John Stone

John Thomas Stone (October 10, 1905 – November 30, 1955), nicknamed "Rocky," was an American baseball outfielder. He played 11 season in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1928–1933) and Washington Senators (1934–1938). Stone hit over .300 seven times and had a career batting average of .310.

Early years Stone was born in 1905 in Lynchburg, Tennessee. He attended Maryville College from 1925 to 1928. The school's baseball team was 15-2 in Stone's senior year.

Professional baseball Detroit Tigers Stone signed with the Detroit Tigers and, after a short stint in the minor leagues at Evansville, he appeared in his first major league game on August 31, 1928, just a few months after leaving college. In his first partial season, Stone hit an impressive .354 in 26 games with 15 extra base hits and a .549 slugging percentage. Only five Detroit Tigers (Ty Cobb, Goose Goslin, Ron LeFlore, Dale Alexander, and Pete Fox) have had longer hitting streaks.

Stone's fourth big league season in 1931 was his best. His .327 batting average was 10th best in the American League. He led the league in singles (142) and was also among the league leaders with 191 hits, 11 triples, and 13 stolen bases. Stone was also 16th in the American League's Most Valuable Player voting for 1931. Goslin went on to help the Tigers win back-to-back pennants in 1934 and 1935, while the Senators dropped from first place to seventh place in 1934.

Washington Senators Stone played for Washington for five seasons from 1934 to 1938, appearing in 556 games and compiling a .317 batting average.393 on-base percentage, and .476 slugging percentage.

Career statistics

When his playing career ended, Stone retired to his farm in Bedford County, Tennessee. He died in 1955 of a heart attack at the age of 50 at his home in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was buried at the Odd Fellows-Masonic Cemetery in Lynchburg.