Louis Roberts Stephen Jr. was born in Porterville, California on July 13, 1944 and recently passed away in the city in which he was born on May 9, 2024 at the age of 79. Stephen was better known as “Buzz Stephen” and he achieved his dream of pitching in the major leagues albeit in just two games.
In Porterville High school he was 6’4″ and was the center on the basketball team and a pitcher on the baseball team. Stephen graduated in 1962 and attended Porterville Junior College before transferring to Fresno State College. He had some success as a swingman for the Fresno State Bulldogs, even if his control was wild at times. Stephen was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 25th round of the 1965 MLB June Amateur Draft from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA), the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1966 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (6th) of the 1966 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA).
In 1968 Stephen had his best season in pro ball at Double-A Charlotte and the Twins called him up in September for that “cup of coffee” and he made his major league debut on September 20 at Met Stadium versus the Oakland A’s and Catfish Hunter. The game was rescheduled from a May 15th rain out and with neither team in a pennant chase, a small crowd of 1,710 showed up to watch the rookie’s debut. Stephen gave up a harmless single to Bert Campaneris to lead off the game but then a steal, a walk, a double steal, a ground out and a fly out led to two runs scoring. By the time the Oakland A’s finished batting in the first inning they had already posted a 2-0 lead. It was a 3-1 lead for the A’s after six innings but Oakland knocked Stephen out of the game in the seventh after he had pitched 6.1 innings giving up 8 hits and 5 walks allowing 5 runs, but only 4 were earned while striking out one. Oakland went on to a 7 to 1 win and Stephen (0-1) had his first loss while Catfish Hunter (13-13) pitched a complete game for the win.
Stephen got another start on September 25th in Anaheim Stadium against the California Angels and this time he came away with a 5-2 win in what would be his final major league game. Stephen went 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks while striking out 3. Stephen later related a story in that game, which was published in The Porterville Recorder in 2023. Angels batter Jim Fregosi paused to talk to Minnesota Twins catcher Bruce Look before an at-bat, and Stephen noted that he was bailing out of the batter’s box during each pitch. Fregosi was retired on a weak grounder, and Stephen asked Look about the conversation when they got to the dugout. “He wanted to know who you were, so I told him you were a kid from up in the San Joaquin Valley,” Look replied. “I told him you throw hard enough to throw a grape through a brick wall, but you don’t always know where it’s going.” The article went on to say that Stephen attempted a pick-off against the Angels, but the throw went wild and caught the first base umpire in the backside. As the ump rubbed where he got hit, he told the rookie pitcher, “That was the best fastball you’ve thrown all night and you wasted it on me!”
In the 1968 off season, Major League Baseball held an expansion draft for the Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals. Stephen was taken by the Pilots in the fifth round, much to the dismay of Twins management. Stephen has one of the best arms we’ve ever had in our organization,” said team president Calvin Griffith. “We didn’t think he would be taken that high.
Stephen never pitched for the Pilots but instead spent 1969 with the team’s Arizona Instructional League, as well as stops with Rochester and Vancouver. Pilots moved to Milwaukee in 1970 and became the Brewers, and the team traded Stephen to Baltimore in June, along with pitcher Dick Baney, for outfielder Dave May. He joined Baltimore in spring training in 1971 but decided to retire and returned to California to complete his education.
Stephen eventually bought the family business from his father in 1982 and renamed it Porterville Monument Works. Stephen was inducted into the Fresno State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 and the PHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. Stephen and Julie were married for 53 years, and they had two daughters, Jennifer and Sara, and four grandchildren.