Raised in St. Paul's Rondo Neighborhood, Stone's playing career began when she was 10 years old, and joined the St. Peter Claver Catholic Church boys' baseball team in the Catholic Midget League, which is similar to today's Little League. She moved on to play for the Girls' Highlex Softball Club in Saint Paul, Minnesota. By the age of 15, Stone played for the St. Paul Giants, a men's semi-professional team. Stone soon began playing on Al Love's American Legion championship team. Stone began her professional career with the San Francisco Sea Lions, where she batted in two runs in her first time up. She soon became discontented with the owner of the Sea Lions after she did not receive the pay she had been promised. Stone quit the team and joined the Black Pelicans of New Orleans. After a short stint with the Black Pelicans, Stone joined the New Orleans Creoles. She was signed by Syd Pollack, owner of the Indianapolis Clowns, in 1953 to play second base, the position Hank Aaron had played for the team one year earlier. She did this as part of a publicity stunt. The Clowns were compared to the Harlem Globetrotters of the basketball world, so having a woman on the team attracted more fans. During the 50 games Stone played for the Clowns, she maintained a.243 batting average, and one of her hits was off the legendary Satchel Paige. All of these accomplishments may make her "one of the best players you have never heard of", according to the Negro League BaseballPlayers Association. Stone's contract was sold to the Kansas City Monarchs prior to the 1954 season, and she retired following the season because of lack of playing time. After the 1954 season, Stone moved to Oakland, California, to work as a nurse and care for her sick husband, who died in 1987 at age 103. Toni Stone died on November 2, 1996, of heart failure at a nursing home in Alameda, California. She was 75 years old.
Struggles
Stone was the first female player in the Negro Leagues, and she was not met with open arms. Most of the male ball players shunned her and gave her a hard time because she was a woman. Stone was quite proud of the fact that the male players were out to get her. She would show off the scars on her left wrist and remember the time she had been spiked by a runner trying to take out the woman standing on second base. "He was out," she recalled. Even though she was part of the team, she was not allowed in the locker room. If she was lucky, she would be allowed to change in the umpire's locker room. Once, Stone was asked to wear a skirt while playing for sex appeal, but she would not do it. Even though she felt like she was "one of the guys," the people around her did not. While playing for the Kansas City Monarchs, she spent most of the game on the bench, next to the men who hated her. "It was hell," she said.
