Two Hall of Famers: Everyone knows Willie Mays… Do you know who Toni Stone is?
While it’s known that Willie Mays is considered “the best all-around player in baseball history” there is a much lesser known name, Toni Stone, who is often referred to as “the greatest player you’ve never heard of.” These two sports legends, of opposite gender, had much in common, one with a familiar story and the other with a story that is just being told. They both played in the Negro Leagues, cultivated their baseball legacies in San Francisco and are Hall of Famers. Stone arrived in the Bay Area in 1946 and played for the San Francisco Sea Lions of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association during its one-year existence. Mays began his baseball career as a member of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League (1948-50) before embarking on his major league career, which would bring him to San Francisco when the Giants moved west from New York. Stone is a member of the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and Mays a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Join the Giants on Saturday, June 27 for a centennial celebration of the Negro Leagues as we pay tribute to Willie, Toni, the San Francisco Sea Lions and others that played a part in this important chapter of American baseball history.
