James B. ‘Mickey’ Vernon statue

James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (April 22, 1918 - September 24, 2008) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Washington Senators (1939–1948, 1950–1955) for the majority of his career, as well as four other teams: the Cleveland Indians (1949–1950, 1958), Boston Red Sox (1956–1957), Milwaukee Braves (1959) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1960). Despite missing two seasons to military service during World War II, he retired with 2,495 hits, and holds the major league record for career double plays at first base (2,044), as well as American League records for career games (2,227), putouts (19,754), assists (1,444) and total chances (21,408). He batted and threw left-handed.