Lil Stoner

Ulysses Simpson Grant "Lil" Stoner (February 28, 1899 – June 26, 1966), also known as Lil E. Stoner, He grew up in a family of 17 children.

In 1913, at age 14, he pitched for the South Side Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, in the Twilight League. He gained acclaim when, at age 14, and while still wearing short pants, he pitched a shutout game against a team of adults. His family later moved to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where he played semi-professional baseball for the Empire Refining Company team. With Stoner pitching, Empire Refining won the Oklahoma championship in 1918 and 1919.

The sharp breaking curve Stoner was known for combining "a terrific fast ball with exceptional control" and "a sharp breaking curve". He was also called a "smokeball artist" for the speed with which he threw the baseball.

The unusual movement on Stoner's breaking ball has been attributed to an injury sustained when he was a toddler. The index finger on his throwing hand was severed in a wood-chopping accident and left "hanging by a piece of flesh." The doctor bandaged the finger which reattached itself, but crookedly, a deformity that was credited with allowing Stoner to throw the ball with unusual movement. He won his first game on April 21, 1922, by a 15–6 score against the Indians. His ERA climbed to 7.04, and he was demoted to the Birmingham Barons where he finished the season.

Detroit Tigers (1923–1929) In October 1923, Stoner was reacquired by the Tigers. During the 1924 season, he appeared in 36 games for the Tigers and compiled an 11–10 record and a 4.72 ERA. He also had his best major league season totals in games started (25), innings pitched (215-2/3), and strikeouts (66). He also hit two home runs during the 1924 season – the only two of his career.

In 1927, Stoner's ERA dropped by 1.5 points to a career-low 3.98, and he appeared in a career-high 38 games for the Tigers, including 24 starts. Despite the improvement, he registered a losing record of 10–13. Pitching for Fort Worth in the second half of the season, he compiled a 6–4 record and a career-low 2.00 ERA. He began the 1930 season with the Pirates but pitched only regular seasons innings for the club, compiling a 4.76 ERA.

Following his return to Fort Worth, Stoner appeared in 30 games, compiling a 14–6 record and a 3.19 ERA.

In September 1931, following another strong showing in Fort Worth, the Philadelphia Phillies purchased Stoner from the Fort Worth club. He suffered from a hand injury that limited his playing time with the Phillies. He appeared in 13 games for Fort Worth in 1931, 12 as a starter, and compiled an 8–3 record and 2.60 ERA. He appeared in 10 games for Newark, compiling a 2–0 record and a 5.34 ERA. He began the 1932 season with Fort Worth. He pitched poorly to start the season and was granted an outright release on June 7, 1932. The release left Stoner out of work for the first time in 15 years. He was then signed by the Omaha Packers of the Western League where he won four straight games with no losses. At the end of June, and based on his showing at Omaha, Stoner was purchased by the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League. He was released by Houston in August 1932.

Stoner signed with the Tulsa Oilers prior to the 1933 season. but he was given an outright release by that club on April 24, 1933.

Semi-pro baseball

After being released by Tulsa, Stoner returned to Okmulgee where he managed the local baseball club from 1933 to 1935. He also served as player-manager for a semipro baseball team from Mount Pleasant, Texas, during the 1938 season. In 1939 and 1940, Stoner played semi-pro ball for the Enid Champlins of Enid, Oklahoma.

Because of his love of baking and cooking, Stoner was sometimes known during his playing career as the "Bowie Baker Boy". In 1929, a nationally syndicated newspaper story called Stoner the "Best Cook in Baseball" and a "culinary artist." According to the report, his cooking was the envy of the women of Okmulgee. The crowning achievement of his off-season after the 1928 season was a three-tiered birthday cake made of orange sponge cake "ornamented with green icing and lavishly decorated with paper leaves and flowers."

Stoner was also an avid grower of irises and was an accredited judge of the American Iris Society. His "proudest botanical accomplishment" was his creation of "a pink iris hybrid." He was buried at Enid Memorial Park.

With the popularization of the word "stoner" in cannabis culture, Stoner has seen a resurgence of popularity. In 2015, baseball writer Grant Brisbee picked "Lil Stoner" as the best presidential-inspired nickname in baseball history. Brisbee wrote: "A supremely unique, fantastic, and awesome name. A magnificent, evocative, delightful name." In 2017, a poll by Ranker received more than 13,000 votes and placed Stoner at No. 9 on its list of "The Best Baseball Names of All Time".

MLB statistics SEASON TEAM GP GS IP H R ER BB SO W L ERA 1922 DET 17 7 62.2 76 53 49 35 18 4 4 7.04 1924 DET 36 25 215.2 271 130 113 65 66 11 10 4.72 1925 DET 34 18 152.0 166 79 72 53 51 10 9 4.26 1926 DET 32 22 159.2 179 115 97 63 57 7 10 5.47 1927 DET 38 24 215.0 251 118 95 77 63 10 13 3.98 1928 DET 36 11 126.1 151 75 61 42 29 5 8 4.35 1929 DET 24 3 53.0 57 37 31 31 12 3 3 5.26 1930 PIT 5 0 5.2 7 3 3 3 1 0 0 4.76 1931 PHI 7 1 13.2 22 13 10 5 2 0 0 6.59 Total — 229 111 1003.2 1180 623 531 374 299 50 57 4.76 Source:

Key GP: Games Played GS: Games Starts IP: Innings Pitched H: Hits R: Runs ER: Earned Runs BB: Walks SO: Strike Outs W: Wins L: Losses ERA: Earned Run Average