Dean Stone

Darrah Dean Stone (born September 1, 1930 in Moline, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. After pitching for United Township High School in East Moline, Illinois,^[1] the 6'4", 205 lb. left-hander was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before the 1949 season. He played for the Washington Senators (1953–1957), Boston Red Sox (1957), St. Louis Cardinals (1959), Houston Colt .45s (1962), Chicago White Sox (1962), and Baltimore Orioles (1963). He also played one season in Japan for the Taiyo Whales (1964).

Stone is perhaps best known for being the winning pitcher of the 1954 All-Star Game without retiring a single batter.^[2] This took place at Cleveland Stadium on July 13. He entered the game with two out in the top of the 8th to face Duke Snider, with the American League behind, 9-8. Red Schoendienst, the baserunner on third, tried to steal home and Stone threw him out at the plate.^[2] The A.L. then scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th and won the game 11-9, as Virgil Trucks hurled a scoreless 9th inning to save it.

After having pitched two minor league no-hitters in 1952 and going 8-10 with a 3.33 ERA for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association in 1953, he reached the big leagues. His first appearance was in relief against the Detroit Tigers on September 13, 1953. He would go on to pitch the majority of his games (60%) in relief at the major league level.

In Stone's 8-year career, 1954 stands out as his best season. He won a career-high 12 games, lost 10, had an earned run average of 3.22, and it was his only season as an All-Star. In his other seven years, he had a combined record of 17-29 with a 4.91 ERA.

Stone provided some immediate pitching help for the expansion Houston Colt .45s of 1962. He pitched a three-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs in Houston's third game (April 12), then another shutout against the Cubs one week later, giving the Colts a 5-3 record. He pitched ineffectively for Houston after that, and he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Russ Kemmerer on June 22. The Baltimore Orioles acquired Stone during the off-season, and he made his last major league appearance on June 21, 1963.

Career totals include a record of 29-39 in 215 games pitched, 85 games started, 19 complete games, 5 shutouts, 52 games finished, 12 saves, and an ERA of 4.47. In 686 innings he struck out 380 and walked 373. He had a batting average of .088 in 170 at bats with one home run.

Parallel tracks with Russ Kemmerer

Stone's career had remarkable parallels with that of his contemporary Russ Kemmerer. The two pitchers not only were traded straight up for each other in 1962, but had also been traded for each other (with additional players) five years earlier, with Kemmerer going to Washington and Stone to Boston in 1957.^[3] Both got their first major league win in 1954. Kemmerer played for four big league clubs: the Red Sox, Senators, White Sox and Colt .45s. Stone also pitched for the same four teams, plus the Cardinals and Orioles. They had very similar lifetime winning percentages (.426 for Stone, with Kemmerer at .422) and almost identical ERAs (4.47 for Stone, 4.46 for Kemmerer). Both last appeared in the majors in 1963. Kemmerer, however, appeared in about 1/3 more major league games than Stone.^[4]

After baseball

Stone is now the retired owner of a landscaping company in Silvis, Illinois.^[5]

References

1. ↑ Quad Cities Online, n.d., "Answer To The Question: 'Q: Who was the baseball player from East Moline who won an all-star game in the 1960s?'" , http://qconline.com/ask_us/ask_main.php?id=568 . Retrieved May 8, 2013.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Charlton, James; Shatzkin, Mike; Holtje, Stephen (1990). The Ballplayers: baseball's ultimate biographical reference. New York: Arbor House/William Morrow. p. 1050. ISBN 0-87795-984-6. 
3. ↑ Baseball Almanac.com, "Dean Stone Trades and Transactions". http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=stonede01 Retrieved May 8, 2013.
4. ↑ Baseball Reference.com pages: "Dean Stone Statistics" http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stonede01.shtml and "Russ Kemmerer Statistics" http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kemmeru01.sht Both retrieved May 8, 2013.
5. ↑ Dick Heller, "HELLER: Stone’s fluky All-Star win a fading memory", Washington Times, July 18, 2011. http://blogs.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/18/stones-fluky-all-star-win-a-fading-memory/ Retrieved May 7, 2013.

• 1955 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News

External links

• Baseball Reference
• Retrosheet
• Baseball Library
• Baseball Almanac