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. Growing up in Marcus Hook, an aunt started calling him Mickey and the nickname stuck.
He attended Villanova University for one year on a baseball scholarship, where he played baseball under coach George "Doc" Jacobs. Washington Senators scout Joe Cambria had observed him at Villanova. Since he was 13 years old, Vernon had been close friends with fellow Delaware County native and childhood baseball teammate, and future MLB player and manager, Danny Murtaugh. In 1937, Vernon and Murtaugh went to try out for professional baseball teams in the Class D Eastern Shore League; Vernon made the Easton, Maryland Browns and Murtaugh made the Cambridge, Maryland Cardinals teams. 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.
After playing a portion of the 1939 season with the Senators, Vernon spent most of 1940 playing for the Double-A Jersey City Giants of the International League. He hit .283 in 569 at bats, with 9 home runs. This was his last season in the minors.
Major leagues Vernon played for 14 full MLB seasons (400 at bats or more) in his 20-year career. He wound up batting over .335 twice, over .300 five times, and over .290 nine times. He was a two-time AL batting champion. In , his .353 batting mark eclipsed Ted Williams' .342 by 11 points (both of whom were returning from military service after World War II). 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. He led the AL with 33 doubles and 67 extra-base hits. He also had 294 total bases, which was second in the AL, behind Minnie Miñoso.
Washington Senators (1939–1943) Vernon played in 76 games for the 1939 Senators, starting 75 at first base. He hit .257 in 276 at bats, with one home run, 30 RBIs, and 23 runs scored. 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. He had the worst fielding percentage of his career in 1942 (.982), leading all Major League first basemen in errors (26); 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.
Military service During World War II, he served in the United States Navy, missing the 1944 and 1945 seasons. After basic training, he played baseball on a variety of service teams. He served with MLB players Larry Doby and Billy Goodman on Ulithi in the South Pacific in 1945, where they pitched batting practice to each other. 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 led all MLB players in doubles with 51. 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. After the 1946 season, Vernon toured with Bob Feller's All-Stars. During that tour, his team frequently faced Satchel Paige.
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. Though he learned from Milan, who was primarily the team's third-base coach, Vernon believed that players essentially served as their own batting coaches at the time, as the position did not exist in his day. He found value in studying teammate Cecil Travis, who was proficient at hitting to all fields based on where the ball was pitched, as well as his idol, Hall of Fame second baseman Charlie Gehringer, who had the same skill. 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.
Before the 1947 season, Vernon sought a $25,000 salary from the Senators. Owner Clark Griffith called the demand ridiculous and offered a $9,000 salary, plus an unspecified bonus. 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. Despite a career-low batting average, he was selected to the AL All-Star team 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. He was recovering from an offseason appendectomy when he began spring training that season. 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 had played in 28 games for Cleveland, hitting only .189 at the time of the trade. He had become more of a bench player with the improvement of first baseman Luke Easter. Weik was a 22-year old pitcher. 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 had 15 home runs, 11 triples, and career bests with 115 RBIs, 101 runs scored, and a .921 OPS. In 1954, he hit .290, and led the AL in doubles (33), with career bests of 14 triples and 20 home runs. He also had 97 RBIs and an .850 OPS. He was selected to the American League All-Star team from 1953 to 1955, starting in 1953 and 1955. 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. In his final season with the Senators, he hit .301 with 14 home runs and 85 RBIs.
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.