Top Tigers #65: John Stone
By Blake VandeBunte • Jan 11th, 2009 • Category: John Stone, Top 100 Tigers- Rank: 65
- Name: John Thomas Stone
- Position: Outfield
- Tigers Tenure: 1928-1933
- Awards: 16th in MVP Voting (1931)
- Best Season: 1931. This was Thomas’ second full season with the Tigers, having played partial seasons in 1928 and 1929. In 1931 and 1932 Stone was one of the best outfielders in all of baseball. In 1931 he hit .327 (OPS+ 120) which ranked him 10th in the American League. Stone also ranked seventh in hits (191), tenth in triples (11), tenth in stolen bases (13), and led the league in singles. He also scored 86 runs and posted an on base percentage of .388. He spent most of his time in left field in 1931 while putting up league average defensive numbers.
- Good Stuff: In addition to his strong 1931 season, Stone drove in 108 runs in 1932 (10th in the AL) and hit a career high 17 homers. In five of his six seasons in Detroit hit had an OPS+ of 100 or higher and the one season he fell short he appeared in only 51 games. Stone was versatile in the outfield playing each outfield position at least 69 times while in Detroit. Stone rated as an average defender overall, but saw his defensive numbers improve as he gained more experience. Stone would eventually get traded to the Senators where he put together some very numbers.
- Bad Stuff: His time in Detroit was relatively short and he just missed the Ty Cobb era hey-day. During Stone’s entire tenure in Detroit, the Tigers had only one winning season when they went 76-75 in 1932, hardly taking the league by storm. Stone was not particularly fast and did not possess great power. Also, as mentioned above, he was only an average defensive player.
- Place In Tigers History: Stone helped provide a bridge from the Cobb days to the Hank Greenberg and Schoolboy Rowe days and I suppose there is something to be said for that. In 1930, Stone pieced together a 27 game hitting streak for the Tigers, still ranking as one of the longest streaks in club history.
Share
Blake VandeBunte is a posting fiend.
Email this author | All posts by Blake VandeBunte
I wasn’t aware of Stone until this article. I see that Stone was traded to the Senators for Goose Goslin, one of the G-Men of the 1934 American League champs and 1935 World Series champions, and a HOFer. Interestingly, for the three years that Goslin starred for the Tigers, Stone out hit him at least as measured by OPS+ while with the Senators . Stone though, appears to have been injury prone as he played in only 113 to 125 games those three years whereas Gosllin played in 147 to 151 games.
I noted that as well. Goslin should be coming up on this list pretty soon.