Obituaries

Robert J. StevensBaseball Player

Robert J. Stevens, 98, who was the oldest living former member of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, died Dec. 30 at Sunrise assisted living center in Frederick. He had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

He was a shortstop for the Phillies from 1929 to 1931 and had a batting average of .343 with 35 at-bats for the 1931 season. He also played in the Carolina League in the minors.

In August 2000, Mr. Stevens was honored at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, where he helped unveil a commemorative plaque to be placed at the original Baker Bowl ballpark. He played in the old ballpark in North Philadelphia, where the Phillies held games until 1938.

The event brought him a host of new admirers. "He still got fan letters and was still signing autographs," said his son William L. Stevens of Monrovia.

Mr. Stevens, who went by Bob, was born in Chevy Chase and graduated from the old Western High School in Washington. He was a founding member of the Chevy Chase Bearcats baseball team.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps in Long Island, N.Y.

He lived the past year in Frederick but spent most of his life in Montgomery County, both in Chevy Chase and for 50 years at his family home in Rockville.

He worked for 30 years in the accounting department of the Veterans Administration, until 1971. He then drove the bookmobile for the Montgomery County Public Library Service, retiring in 1977.

Mr. Stevens coached Rockville Little League baseball from 1960 to 1967, winning the 1967 championship.

He had been a lifetime member of the Association of Professional Ball Players of America since 1928.

His wife, Lucy S. Stevens, died in 1992.