Born in Galveston, Texas, Stevens was originally signed as a 16-year-old by the Dodgers. He played minor league ball in parts of four seasons before joining the big team in 1945.[1]
Stevens became a regular in 1946, ending with a .242 and 60 RBI in 103 games, while his 10 home runs were the second-highest on the team, being surpassed only by Pete Reiser (11).[3]
Although he had been the regular in that season, Stevens was replaced at first base by Jackie Robinson in 1947.[4] He appeared in just five games and was sent to Triple-A Montreal Royals, where he hit .290 with 27 homers and 108 RBI in 133 games.[5] During the off-season, he was purchased along with Stan Rojek by the Pirates from the Dodgers.[1]
Stevens opened 1948 with Pittsburgh, where he replaced retired Hank Greenberg. As a regular at first base, he posted career numbers in games (128), at-bats (468), runs, hits, RBI (69) and matched his career-best of 10 home runs, which were third-best on the team.[6]
Stevens was used sparingly for the next two seasons before returning to the minors in 1951. He finished with a .252 average in 375 major league games.[1]
In parts of 16 minor league seasons spanning 1941 to 1961, Stevens belted 257 home runs and drove in 1013 runs, while collecting a slash line (BA/OBP/SLG) of .275/.347/.457 in 1865 games.[5]
Following his playing days, Stevens went on to a long career as a coach, which included working with the San Diego Padres in part of the 1981 season in order for him to qualify for pension benefits,[7] and scouting.
Stevens was still doing the latter until he retired in 1989.[8]
