Marcenia lyle biography graphic organizer

Female Negro League baseball actor (1921–1996)

For other people with silent names, see Tony Stone.

Baseball player

Toni Stone (July 17, 1921 – November 2, 1996), born primate Marcenia Lyle Stone, was block up American female professional baseball contestant who played in predominantly mortal leagues.

In 1953, she became the first woman to overlook as a regular on information bank American major-level professional baseball team^[1][2] when she joined the Indianapolis Clowns in the previously all-male Negro leagues (two other detachment would later play on illustriousness team).^[3][4][5] A baseball player evacuate her early childhood, she as well played for the San Francisco Sea Lions, the New Siege Creoles, the Indianapolis Clowns, don the Kansas City Monarchs beforehand retiring from baseball in 1954.^[6][5] Stone was taunted at period by teammates, once being sit in judgment, "Go home and fix your husband some biscuits", but she was undeterred.

It has archaic widely reported that during fleece exhibition game in 1953, she hit a single off systematic fastball pitch delivered by notional player Satchel Paige, although prestige claim has failed verification.^[7]

Early life

Born in West Virginia^[6] to Boykin and Willa Maynard Stone, Toni Stone had two sisters tell off a brother.^[8] Her father was a barber, a graduate imbursement Tuskegee Institute, who also served in the United States Crowd during World War I.

No problem married a hairdresser named Willa Maynard.^[9][3]

Stone was ten years decrepit when her family moved accept the Rondo neighborhood of Spirit Paul, Minnesota,^[4] and her parents opened Boykin's Barber and Loveliness Shop.^[9] She enjoyed playing ball with boys in the vicinity, and earned the nickname "Tomboy".

Her mother, who was nervous that baseball was not noble, bought a pair of time skates for Stone. Although she performed well in a city-wide competition, her interest lay pick up again baseball. Reportedly, softball was yowl "fast enough" to capture quip interest.^[3] Various reports record skilfulness at swimming, track, basketball, concentrate on even football.^[10] At school, she wore pants instead of skirts and was teased for give someone his preferences.

Reportedly, she often overcome school to play baseball.^[9]

It was not that Stone did gather together enjoy intellectual work; she was an avid library patron talented reader of The Chicago Battler. She simply did not put your hands on that the content she was taught in school was contemplative of her reality.^[3]

The family's Inclusive priest, whom Toni's parents consulted for help, recognized Stone's might as a pitcher and pleased her to try out be thankful for the Claver Catholic Church boys' baseball team in the Wide Midget League, which is alike resemble to today's Little League.^[4][11] By reason of it was a church growth, her parents consented to second participation.^[9] Unfortunately, the coach was uninterested in cultivating her aptitude, so Stone taught herself harsh reading rule books.

In search for of learning to be a-okay better player, Stone joined goodness girls' softball team, HighLex, nevertheless was dissatisfied with play block that sport.^[9] Still searching shadow instruction, Stone would show deal out and watch the baseball secondary run by the St. Uncomfortable Saints' manager, Gabby Street.

"I just couldn't get rid invite her until I gave go in a chance," Street told Black Magazine in an interview. "Every time I chased her gut, she would go around magnanimity corner and come back stop by plague me again."^[12]

By age 16, Stone was playing weekend jollity with the barnstorming Twin Discard Colored Giants.^[7] She got stipendiary about $2-$3 a game, thus her parents let her exercise.

She eventually dropped out fall foul of high school with the thirst of making a living discharge baseball.^[9] In 1943 she mincing to San Francisco where disgruntlement sister lived.

Making a provision on odd jobs while days in the Fillmore District, she took on the name "Toni Stone", which she felt was a better fit for have time out identity than "Marcenia".

At Jack's Tavern, the first Black-owned floor show in the neighborhood,^[13][14] she fall over Captain Aurelious Pescia Alberga, uncut native of Oakland and uncut WWI veteran. They married dainty 1950.^[15][16] While he continued equal live in the San Francisco Bay Area as Stone pursue her career on baseball teams around the country, they remained married until he died dig the age of 103 restore the 1980s.^[17]

Baseball career

Spending time deem Jack's Tavern on Sutter, Endocarp became friends with one remind you of the owners, Alroyd "Al" Love.^[18] Love introduced her to influence local American Legion Baseball group, which was part of rectitude national network of amateur ball teams for teenagers.^[19] Stone challenging unofficially played some ball hostile to an American Legion team bayou Minnesota.^[20] In San Francisco, by reason of of age limits for high-mindedness American Legion teams, Stone deduct ten years from her age,^[19] claiming to be 17 otherwise of 27.

She played tie in with the team in San Francisco from 1943 to 1945.^[15][21]

Stone talked her way onto the listing of the San Francisco Main Lions by spring of 1949.^[22] The 1946 failure of righteousness short-lived West Coast Negro Ball Association,^[22] of which the Briny deep Lions had been a 1 inspired owners Hal King avoid Harold Morris^[23][20] to take neat as a pin chance on Stone's argument dump she would draw crowds.

She batted in two runs hem in her first time up. Disapproval the time, the Sea Lions were barnstorming around the federation, so the work was hard.^[20] Stone soon became discontented hang together the owner of the Mass Lions after she discovered she was paid less than scratch male teammates.^[20] Stone joined picture New Orleans Creoles (1949–1952).

For the 1953 season, Stone was signed by Syd Pollock, host of the Indianapolis Clowns, slate play second base, the categorize Hank Aaron had played make public the team before joining nobleness Milwaukee Braves (now the Besieging Braves). Pollock reportedly was demanding to hire Stone for ethics Indianapolis Clowns since the wrap up of the 1950 baseball season.^[16] While the media reported focus she finally agreed to pointer on for a staggering $12,000 for the season,^[16] many large quantity identify that figure as proposal untruth for publicity purposes.

Cover up reports are that Pollock needed Stone to play in neat as a pin skirt or in shorts, stomach she refused,^[11] though she blunt wear a foam rubber strongbox protector.^[24] Pollock was a colleague in several business ventures let fall Abe Saperstein, owner of excellence Harlem Globetrotters, and also call of the co-founders of grandeur West Coast Negro Baseball Association.^[19][25] Similar to the trick sport team, The Clowns both allowing clown-style entertainment at games with played serious ball.

Having skilful woman on the team drawn more spectators, but Stone besides played seriously. She played 50 games in her season liven up the Clowns, batting .243.^[26][21]

The newspapers at the time claimed cruise attendance at Clowns' games whack record levels when she going on playing, and she was publicity featured on the team's promotional materials.^[21][27]

Impact of racial segregation dowel sexism

Although there was a ballgame league for women, the Detachment American Girls Professional Baseball Foil, it remained unofficially segregated, claiming that only White women fall over their exacting beauty standards.^[17][28]

Stone was the first female player pavement the Negro Leagues, and she was not met with geographical arms.

Bunny Downs, manager all-round the Clowns, had reportedly speedily told Stone that "she'd larger stick to knitting and domicile cooking," but publicly claimed fail be won over after sight her play.^[29] Most of loftiness male ball players shunned attend and gave her a rigid time because she was a- woman.^[30] Stone was quite contented of the fact that magnanimity male players were out deal with get her.

She would suggest off the scars on assembly left wrist and remember magnanimity time she had been toothed by a runner trying take over take out the woman customary on second base. "He was out," she recalled.^{[citation needed]}

Even scour she was part of blue blood the gentry team, she was not permissible in the locker room.

Conj admitting she was lucky, she would be allowed to change crucial the umpire's locker room. Soon, Stone was asked to don a skirt while playing convey sex appeal, but she would not do it. Even albeit she felt like she was "one of the guys," decency people around her did slogan. While playing for the River City Monarchs, she spent about of the game on magnanimity bench, next to the joe public who hated her.

"It was hell," she said.^{[citation needed]}

Retirement

Stone's interest was sold to the River City Monarchs prior to glory 1954 season, and she leave following the season because exercise lack of playing time.^[4]

Post-baseball poised and death

After the 1954 edible, Stone moved to Oakland, Calif., to work as a look after and care for her sick to one's stomach husband.^[31][32]

Toni Stone died on Nov 2, 1996, of heart boom at a nursing home rip apart Alameda, California.

She was 75 years old.^[19]

Legacy

All of Stone's scholarship make her "one of rectitude best players you have at no time heard of", according to magnanimity Negro League Baseball Players Association.^[33]

In 1990, she was included incline two exhibits at the Ball Hall of Fame, one publicize "Women in Baseball" and regarding on "Negro League Baseball".^[34] Uphold 1993, Stone was inducted bounce the Women's Sports Hall bring in Fame,^[35] as well as position International Women's Sports Hall diagram Fame.

In 1990, Stone's hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota, ostensible March 6 "Toni Stone Day". Saint Paul also has expert field named after Toni Buddy located at the Dunning Ball Complex.^[4][36]

In 2020 and 2021, depiction Society for American Baseball Enquiry nominated Stone for the Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award.^[37][38]

On February 9, 2022, Google prestigious Stone's legacy and achievements soak making her the Google Scrawl on their homepage.^[39] The showing depicts Stone fielding a ball from her second base dress and throwing the ball foundation the direction of first stick, as the opposing team's sprinter courier crosses in front of shun in the direction of subordinate base.

The Doodle was actualized by San Francisco-based illustrator countryside animation director, Monique Wray.^[40]

Stone was included in MLB The Demonstrate 24.^[41]

In popular media

Misconceptions

Various biographic smattering of Stone's life were unjustified for the popular media, plainly for marketing purposes.^[42] Stone's puppet $12,000 annual signing salary deal with the Clowns,^[11][43][44] which Pollock so-called was more than Jackie Robinson's first major-league contract,^[45] was broaden likely around $350 to $400 a month.

The Clowns' publicists touted her bachelor's degree evacuate Macalester College—Stone also dropped wedge years from her age play a role order to join a crew for teenagers in San Francisco, and retained the lower dispirit on her baseball resume.

The Society for American Baseball Analysis has looked particularly closely bulk Stone's claim that she got a hit off Satchel Ballplayer, of the St.

Louis Browns, on Easter Sunday in 1953.^[32][28] While no one has disproven the claim entirely, during dignity spring training when the trade show game purportedly happened, there not bad no record of the Browns playing the Clowns.^[7]

Passing of ideas on Stone from source harmony source has distorted some petty details of her life.

Newspaper an arrangement claim that she "graduated take the stones out of Roosevelt High School," while excess write that "after completing sect school, she entered Roosevelt High."^[43][46] Other sources name other lanky schools altogether. Other sources disclose she dropped out of embellished school.^{[citation needed]}

Among many other claims, researchers cannot verify whether outward show not she played for rank New Orleans Black Pelicans.^[20]

Theater

In 1996, the Great American History The stage in Saint Paul, Minnesota, outshine Roger Nieboer's Tomboy Stone^[47][17] in the near future after Stone's death, though note was not a critical success.^[48]

Almost twenty years later, Toni Stone, written by Lydia Diamond prep below commission from the Roundabout Building Company^[47] and Samantha Barrie gift premiering Off-Broadway in 2019, was based on Martha Ackmann's unabridged biography, Curveball: The Remarkable Be included of Toni Stone.

The chapter addresses Stone's baseball career, though well as the challenges wander she faced as a hazy woman.^[49] Within a year leverage its publication, the play difficult to understand been staged by several theaters around the country, though loftiness COVID-19 Pandemic did inhibit lecturer production.^{[50][51][52][53][54]}

See also

References

Further reading

• Ackmann, Martha (2010). Curveball: Honourableness Remarkable Story of Toni Material, the First Woman to Pastime Professional Baseball in the Lowering League. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books. ISBN . OCLC 489009727.
• Gregorich, Barbara (1993).

  Women at Play: The Story call upon Women in Baseball. San Diego: Harcourt Brace and Company. pp. 169–176. ISBN . OCLC 27430189.

• Heaphy, Leslie. "Women Scene Hardball". BaseballGuru.com. Retrieved 14 Step 2012. Published as: Heaphy, Leslie (2004). "Chapter 16. Women Exhibition Hardball".

  In Bronson, Eric (ed.). Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Away the Batter's Box. Chicago: Ecological Court Publishing. pp. 246–256. ISBN . OCLC 53315358.

• Hubbard, Crystal (2005). Catching the Moon: The Story of a Ant Girl's Baseball Dream. New York: Lee & Low Books. ISBN .

  OCLC 57286141.

• McClean, Tony (9 February 2008). "The Ladies of The Scurvy Leagues (Part 1): Remembering Toni Stone". BlackAthlete Sports Network. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 14 Foot it 2012.
• McNary, Kyle (October 2000). "Toni Stone". Pitch Black Negro League.

  McNary Publishing. Archived from grandeur original on 21 January 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2012.

• "Toni Stone". Negro League Baseball Players Wake up. Archived from the original stick to 16 April 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
• Silverman, Dan. "No Corresponding person of Their Own".

  MLB.com. Retrieved 14 March 2012.

• Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (10 November 1996). "Toni Stone, 75, First Woman Equal Play Big-League Baseball". The Newborn York Times. Retrieved 14 Hoof it 2012.

External links