George Stone (outfielder)
George Stone | |||
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Left fielder | |||
Born: Lost Nation, Iowa | September 3, 1876|||
Died: January 3, 1945 68) Clinton, Iowa | (aged|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 20, 1903, for the Boston Americans | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
October 9, 1910, for the St. Louis Browns | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .301 | ||
Home runs | 23 | ||
Runs batted in | 268 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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George Robert Stone, nicknamed Silent George,[1] (September 3, 1876 – January 3, 1945) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1903) and St. Louis Browns (1905–10). Stone batted and threw left-handed. He was the 1906 American League batting champion.
Early life
Stone was born in Lost Nation, Nebraska, to George and Hannah Stone and was Jewish.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Prior to playing baseball, he had a career in banking in Nebraska.[9][10] A 1906 article on him noted that his taste ran to reading, and his hobby was violin playing.[11]
Baseball career
He left his career in banking in 1901 at the age of 24 to join the Omaha Omahogs of the Western League.[12] In 1902 he played for the Omahogs and the Peoria Distillers and led the league with 198 hits, and the next year he again played for the Omahogs.[13][14]
He made his major league debut in 1903 at the age of 26.[15] He played most of 1903 and 1904 for the Milwaukee Creams.[16] In 1903 with the Creams he was third in the American Association in home runs (4).[17]
In 1904 with the Creams he led the American Association in batting with a .406 batting average (which remained the league record until the league closed down in 1997), in slugging with a .558 average, and in hits (254), as he was second in the league in triples (19).[18][19]
In December 1904 he was traded by the Boston Americans to the St. Louis Browns for Jesse Burkett and cash.[20] In 1905 he led the American League in hits (187) and total bases (259), and was second in home runs (7).[21][22]
In 1906, he batted .358 and won the American League batting championship (beating four-time batting champion Napoleon Lajoie), and also led the league in slugging (.501) and in on-base percentage (.417), as he was second in the league in hits (208; behind Lajoie) and triples (20; behind Elmer Flick), and third in home runs (6).[23] In 1907 he batted .320.[24][25][26][27]
In 1907 he was second in the AL in on-base percentage (.387) and hits (191; behind Ty Cobb), and third in the league in batting after hitting .320 (behind Cobb and Sam Crawford).[28] In 1908, he was third in the American League in home runs (5).[29] He played his last game in 1910.[30]
In a seven-season major league career, Stone posted a .301 batting average with 23 home runs and 268 RBIs in 848 games played.[31]
He is the only player who won the American League batting title in the years from 1901 through 1928, who was not made a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.[32]
Stone entered the banking industry in Coleridge, Nebraska, and owned a Western League team in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1916.[33] In 1940, he and his wife Pearl moved to Clinton, Iowa.[34] Stone died of a heart attack in Clinton at the age of 68. The burial was at Coleridge Cemetery, in Coleridge, Nebraska.[35] [36]
In 1970 he was inducted into The Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
See also
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- "Legends of the Game: George Stone"
- "Lost Nation's Stone into "Hall" – Iowan's Batting Feat: Beat Cobb", 4/5/70
- "An Additional Game-Played Found for George Stone of the St. Louis Browns", SABR Baseball Records Committee Newsletter, 2/13/07