George Stone (outfielder)
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.
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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Early life
Stone was born in Lost Nation, Iowa,[2] to George and Hannah Stone and was Jewish.[3][4][5][6][1][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
![](../I/George_Stone_baseball.png.webp)
He left his career in banking in 1901 at the age of 24 to join the Omaha Omahogs of the Western League.[9] 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.[12][13]
He made his major league debut in 1903 at the age of 26.[14] He played most of 1903 and 1904 for the Milwaukee Creams.[12] In 1903 with the Creams he was third in the American Association in home runs (4).[15]
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).[15][16]
In December 1904 he was traded by the Boston Americans to the St. Louis Browns for Jesse Burkett and cash.[14] In 1905 he led the American League in hits (187) and total bases (259), and was second in home runs (7).[14][17]
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).[4] In 1907 he batted .320.[4][1][14][18]
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).[14] In 1908, he was third in the American League in home runs (5).[14] He played his last game in 1910.[14]
In a seven-season major league career, Stone posted a .301 batting average (984-for-3271) with 23 home runs and 268 RBIs in 848 games played.[14]
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.[19]
Stone entered the banking industry in Coleridge, Nebraska, and owned a Western League team in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1916.[20] In 1940, he and his wife Pearl moved to Clinton, Iowa.[21] Stone died of a heart attack in Clinton at the age of 68. The burial was at Coleridge Cemetery, in Coleridge, Nebraska.[22] [23]
In 1970 he was inducted into The Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
References
- Peter Levine (1993). Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience. ISBN 9780195085556. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- "George Stone," Society for American Baseball Research website
- Rita James Simon (1997). In the Golden Land: A Century of Russian and Soviet Jewish Immigration in ... ISBN 9780275957315. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- Peter S. Horvitz (April 2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports ... ISBN 9781561719075. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- Benjamin Blech (1999). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture. ISBN 9780786542796. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- Rita James Simon (1997). In the Golden Land: A Century of Russian and Soviet Jewish Immigration in ... ISBN 9780275957315. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and the American Culture. 1991-01-01. ISBN 9780887367359. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- "The Greatest Jewish Baseball Players of All Time, by Position". Tablet Magazine. 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- Bill James (11 May 2010). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. ISBN 9781439106938. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- "George Stone Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- "George Stone Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- "1904 American Association Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
- "George Stone". BASEBALL-Reference. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
- https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8933bd24
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Baseball Library
- "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