John Thomas Stone (October 10, 1905 – November 30, 1955), nicknamed "Rocky," was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played 11 season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1928–1933) and Washington Senators (1934–1938). Stone hit over .300 seven times and had a career batting average of .310.

Early years

Stone was born in 1905 in Lynchburg, Tennessee. He attended

Maryville College Maryville College is a private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The college is one of the ...

from 1925 to 1928. The school's baseball team was 15-2 in Stone's senior year.

Professional baseball

Detroit Tigers

Stone signed with the

and, after a short stint in the minor leagues at Evansville, he appeared in his first major league game on August 31, 1928, just a few months after leaving college. In his first partial season, Stone hit an impressive .354 in 26 games with 15 extra base hits and a .549 slugging percentage. In 1929, Stone's batting average dropped 94 points to .260, but he returned to solid hitting in 1930 with a .311 batting average and a .452 slugging percentage. During July and August 1930, Stone had a 27-game hitting streak. Only five

(

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

Goose Goslin Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until . Goslin ...

Ron LeFlore Ronald LeFlore (born June 16, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball center fielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos. He retired with the Chicago White Sox in 1982. He stole 455 ...

Dale Alexander David Dale Alexander (April 26, 1903 – March 2, 1979), nicknamed "Moose", was an American baseball player and manager. A native of Greeneville, Tennessee, Alexander played professional baseball, principally as a first baseman, for 20 years f ...

, and

Pete Fox Ervin "Pete" Fox (March 8, 1909 – July 5, 1966) was an American professional baseball player from 1930 to 1946. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a right fielder, for the Detroit Tigers from 1933 to 1940 and th ...

) have had longer hitting streaks. Stone's fourth big league season in 1931 was his best. His .327 batting average was 10th best in the American League. He led the league in singles (142) and was also among the league leaders with 191 hits, 11 triples, and 13 stolen bases. Stone was also 16th in the American League's Most Valuable Player voting for 1931. In 1932, Stone continued as one of the top batters in the league, with 64 extra base hits, 108 RBIs and a .486 slugging percentage. He ranked ninth in the American League with 283 total bases and also ranked among the Top 10 in triples, home runs and RBIs. On April 30, 1933, Stone became the first major leaguer to collect six extra base hits in a regulation length doubleheader‚ as he collected four doubles and two home runs against the St. Louis Browns. He finished the 1933 season with a .283 batting average, a .434 slugging percentage, and 55 extra base hits. On December 13, 1933, Stone was traded to the Washington Senators in exchange for

. Goslin went on to help the Tigers win back-to-back pennants in 1934 and 1935, while the Senators dropped from first place to seventh place in 1934.

Washington Senators

Stone played for Washington for five seasons from 1934 to 1938, appearing in 556 games and compiling a .317 batting average, .393 on-base percentage, and .476 slugging percentage. Stone retired from baseball after the 1938 season due to a lung ailment.

Career statistics

Later years

Stone was married to Ruth Ellis Stone. They had a son, John T. Stone, Jr., and a daughter, Suzanne Stone. When his playing career ended, Stone retired to his farm in

Bedford County, Tennessee Bedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,237. Its county seat is Shelbyville. Bedford County comprises the Shelbyville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also inc ...

. He died of a heart attack in 1955 at his home in

Shelbyville, Tennessee Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 residents at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tenness ...

. He was 50 years old when he died. He was buried at the Odd Fellows-Masonic Cemetery in Lynchburg.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, John 1905 births 1955 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Tennessee Maryville Scots baseball players Detroit Tigers players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players People from Lynchburg, Tennessee