Born in Benson, North Carolina, Stephenson made his major league debut in relief on April 7, 1971 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh in a 14–3 loss at Wrigley Field. He earned his first and only save seventeen days later against the New York Mets, hurling 2.1 scoreless innings in a 7–5 home victory.\n', '

He got his first big league win on May 16, 1971. In the first game of a home doubleheader vs. the San Diego Padres Stephenson entered the 7–7 contest in the top of the 10th and gave up a run, but the Cubs bailed him out with two runs in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a 2-run walk-off homer by Jim Hickman.\n', '

Stephenson\'s best year in the majors was 1972 when he spent the entire season with the Milwaukee Brewers. He got into 35 games, most in relief, and was 3–5 with a 3.25 earned run average. In his other three big league years he spent the majority of the seasons in the minor leagues.\n', '

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