Marcenia Lyle Stone, better known as Toni “Tomboy” Stone, was born on July 17, 1921 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite the fact that her parents valued a solid education, she wanted to hone her athletic ability. Despite being discouraged by many people, Stone started participating in athletics at the young age of ten. She made history in 1953 when the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues signed her, making her the first female player in the men’s negro league.
Stone’s parents once invited a local priest to their house in an effort to persuade their daughter not to pursue a career in athletics. The encounter, however, didn’t exactly go as planned; by the end of the conversation, the priest had invited Stone to join his Catholic Midget League club. By the time he was 15 years old, Stone had joined the Twin City Colored Giants, a traveling men’s baseball team, and was playing for teams in the men’s meatpacking league.
Stone relocated to San Francisco in the 1940s to assist in caring for her sick sister. Stone’s life started to alter in California. She started redefining herself. Not long after, she signed with an American Legion Club and began playing baseball once more. She joined the West Coast Negro Baseball League’s San Francisco Sea Lions in 1949. She was able to make about $200 each month from her athletic activities.
In 1950, Stone married Aurelious Alberga, a well-known politician from San Francisco who was 40 years her older. She lived in Oakland during her retirement years until passing away at age 75 from heart and lung issues.