Toni Stone - First Professional Female Baseball Player in the Negro Leagues
Early Life
Toni Stone was born on July 17th, 1921 in St. Paul, Minnesota (Her given birth name was Marcenia Stone but we will discuss the change to Toni later). She was one of four children born to her parents, Willa and Boykin Stone. Toni Stone had a love for the game ever since she was a child. As Toni was growing up, her parents discouraged the playing of baseball. She had to purchase her first glove from the Goodwill for twenty-five cents after she had earned enough from working around the neighborhood. When Stone was twelve, her parents had her sit down with Father Keefe thinking he would try to talk her out of playing baseball, but the Priest did just the opposite. Father Keefe asked Stone if she would be interested in playing on the Catholic boys’ baseball league. She helped the boys win so they welcomed her onto the team. Despite Stone’s obvious love for the game of baseball, her mother, Willa, thought she could be more lady like. Willa bought Toni a pair of figure skates and proposed that she try that and learn how to be graceful. Toni Stone put on her skates and won the citywide competition. Remembering the competition, Stone said, “I took the trophy home, and gave it to my mother and picked up my glove and bat.” Stone was known as one of the best female athletes in St. Paul.
Details
Early Playing Career
Toni Stone played softball for the St. Paul HighLex girls’softball team, but she quit a little after a year because the speed of the game wasn’t fast enough. Wanting to continue playing on a boys’ team, Toni Stone found Gabby Street, who had a boys’ baseball school, and began to follow him around. She asked him for many opportunities to show Street what she had to offer, and eventually he gave in. He was amazed by her ability to sweep up ground balls, talent of knowing when to swing the bat, and was amazed by her accurate arm. Toni Stone’s birthday was coming up and after confiding in Street that she wished she had more professional equipment, Street bought her baseball shoes for her fifteenth birthday. Stone believed the gift of the baseball cleats were a sign of validation – Street’s belief that she could be someone in baseball.
Twin City Colored Giants
Toni Stone was also a part of the Twin City Colored Giants, a barnstorming team. She convinced her mother to let her join by telling her it was a way to make a little extra money. In reality no one really got paid very much; two or three dollars per game. One of her teammates, John Cotton, said, “She was a ballplayer, could throw just like a man. ” The Colored Giants played other black teams, semi-pro white teams in towns across Minnesota and Wisconsin, and integrated teams. Stone’s teammates respected her and played with her because she could get them runs.
Education
Because she was so busy playing baseball, Stone did not have
time for school. Shewould rather read books from the library on
baseball and on baseball legends. She would "come and go"
to school when she had time. In the summer of 1940, when she turned nineteen,
Stone officially dropped out of high school. After she was done with school, Stone did not want to settle down and get married like most women did
during
the time. After all, "A woman has her dreams too." And with
that, Toni Stone boarded a bus for San Francisco, California and went to see
what she could find.
San Francisco
When Toni Stone arrived in San Francisco, she needed to find a job. She slept at the bus station for a couple days, but soon she was employed and had a room. Stone found a job as a welder in the San Francisco docks, but the problem was that she did not know how to weld. It did not take long for her boss to realize this, and he asked what she could do instead. Just as an army truck pulled up, Stone said she could drive it and hopped in.
Through her transition in California, Toni Stone realized she
could reinvent herself to be whatever she pleased. This is where she changed
her name from her birth name, Marcenia Stone, to Toni Stone.
She found it to be more fitting than Marcenia. She was more confident with
the name Toni, as confident as Aurelius Alberga. Alberga, forty years
her elder, is Stone's future husband. She met him after her move to San
Francisco and they got to know each other. Stone told Alberga of her
barnstorming and playing on boys teams during her time growing up. He started
to look into getting Stone on a local team.
Professional Playing Career
Toni Stone began her professional career as the first female baseball player in the Negro Leagues with the San Francisco Sea Lions in 1949. She batted two runners in during her first time up to bat with the Sea Lions. It is said that she left the team shortly after joining, due to not being paid a promised amount of money by the owner. She then went on to play with the Black Pelicans for a short amount of time and then she joined the New Orleans Creoles from 1949-1952. Syd Pollock, the manager of the Indianapolis Clowns, put out a flyer looking to recruit a new "attraction" for the ball field to add to the literal clowns he already had. Stone decided to join the Clowns, where she would play second base to replace Hank Aaron. She played with the Clowns for 50 games and maintained a batting average of 0.243. Is is said that she even got a hit off of Satchel Paige. In 1954, Stone's contract was sold to the Kansas City Monarchs, and she retired after the season due to lack of playing time.
Struggles
Stone faced ridicule from her teammates, the public disapproval, and managers. A lot of men did not
accept Stone into the game and heckled her for being a woman. She was spiked during a game ones by
a runner, but she recalls him being called out. Because she was a woman, Stone could not be in the
locker room either. It is said that she had to change in the umpire's room. Because she was a woman,
Stone was also asked to wear a skirt, but she refused as it was unconventional to play in. When other
players made sexual advances toward Stone or did anything inappropriate, but she dealt with it. Stone
recalled, "I never had no more problems because I hit him on the head running back to first!"One time
to fend off the advances, Stone took a baseball to one man's head. During her playing time, Stone was
discriminated by "whites because she was African American, and by her fellow players because she
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