Remembering This Michigan Pitcher Who Played For The Tigers: Lil’ Stoner

These are names that are synonymous with this period of baseball, but one name that has seemingly been forgotten through the ages is the former Detroit Tigers pitcher Lil Stoner. To the common day person, this would sound more like a rapper than a baseball pitcher, but indeed, the Texas-born right-hand pitcher made his debut in 1922 for the Detroit Tigers.

One of the things that made this man, who was born Ulysses Simpson Grant Stoner, so special was that when he was a toddler, he had his finger cut off with a hatchet. Doctors were able to reattach his finger, but it grew crooked, which allowed him to throw a very distinctive and sharp breaking curve which added a little extra oomph to his repertoire.

Unfortunately, he never gained massive success and was one strikeout shy of 300 for his career. Most likely, his most notable stat was that he gave up what The Babe and many people feel was the longest Homerun and Babe Ruth’s career while pitching for Detroit. People estimated it was between 600 and 626 feet.

One cool thing however is that Ranker currently has him as the seventh-best baseball name of all time. So at least he has that going for him.