It’s been an important few years for the legacy left by Toni Stone, a Negro Leagues second baseman who became the first woman to play daily in a professional men’s sports league.
A play about her career — simply called “Toni Stone” — debuted on Broadway in 2019 and has since toured several American cities. She was recognized by a city newspaper of hers in 2021, by being inducted into the Minnesota Star Tribune Sports Hall of Fame.
On Wednesday, Stone received his widest recognition yet, in the form of a Google Doodle.
In the midst of celebrating Black History Month, Google has recognized several African-American figures. Stone’s art was done by illustrator and animation director, Monique Wray.
Born in Bluefield, West Virginia in 1921 and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Stone was an outstanding athlete in multiple disciplines and played for years in baseball exhibition games before coming to the Negro Leagues. She spent two years there, as part of the Indianapolis Clowns in 1953 (replacing Hank Aaron) and the Kansas City Monarchs in 1954. In 1993, she was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. International fame. Three years later, she passed away at the age of 75.
Although Stone has received multiple accolades, including the most recent, he is still not a household name. Wray says the reason for that is the time when Stone was active.
“Being [Stone] an African-American woman, you know that has something to do with how little attention she got,” says Wray. “Now it’s better; at least we are bidding for it.”
Wray’s Doodle is an animation of Stone making a play at second base. After seeing many images and videos, the artist tried to capture what Stone would have looked like in action.
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Google recognizes Toni Stone with Doodle