![]() ![]() Instead, in 1949, Toni Stone fought to join the San Francisco Sea Lions, a professional baseball team that was part of the short-lived West Coast Negro Baseball Association. Later, in 1943, she Stone moved to San Francisco, where she took on the name “Toni.” That year, Toni Stone began playing for an American Legion Baseball team, albeit by lying about her age, as the teams were only open to teenagers.Īt the time, integration was only just beginning for professional baseball in America, with Black players forced to play on what were called “Negro Leagues.” And despite the existence of new organizations like the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, formed to keep the tradition of baseball alive while the men were fighting in World War II, Black women were not permitted to join. At 16, she was able to turn baseball into a source of income, playing for the Twin City Colored Giants, another all-male team, at a rate of about $2 per game. As the team’s coach was unwilling to teach what she needed to know, Stone would instead watch a nearby baseball school as they practiced. Stone was able to get her first start in baseball through the local Catholic school’s equivalent of a Little League team, which at the time was a boys’ team. At times, her love of baseball saw her skip school to play, though she would still educate herself at the library. While her parents sought for Stone to play other sports, particularly those that were considered more “ladylike,” her talents and enthusiasm were focused on baseball. It was here, playing with the neighborhood kids, that she discovered a love of baseball. ![]() At the age of 10, Stone and her family moved to St. Marcenia Lyle Stone was born on Jin Bluefield, West Virginia as the daughter of a World War I veteran. Continuing their celebration of Black History Month, Google has dedicated a Doodle on their homepage to Toni Stone, the first woman to play baseball in a professional league.
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