John Stone

[The Commissioner]

I read that he retired "due to illness" and I see that he died at a relatively young age. Does anybody know what illness forced him to retire and if that was related to what eventually caused his death. He was possibly on track for a Hall of Fame type career before he retired at age 32.

[The Commissioner]

No info. yet?

[welch]

When did he play?

I well remember Dean Stone, a Nats rookie who won the all-star game without throwing a pitch. How? A dingbat NL player on third tried to steal home, so Stone's throw did not offically copunt as a pitch.

In the bottom of the 9th, the AL won the game.

However, Stone never quite made it, although he pitched for the Senators for several years in the mid-50's.

He was NOT on the trail to the Hall of Fame.

John Stone???

[KCGHOST]

John Stone was a fine OFer for the Tigers and Senators from 1928-1938. His career line of .310/.468/.843 is very good. Not HoF caliber or even on a pace for it, but very good.

After a fine 1937 season he only played in 56 games in1938 and was terrible. He never played after that. I haven't found any reason for this.

[Aa3rt]

Frankly I'd never heard of Mr. Stone until reading this thread. He did have a decent career until the 1938 season. He was traded by the Tigers for Goose Goslin of the Senators,

According to Baseball-Almanac his last game was on June 17th of 1938 and he was only 31 at the time. Did he quit? Was he released? I have no idea. He did live for over 17 years after appearing in his last ballgame, dying at the age of 50.

John Stone Career Record (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=stonejo01)

Now you've got me curious, I'll have to see if I can dig up any additional information.

[The Commissioner]

Did he quit? Was he released?


As I've said, all I saw was that he was forced to retire "due to illness". I'm just curious what that illness may have been?

[The Commissioner]

John Stone was a fine OFer for the Tigers and Senators from 1928-1938. His career line of .310/.468/.843 is very good. Not HoF caliber or even on a pace for it, but very good.

I'd actually disagree. Before 1938 he hadn't shown any signs of slowing down. I'm not saying he was a sure-fire Hall of Famer whose career was cut short, but at only 31 before the illness apparently took over in '38, he could very well have been on a career trajectory towards Cooperstown.

[Aa3rt]

I read that he retired "due to illness" and I see that he died at a relatively young age. Does anybody know what illness forced him to retire and if that was related to what eventually caused his death. He was possibly on track for a Hall of Fame type career before he retired at age 32.

Commissioner,

Since I didn't know the answer to your query on Mr. Stone, I went to the Washington Senators Yahoo Group that I've been a member of for a number of years. A gentleman named Bill Gero was kind enough to reply. He quoted from a book titled The Washington Senators 1901-1971 by Tom Deveaux. (For any other Senators fans reading this, the ISBN number is 0-7864-2359-5, with a cost of approximately $35.00.)

From the book: "Following a .244 start in 56 games, Stone contracted tuberculosis and was not able to play baseball again. While he survived the disease and scouted for the Detroit Tigers later on, he was barely 50 when he passed away in 1955".

It sounds as though the disease did eventually catch up with him, or at least weakened him, contributing to his early death.

Hope this is the answer you've been looking for.

[The Commissioner]

Thank you very much Art!!! That is exactly what I was trying to find out. That would explain his mysterious disappearance from the Majors at such a young age and his early demise. Thanks again.

[mathews41]

When did he play?

I well remember Dean Stone, a Nats rookie who won the all-star game without throwing a pitch. How? A dingbat NL player on third tried to steal home, so Stone's throw did not offically copunt as a pitch.

In the bottom of the 9th, the AL won the game.

However, Stone never quite made it, although he pitched for the Senators for several years in the mid-50's.

He was NOT on the trail to the Hall of Fame.

John Stone???

The Dingbat was HOF Red Schoendienst of the St. Louis Cardinals. Heck, it got Dean Stone the win.