Player notes: Vernon was an excellent fielding first baseman and two time batting champion (1946 and 1953) whose career spanned four decades. He collected 2,495 career hits and posted a .286 lifetime batting average. In addition to his two batting crowns, he led the league in doubles three times. Almost all of his most productive years were spent with the Senators. He was a seven time All Star, and holds the AL record for most games played at first base (101 more than Lou Gehrig). Bill James rates Vernon the 23rd best first baseman of all time (in The New Bill James Historical Abstract).

The following tribute to Mickey Vernon was entered into the Congressional Record on September 17, 2003.

TRIBUTE TO BASEBALL GREAT MICKEY VERNON

HON. CURT WELDON of Pennsylvania

in the House of Representatives

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, Saturday, September 20, 2003
will be a special day for legendary baseball batting champ Mickey
Vernon as his hometown of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania honors their
favorite son by unveiling a life size statue of Vernon on the same ball
field where he played sandlot ball. The statue will be unveiled at 2:30
p.m. at the Marcus Hook Memorial Field on Market Street.

Mickey Vernon is a hero in my hometown. Marcus Hook is a close-knit,
working-class town on the Delaware River. The people of Marcus Hook
have community spirit and have much cause for civic pride. One of the
unifying bonds in our hometown is our great pride in the career and
achievements of Mickey Vernon. In the ballparks of Marcus Hook the name
of Mickey Vernon is revered. Even today, more than thirty years after
his retirement, kids in Marcus Hook still play ball in the Mickey
Vernon Little League.

Mickey Vernon, one of baseball's greatest first basemen of all time
has earned a special place in the annals of baseball history. Mickey
played 21 years in the big leagues, thirteen of those in our Nation's
Capital where he played for the Washington Senators. He was known as a
slick-fielding left-handed first baseman with a short, compact lefty
swing.

In 1946, Mickey won the first of his two American League batting
titles, hitting .353 while banging out a league-leading 51 doubles and
knocking in 85 runs. He won a second Silver Bat in 1953, when be again
lead the league with a .337 average and 43 doubles. That year, he also
smashed 15 home runs and drove in a career-best 115 runs.
For his career, Mickey batted .286, drove in 1,311 runs, and hit 490
doubles. He played in seven All-Star games, and after a time held
career records for first basemen in assists, put-outs, chances, and
games played. He was durable and consistent, playing 115 or more games
for 14 straight years.

It is well known that Mickey Vernon was President Dwight D.
Eisenhower's favorite player. On opening day, 1954, with Ike in
attendance, Vernon hit a home run in the 10th inning to defeat the New
York Yankees. President Eisenhower called Vernon into his box to
congratulate him.

Typical of many ballplayers of his era, Mickey lost two years in the
prime of his career, 1944-45, because he answered his country's call to
service during World War II. When we honor individuals like Mickey
Vernon we promote the essence of what is good and wholesome in our
Nation. Individuals like Mickey Vernon represent the essence of courage
and endurance--the qualities that helped make our Nation great. He is a
true American hero in every sense of the word.

Few towns in America can claim to be birthplace of a genuine baseball
hero, and the people of Marcus Hook are very proud to call Mickey
Vernon one of our own.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mickey Vernon for
his outstanding career and his major league contributions to baseball,
to his community, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and to the Nation
with best wishes as well to his wife, Libby.