Maine South High School freshman Maeve Maloney has all the time had a specific expertise in terms of artwork.
That’s why her mom, Karen Maloney, perked up when she noticed the Chicago White Sox’ e mail asserting a fan submission contest in honor of Major League Baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day celebrations on April 15.
Almost instantly, Karen Maloney inspired her daughter to create a submission for the competition, considering she had a shot to impress.
“When this came up, I sent it to her and said, ‘You should do this because you’re a good artist,’” Karen Maloney mentioned.
On Friday night time, because the White Sox commemorated one in every of baseball’s most revered legends, Maeve Maloney made a degree to attract consideration to a different icon within the sport.
Robinson made his mark as the primary Black participant in Major League Baseball in 1947, nevertheless it didn’t take lengthy earlier than Toni Stone adopted as the primary Black girl to interrupt into skilled baseball by signing with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League in 1953.
Maeve Maloney wished to spotlight Stone’s accomplishments and draw extra consideration to the legacy she carved out, and the gateway she opened for the numerous ladies who dream of enjoying sports activities on the highest stage.
Stone joined the Indianapolis Clowns after eventual Hall of Fame inductee Hank Aaron departed from the crew, and he or she slotted in at his spot at second base.
“You could hear from her story how hard she really worked for that,” Maeve Maloney mentioned. “I really do appreciate that. It’s an inspiration.”
Stone performed for the New Orleans Creoles within the Negro Southern League for 3 years earlier than signing with the Indianapolis Clowns in 1953.
Stone performed in 50 video games for the Clowns, famously hitting a single off one other Hall of Famer, Satchel Paige. Stone batted .243 that yr earlier than being traded to the Kansas City Monarchs, the place she retired after the 1954 season.
Nearly 70 years later, Stone’s affect serves for instance for aspiring athletes.
In truth, Maeve Maloney performs Stone’s place — second base — in Maine South’s softball program, together with occasional stints within the outfield.
She loves fielding floor balls and rotating with the shortstop to cowl the bottom, relying on the place the ball is put into play.
“It definitely requires a lot of communication and work,” she mentioned.
She hopes her submission drew extra consideration to the accomplishments of Stone, who died in 1996. When the time got here to honor the competition’s winners, Maeve Maloney walked onto Guaranteed Rate Field and soaked within the second.
“It’s just really exciting,” she mentioned. “For me, it’s like really cool to be able to have that shown because she really is inspiring and a good example for girl athletes, too.”
For Karen and Chuck Maloney, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side and raised a household of Sox supporters, it was a proud night time.
“I’m proud of her, for one, just doing this,” Karen Maloney mentioned. “And she’s worked hard. She sees how it is to work hard to become a good athlete and she has got a good work ethic. The fact that it’s the night of honoring Jackie Robinson, who faced adversity that we’ll never know, it’s really nice. It’s nice as a parent to see that your kids are learning what others had to go through to just be able to play ball.”
She additionally thanked the White Sox for taking the time to have fun Robinson’s legacy, but in addition for shedding extra mild on Stone’s affect.
“I’m just really grateful to the White Sox organization,” Karen mentioned. “It’s really a nice park for families to go to, and I don’t know if everybody realizes that.”
Maeve, who mentioned she was shocked to be picked as one in every of three winners, was merely making an attempt to share with others what she discovered by way of her analysis for the competition.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I would win at first,” Maeve mentioned. “I kind of just entered it for fun because I like to draw. First, just researching Jackie Robinson made me think, ‘Well, he was the first African-American man to play baseball (in the major leagues), so who was the first African-American woman to play (professional) baseball?’ Which led me to Toni Stone, who is known as the female Jackie Robinson.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com