators (1939–1948, 1950–1955), Cleveland Indians (1949–1950, 1958), Boston Red Sox (1956–1957), Milwaukee Braves (1959), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1960). He also was the first manager in the history of the expansion edition of the Senators (now the Texas Rangers), serving from 1961 through May 21, 1963, and was a coach for four MLB teams between 1960 and 1982.

Vernon retired as a player in 1960 with 2,495 hits and holds the MLB record for career double plays at first base (2,044). He has the American League (AL) record for first basemen for career games (2,227), putouts (19,754), assists (1,444), and total chances (21,408). The lanky Vernon was listed as tall and ; he batted and threw left-handed.

Early life

Mickey Vernon was born on April 22, 1918, in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, located in Delaware County. Vernon's grandfather, Samuel Vernon, was an American Civil War veteran who became the first mayor of Marcus Hook in 1893. His father, Clarence Vernon, worked for the Sun Oil Company refinery and played semiprofessional baseball for the company team. Vernon played sandlot baseball and played on a championship American Legion Baseball team as a teenager, and he played with older men on Sun Oil's industrial league team. Vernon and his future wife Anne Elizabeth "Lib" Firth attended Eddystone High School. Vernon was a basketball star at Eddystone, which did not have a baseball team. Lib also was a stellar athlete in high school; both of them graduated in 1936. Also, Doc Jacobs reportedly was the manager and part owner of the Easton Browns, and Jacobs signed Vernon to go to play for the Browns in 1937.

Professional career and military service

Minor leagues

Vernon played for three Minor League Baseball teams before making his MLB debut on July 8, 1939; and then spent one more minor-league season before permanently becoming an MLB player.

In 1937, he played for Jacobs and the Easton Browns, which were affiliated with the American League's St. Louis Browns. Vernon played in 83 games for the Browns, with a .287 batting average, 10 home runs, and 64 runs batted in (RBIs) in just 300 at bats.

Vernon was signed by the original Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1937. In 1938, he played for the Greenville Spinners of the Class B South Atlantic (Sally) League. He played first base and batted .328, with 84 runs scored, 72 RBIs, 31 doubles, 12 triples, an .820 [on-base plus slugging]], and only one home run. He was sixth in the Sally League in batting average among players with over 500 at bats. In 1939, he played in 69 games for the Single-A Springfield Nationals, the Senators' affiliate in the Eastern League, before being called up to the Senators in early July. He was hitting a league-leading .343 at the time he was promoted to the MLB. This was his last season in the minors. Then, in , Vernon's .337 average denied Cleveland's Al Rosen (.336) the Triple Crown by just one one-thousandth of a point. The following year, , Vernon had a career-high 20 home runs, 97 RBIs, and 14 triples.

Washington Senators (1939–1943)

Vernon played in 76 games for the 1939 Senators, starting 75 at first base. He played in only five games for the Senators in 1940, spending most of the season with the Jersey City Giants. In 1941, he rejoined the Senators as their starting first baseman. He hit .299 in 138 games, with nine home runs, 93 RBIs, 73 runs scored and a .794 OPS. He had a .992 fielding percentage at first base, fourth-best in the AL, and led all AL first basemen with 122 double plays turned. He started 151 and 145 games in 1942 and 1943, batting .271 and .268, respectively. but improved to .990 the following season, fifth best in the American League. On August 18, 1943, he was involved in turning 10 double plays. After basic training, he played baseball on a variety of service teams. While on Ulithi, they learned the Brooklyn Dodgers had signed Jackie Robinson, who would become the first African American player in MLB. Vernon told Doby that he could play in the major leagues and would get his chance. Both Goodman and Vernon personally inspired and encouraged Doby to believe he could actually become a major league baseball player, telling him Robinson’s signing meant Doby would have a good chance to join MLB, as well; Vernon said the Senators were interested in Doby. In 1947, Doby became the first African-American to break the baseball color line in the AL with the Cleveland Indians, just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson did so in the National League. While still playing in Negro League baseball in 1946, Vernon had presented his friend Doby with a dozen baseball bats, purchased by the Washington Senators. Vernon, Goodman and Doby would play together on the American League All-Star team in 1953.

Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians (1946–55)

After a two-year absence, Vernon returned to the Senators for the 1946 season and had a career-high and league-leading .353 batting average. He also had eight home runs, 85 RBIs, 88 runs scored, and a .910 OPS, with a .990 fielding percentage at first base. He was selected to the American League All-Star team for the first time, as the starting first baseman. He was fifth in the 1946 AL Most Valuable Player voting. Ted Williams passed Vernon twice during the season as league leader in batting average, but Williams ended the season at .342 to Vernon's .353.

Vernon, who had never hit over .300 in an MLB season, was hitting over .400 in late May 1946, and had a 22-game hitting streak that ended on May 28. Senators coach Clyde Milan had worked regularly with Vernon on improving his focus and batting approach early in the season. Vernon had been a pull hitter during his earlier years, but in 1946, decided to hit the ball to all fields based on where he was pitched, a key to improving his average. He also studied Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Hank Greenberg, for individual traits he might learn from them, even if he was a different kind of hitter. Vernon's batting average fell to .265 in 1947 and then .242 in 1948. He still had 85 RBIs in 1947, but only 48 in 1948. In December 1948, Vernon and Early Wynn were sent to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Joe Haynes, Ed Klieman, and Eddie Robinson. After the trade, New York Yankees' manager Casey Stengel said, "'I went to bed with a pennant winner and woke up in second place'".

In 1949, Vernon rebounded in Cleveland. He hit .291, with a then-career-high 18 home runs, along with 83 RBIs, 72 runs scored, and an .801 OPS. Despite Stengel's concerns, the Yankees finished in first place (97–57) and Cleveland finished third (89–65). The Senators finished in last place (50–104). In mid-June 1950, Cleveland traded Vernon back to the Senators for Dick Weik. Vernon played 90 games for Washington in 1950, batting .306 in 327 at bats, with nine home runs and 65 RBIs and an .863 OPS. Weik finished out the year in Cleveland, pitching in only 11 games. He was inducted into the military in November 1950, and did not play again until 1953 with the Detroit Tigers (where his career ended after the 1954 season). Easter hit .280 with 28 home runs and 107 RBIs.

Vernon remained with the Senators from 1951 to 1955. He arguably had the best year of his MLB career in 1953. He led the AL with a .337 batting average, and in doubles with 43. He was third in AL MVP voting in 1953, ninth in 1954, and 23rd in 1955. He never had fewer than 80 RBIs in a season during this span.

During 1951 to 1955, Vernon also led all AL third basemen in fielding percentage in 1951 (.994), 1952 (.993) and 1954 (.992). He had a .992 fielding percentage in 1953 (fourth-best in the MLB), while leading all MLB first basemen with 158 double plays turned.

Later years (1956–1960)

In November 1955, the Senators traded the 37-year old Vernon, Bob Porterfield, Johnny Schmitz, and Tom Umphlett to the Boston Red Sox for Karl Olson, Dick Brodowski, Tex Clevenger, Neil Chrisley, and Al Curtis. Vernon was surprised to be traded, but looked forward to playing for a winning team. The Senators had only two winning seasons during all of his years with the team, and the 1949 Indians had the best record of any team for which he had played. The Red Sox finished the season 84–70. He played one more season in Boston, hitting .241 in only 270 at bats, while splitting time at first base with Dick Gernert. He had been among the top 10 hitters at mid-season, but tailed off as the season progressed.

In November, the Red Sox and Cleveland worked out a deal where Cleveland paid Boston and then acquired Vernon's rights via claiming him after Boston waived Vernon. The Senators had shown some interest in acquiring Vernon with the long-term plan of grooming him for the team's manager position.

On April 11, 1959, Cleveland traded Vernon to the Milwaukee Braves for Humberto Robinson. and placed on the active list when MLB rosters expanded to 40 men. The Pirates needed another left-handed pinch hitter, and Vernon had kept up taking batting practice during the year. He was released by the Pirates as a player on September 30, 1960. Though not eligible to play in the World Series, he did win a World Series ring.

Coaching and managing

thumb|left|Vernon in 1963 as manager of the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|expansion Washington Senators]]

Vernon's career as a coach and manager began during his 1960 stint on the staff of his longtime friend, Pirates' skipper Danny Murtaugh. Inheriting the name and home field of the 1901–1960 Washington franchise, now the Minnesota Twins, the expansion Senators were hastily constructed with an undercapitalized ownership, an MLB roster of castoff players, and an almost-nonexistent farm system. In Vernon's two full seasons at the helm, 1961 and , the Senators lost a combined 201 games. They were 14–26 and last in the ten-team American League when Vernon was fired on May 21, 1963, and replaced by former Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman, and future Hall of Famer, Gil Hodges. He finished with a career record of 135–227, a .373 winning percentage.

Murtaugh rehired Vernon as the Pirates' first base coach in 1964. Murtaugh resigned for health reasons at the end of the 1964 season, and Vernon left the Pirates. From 1966 to 1968, he managed the Vancouver Mounties of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, a Kansas City/Oakland Athletics affiliate; going 77–71 in 1966, 77–69 in 1967, and 58–88 in 1968. From 1969 to 1970, he managed the Triple-A Richmond Braves, the Atlanta Braves affiliate in the International League, taking the team from a 56–83 record in 1969 to 73–67 the following season. In 1971, he became manager of the New York Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Manchester Yankees, going 61–75.

He worked as a minor league batting instructor for the Kansas City Royals from 1973 to 1974 and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1975 to 1976. He moved to the Yankees' organization in September 1978 as a special batting instructor.

In early 1982, at age 63, Vernon was briefly named the Yankees' batting coach, after Charlie Lau left the team, allegedly no longer wanting to work under George Steinbrenner. By contrast, Vernon was low profile and brought an "energetic gentleness" to his approach on hitting. In early 1984, the Yankees brought him in to work with Roy Smalley on learning how to field at first base.

Vernon later scouted for the Yankees; he retired in 1988 at age 70.

Legacy and honors

Vernon appeared in 2,409 MLB games without playing in the postseason, third-most in history behind Ernie Banks and Luke Appling. Vernon ended his career with 2,237 games played at first base, behind only Eddie Murray (2,413), Jake Beckley (2,377), and Fred McGriff (2,239) in MLB history. His 2,044 double plays turned at first base is first all-time (through 2025). He led the AL in fielding percentage four times He holds the American League records for most putouts by a first baseman (19,754), assists by a first baseman (1,444) and total chances (21,198).

Vernon posted a career .286 batting average with 172 home runs and 1,311 RBIs in 2,409 games. The left-hander averaged 88 RBIs a year and had 11 seasons with 80 or more and three with 90 or more. He scored 1,196 runs with 137 stolen bases and a .359 on-base percentage. His career slugging percentage was .428, with a career high of .518 in 1953. He compiled 2,495 hits, with 490 doubles and 120 triples in 8,731 at bats. He had 3,741 career total bases, with his career high coming in 1953 (315). Ned Garver recalled that in Vernon's finest seasons, "He'd hit the ball wherever it was pitched. He was difficult to pitch to in those seasons". By his final game played, on September 27, 1960, he was, at 42, the oldest player in the National League by almost a year, and one of the most popular figures in the game. He was called the "Gentleman First Baseman", described as "polite, kindly, and graceful" as a player and off the field, and was President Dwight David Eisenhower's favorite baseball player. Eisenhower presented Vernon with the Silver Slugger Award for having the AL's highest batting average in 1953. The plaque on a statute dedicated to him in Marcus Hook calls Vernon a "role model", "mentor", "great guy", and "a gentleman's gentleman".

In August 2008, Vernon was named as one of the 10 former players who began their careers before 1943 to be considered by the Veterans Committee for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. Pennsylvania's General Assembly adopted a resolution on November 12, 2008 "Urging the National Baseball Hall of Fame to induct James Barton "Mickey" Vernon".

The Mickey Vernon Museum Collection in Radnor, Pennsylvania, honors Vernon's career, military service, and friendship with Murtaugh, among other artifacts. In September 2003, Marcus Hook dedicated a life-size statue of Vernon on a baseball field one block from his former home. A youth Little League in Delaware County, Pennsylvania was first named for Vernon during his Major League career, and continued thereafter. Vernon would attend its opening game every year. He is a member of the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Mickey and Lib (Firth) Vernon were married for 63 years at the time of her death in 2004. While they met in high school, Vernon was too shy to ask her for a date until they were 19. Their daughter Gay Vernon was a Boston radio newscaster. Vernon is interred at the Lawn Croft Cemetery in Linwood, Pennsylvania.

MLB highlights

  • MLB record: Double plays at first base (2,044)
  • American League All-Star (1946, 1948, 1953–1956, 1958)
  • American League batting champion (1946, 1953)
  • American League leader in doubles (1946, 1953, 1954)
  • American League leader in extra base hits (1954)
  • American League leader in fielding average (1950-1952, 1954)
  • American League top 10 in MVP voting (1946, 1953, 1954)
  • American League top 10 in triples (1941, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1951–1955)

See also

  • Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009
  • List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball batting champions
  • List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball players who played in four decades
  • List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
  • List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches

References

Further reading

  • Interview with Mickey Vernon conducted by Eugene Murdock, February 19, 1974, in Marietta, Ohio (40 minutes)

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