Toni Stone died due to heart failure at the age of 75. She is the subject for the Google Doodle on February 9, 2022, today.
Toni Stone was the first of three women to play professional baseball full-time for the Indianapolis Clowns, in the previously all-male Negro leagues.
She is also the first woman to play as a regular on an American big-league professional baseball team. She marked this day as inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.
How Did Toni Stone Die? Heart Failure At The Age Of 75
Toni Stone died on November 2, 1996. She passed away at a nursing home in Alameda, California due to heart failure. The athlete was 75 years of age at the time of her passing.
She enjoyed playing baseball with boys in the neighborhood, and earned the nickname “Tomboy.” Her interest in baseball increased despite her mother trying to shift her mind from it.
At school, she wore pants instead of skirts and was teased for her appearance. Reportedly, she often skipped school to play baseball. By the age of 16, Stone was playing weekend games with the barnstorming Twin City Colored Giants.
Google has previously used this temporary change on its homepage to praise other baseball legends. Today she is celebrated by Google Doodle. Stone was able to carve her name in history and has been praised for her contribution.
Was Toni Stone Married To Husband Aurelious Alberga?
Toni Stone got married to captain Aurelious Pescia Alberga. He was a native of Oakland and a WWI veteran. They tied the know officially in 1950.
Her spouse died in the 1980s at the age of 103. While she was married, her partner continued to live in the San Francisco Bay Area as Stone pursued her career on baseball teams around the country.
The age difference between the couple seems more as his husband was 103 in 1980, and she was around 59-69 during the 1980s. May the couple rest in heaven.
Meet Toni Stone Children & Family Members
She was born to her parents Boykin and Willa Maynard Stone. She had three siblings, two sisters, and a brother. She is married but, there’s no information on her children.
The athlete seemed to have no kids. Her father was a barber, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, then he served in the U.S. Army during World War I. Her mother was a hairdresser.
When she was ten years old, her family moved to the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota and her parents opened Boykin’s Barber and Beauty Shop.