George Robert Stone, nicknamed Silent George, (September 3, 1876, Lost Nation, Iowa -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.
Baseball career[]
Stone was a late starter. It wasn't until he was 26 that he interrupted his employment as a banker in Coleridge, Nebraska, to take a shot at pro ball with Omaha of the Western League.
Stone had a unique batting style, for his day. He would crouch over the plate with the bat resting snugly on his shoulder and remain motionless. He was a line-drive hitter, and was fast. He was generally a fine defensive outfielder.
The Red Sox let him go to Milwaukee in 1903 after he pinch-hit twice for them without connecting. In Milwaukee he led the American Association with a .405 average. Stone had a series at Toledo that was talked about for a long time. He reached base 17 times in a row -- 15 on hits, two on walks. Manager Joe Cantillon liked him for reasons beyond his hitting and his speed on the bases. "He was a fine man to handle," said Cantillon. "He was in bed every night by 10 o'clock."
As to his fielding, it was written: "He wasn't noted for his fielding ability, but he sure could slam the pellet on the nose."
In December 1904 he was traded by the Boston Americans with cash to the St. Louis Browns for Jesse Burkett.
In a seven-season career, Stone posted a .301 batting average with 23 home runs and 268 RBI in 848 games played.
Stone had another fling at baseball, but as an owner; he bought a controlling interest in the Lincoln Tigers of the Western League in 1916.
Stone died in Clinton, Iowa, at the age of 68.
In 1970 he was inducted into The Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Stone was the right fielder on Stein's Jewish team.
See also[]
External links[]
- Baseball Library
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- "Legends of the Game: George Stone"
- Robert Slater, Jonathan David Publishers Inc (2004). Great Jews in Sports. Jonathan David Company, Inc..
- "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
| Preceded by: Elmer Flick |
American League Batting Champion 1906 |
Succeeded by: Ty Cobb |