Today’s Doodle honours athlete Marcenia “Toni” Stone, who overcame both gender and racial discrimination to become the first woman in history to play professional baseball as a regular in a men’s major baseball league, as illustrated by San Francisco, CA-based guest artist Monique Wray. Stone was inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame on this day in 2021.
Marcenia Lyle Stone was born in 1921 in Bluefield, West Virginia during an era of strong racial segregation in American sports. Stone came to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1931, and used the city’s public playgrounds and baseball fields to hone her amazing athleticism. Stone joined the all-male semi-pro Twin Cities Colored Giants at the age of 15, defying gender stereotypes. Stone debuted with the San Francisco Sea Lions in 1946, and thus began her illustrious professional career.
Her.280 batting average earned her a seat on the bench for the Negro League All-Star squad, while she continued to play second base for the lower league New Orleans Creoles throughout the United States. In 1953, Stone took over as second baseman for the Indianapolis Clowns, one of the League’s most prominent teams, from future Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron. Despite the taunting, Stone hit a single off of Satchel Paige, widely regarded as the best pitcher in Negro League history, during her first season with the Clowns.
Throughout her career, Stone played alongside legends like Jackie Robinson before retiring from professional baseball in 1954 as a legend. Toni Stone Day was established in her adopted hometown of St. Paul in 1990, and future generations of baseball players will be able to train under the lights of Toni Stone Field. Several exhibitions at the National Baseball Hall of Fame have honoured her, and she was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
Toni Stone, thank you for showing the world what determination and unwavering love for the game can achieve!