R.I.P. - R.C. Stevens

R C Stevens (born on July 22, 1934 in Moultrie, Georgia) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1952 season and traded to the Washington Senators on December 16, 1960. He played for the Pirates from 1958 to 1960, and for the Washington Senators in 1961. He threw left-handed, batted right-handed, stood 6 feet, 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and weighed 219 pounds (99.3 kg).



Stevens was the first player to appear as a pinch hitter in modern Washington Senators history. On April 10, 1961, in the bottom of the 9th inning, he came into the game to bat for catcher Pete Daley against relief pitcher Frank Baumann. He hit a grounder to third, which advanced baserunner Jim Mahoney from first to second. The next batter made the third out, and the Washington Senators lost to the Chicago White Sox, 4-3.




He had a lifetime batting average of .210, with 8 home runs, 21 RBI, and a slugging percentage of .395 in his 210 at bats. He scored 21 runs in 104 ballgames.


Stevens, who passed away Friday at the age of 76, was a strapping first baseman who never seemed to get an opportunity to show what he could do with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators. He batted .210 with eight home runs in 104 games at the big-league level, including a short stint with the Pirates’ 1960 world championship team.