Dean Stone earned a save in his Cardinals debut, flirted with a no-hitter in his lone start for them and was the victim of a rare hitting feat.
A left-hander, Stone pitched in 18 games for the Cardinals in 1959, spent the next two seasons in their minor-league system and did well enough to earn a return to the majors with the Houston Colt .45s when the National League expanded from eight teams to 10 in 1962.
Stone, who died Aug. 21, 2018, at 87, pitched eight seasons in the big leagues with the Senators (1953-57), Red Sox (1957), Cardinals (1959), Colt .45s (1962), White Sox (1962) and Orioles (1963), composing a 29-39 record, 12 saves and a 4.47 ERA.
He was 0-1 with a save and a 4.20 ERA for the 1959 Cardinals.
All-star quality
Stone had his best major-league season in 1954 with the Senators and was named to the American League all-star team.
In the eighth inning of the All-Star Game at Cleveland on July 13, 1954, the National League led 9-8 and had Red Schoendienst of the Cardinals on third base and Al Dark on first with two outs and Duke Snider at the plate. Stone was brought into the game by manager Casey Stengel to face Snider, a left-handed batter.
As Stone was about to throw his third pitch to Snider, Schoendienst broke from third and attempted a steal of home. Stone made a quick throw to catcher Yogi Berra, who applied the tag on Schoendienst for the third out. National League coaches Leo Durocher and Charlie Grimm claimed Stone committed a balk in his rush to throw home, but umpire Bill Stewart rejected their argument.
In the bottom half of the inning, the American League rallied for three runs and an 11-9 lead. Virgil Trucks pitched a scoreless ninth, earning the save, and Stone was credited with a win, even though he didn’t retire a batter. Boxscore
Stone finished the 1954 season with a 12-10 record, 3.22 ERA and 10 complete games. He slipped to 6-13 in 1955 and 5-7 in 1956 and was dealt by the Senators to the Red Sox on April 29, 1957.
After posting a 1-3 record and 5.27 ERA for the Red Sox in 1957, Stone spent all of 1958 with their farm club at Minneapolis and was 13-10 with a 3.18 ERA and three shutouts.
Meet me in St. Louis
Minneapolis was in the American Association and so was Omaha, the Cardinals’ affiliate managed by Johnny Keane. When Keane became a Cardinals coach on manager Solly Hemus’ staff in 1959, he recommended Stone to general manager Bing Devine.
On March 14, 1959, the Cardinals traded pitcher Nelson Chittum to the Red Sox for Stone.
The Boston Globe described the trade as a “transaction of no great magnitude.” Devine agreed and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “It’s not a sensational move, of course, but any time we get a chance to look at a pitcher who might augment our left-handed staff we’ve got to consider it … Johnny Keane thought he might help us.”
Stone, 28, was assigned to Omaha where he was managed by Joe Schultz. After losing his first three decisions, Stone won nine of his next 12 and had a 9-6 record and 3.87 ERA in 121 innings when he got called up to the Cardinals in July 1959.
Positive impression
Stone made his National League debut on July 11, 1959, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings in relief of starter Marshall Bridges in a 4-3 Cardinals victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia. Stone yielded two hits, walked none, struck out five and got a save in what the Post-Dispatch described as “a brilliant relief job.” Boxscore
Stone used an “overpowering fastball” against the Phillies, the Sporting News reported.
“Funny thing, when we talked about bringing up Dean from Omaha, Joe Schultz said he had the stuff to help, but questioned his ability to relieve because of only one thing _ control,” Cardinals business manager Art Routzong said.
Stone yielded one run over his first 10 innings of relief work for the Cardinals and after five appearances had an ERA of 0.90.
No mercy
When Cardinals starter Vinegar Bend Mizell developed an aching back, Hemus gave Stone a start against the Braves on July 31, 1959, at Milwaukee.
Stone held the Braves hitless for five innings and was locked in a scoreless duel with Braves starter Bob Buhl.
In the sixth, Del Crandall led off with the Braves’ first hit, a double. After Buhl struck out, Bobby Avila walked and Felix Mantilla dribbled a grounder past shortstop Alex Grammas and into left field for a single, scoring Crandall and advancing Avila to third. Grammas told the Post-Dispatch he should have fielded the ball. “I couldn’t make up my mind whether to backhand the ball,” Grammas said. “I don’t know whether I could have thrown him out, but I should have stopped the ball.”
Hank Aaron followed with a weak single to left, scoring Avila with the second run and moving Mantilla to second. “By this time, Stone couldn’t have been expected to keep holding off the mighty Braves any more than Custer was expected to keep cutting down the Indians,” the Post-Dispatch wrote.
Joe Adcock followed with a three-run home run, capping the Braves’ five-run sixth. Stone went seven innings, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks, and Buhl pitched a shutout in a 6-0 Braves triumph. Boxscore
Ups and downs
Two days later, on Aug. 2, 1959, Bill Bruton of the Braves hit a pair of bases-loaded triples, one against Mizell and the other off Stone. Bruton became the second big-league batter since 1900 to hit two three-run triples in a game, according to The Sporting News. Boxscore
After the 1959 season, the Cardinals removed Stone from their roster and assigned him to Rochester. He was 9-7 with a 3.67 ERA in 130 innings for Rochester in 1960 and 12-8 with a 2.73 ERA in 178 innings for the Cardinals’ affiliate in San Juan and Charleston, W.Va., in 1961.
On Nov. 27, 1961, the Colt .45s selected Stone in the Rule 5 minor-league draft. He opened the 1962 season in their starting rotation and pitched 21.1 consecutive scoreless innings, including back-to-back shutouts versus the Cubs, before the Cardinals scored four runs against him in the fourth inning on April 25. Boxscore
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