1900
Born February 10, 1900
Springettsbury Township, PA, USA
Jake Stephens Marquee
b. February 10, 1900 · Hilldale Club 1921–1929, New York Lincoln Giants 1928, Homestead Grays 1929–1932, Pittsburgh Crawfords 1932, Philadelphia Stars 1933–1935, New York Black Yankees 1936–1937
Jake Stephens was small, quick and a poor hitter — .236 across 666 recorded games — and he held a regular shortstop job for seventeen years anyway, which tells you what people thought of his glove.
He came up with the Hilldale Club in 1921 and was their shortstop through three straight pennants and the 1925 Colored World Series title. Later came the Homestead Grays, briefly the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and three seasons with the Philadelphia Stars, whose 1934 championship he was part of.
Born in Springettsbury Township, Pennsylvania in 1900, Stephens stole 78 bases and scored 371 runs in the surviving record. He died on February 5, 1981, five days short of his eighty-first birthday.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Negro Leagues East-West Classic | 1 | 1935 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921* | HIL | 6 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .158 |
| 1922* | HIL | 7 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .059 |
| 1923 | HIL | 18 | 40 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .100 |
| 1924 | HIL | 28 | 100 | 11 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 4 | .190 |
| 1925 | HIL | 54 | 189 | 29 | 41 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 8 | .217 |
| 1926 | HIL | 66 | 207 | 30 | 56 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 21 | 15 | 12 | .271 |
| 1927 | HIL | 82 | 286 | 39 | 67 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 24 | 0 | 19 | .234 |
| 1928 | HIL/NLG | 55 | 200 | 22 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 4 | .160 |
| 1929 | HG/HIL | 15 | 51 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .196 |
| 1930* | HG | 55 | 220 | 46 | 60 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 29 | 7 | 5 | .273 |
| 1931* | HG | 17 | 56 | 6 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .250 |
| 1932 | HG/PC | 74 | 278 | 58 | 68 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 34 | 0 | 8 | .245 |
| 1933* | PS | 28 | 113 | 18 | 35 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 1 | .310 |
| 1934 | PS | 65 | 254 | 39 | 67 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 22 | 2 | 7 | .264 |
| 1935 | PS | 40 | 157 | 24 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 18 | 0 | 1 | .242 |
| 1936 | NBY | 31 | 113 | 22 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 6 | .212 |
| 1937 | NBY | 25 | 91 | 11 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
| Major leagues | — | 553 | 1966 | 298 | 452 | 46 | 19 | 2 | 145 | 175 | 27 | 72 | .230 |
| All seasons | — | 666 | 2391 | 371 | 565 | 67 | 24 | 4 | 182 | 220 | 37 | 78 | .236 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | NBY | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Career | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Seasons outside MLB's recognized major leagues appear in All seasons, but not in Major leagues or the leaderboards. For Jake Stephens, that is 1921–1933. Why totals can differ.
On this day & linked events
1981