Bill Stoneman

William Hambly Stoneman
(Toy Tiger)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.
• School Mt. San Antonio College, University of Idaho
• High School West Covina High School
• Debut July 16, 1967
• Final Game June 30, 1974
• Born April 7, 1944 in Oak Park, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bill Stoneman pitched eight seasons in the majors, most notably for the Montreal Expos, and was later General Manager of the Expos and Los Angeles Angels.

Selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 31st round of the 1966 amateur draft, Stoneman was in the majors with the team the following summer. He made 46 appearances, primarily out of the bullpen, for the Cubs before being selected by the Expos in the 1969 expansion draft. Installed in the Montreal rotation, he pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 17, 1969, in just the tenth game in franchise history; it was also his first career complete game. He pitched 5 shutouts that season, but was wildly inconsistent, as he ended up with a record of 11-19, 4.39 and led the National League with 123 walks and 12 hit batsmen.

In five years with Montreal, Stoneman was a mainstay of the rotation. He won 17 games in 1971 and was a National League All-Star the next summer. Also in 1972, he threw a second no-hitter on October 2nd against the New York Mets. That contest was the final complete game of his career, making him the only major leaguer to throw no-nos in both his first and last complete game.

Bothered by arm injuries, he fell to 4-8, 6.80 in 1973. Stoneman then ended his career with the California Angels in 1974, where he was only 1-8, 6.14. With 54 career victories, he is the winningest pitcher to come out of the University of Idaho.

Following his playing days, Stoneman worked in the Expos front office from 1984 to 1999. He was Vice-President for Baseball Administration, and later Vice-President for Baseball Operations. He was General Manager of the team briefly in 1987 and 1988 and assistant GM of the club from 1991 to 1999. In November 1999, he became GM of the Angels, a position he held until 2007, including for the Angels' only World Series title in 2002. In 2008 he was named a Senior Advisor for the Angels. On July 1, 2015, he returned to his old job as Angels' GM on an interim basis after Jerry Dipoto had resigned abruptly. On October 4th, the final day of the season, the Angels announced that they had hired Billy Eppler to be their new GM.

Following Stoneman's 1969 no-hitter in Philadelphia, no other visiting pitcher would throw a nine-inning no-hitter in the City of Brotherly Love for 45 years, until Josh Beckett of the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 25, 2014.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (1972)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (1971)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1969-1972)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 1 (1971)

Preceded by Murray Cook

Montreal Expos General Manager 1987-1988

Succeeded by Dave Dombrowski

Preceded by Bill Bavasi

Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels General Manager 1999-2007

Succeeded by Tony Reagins

Preceded by Jerry Dipoto

Los Angeles Angels General Manager 2015

Succeeded by Billy Eppler

Record as General Manager

Draft Picks

Expos 1st Round Picks

• 1988: 19th overall P Dave Wainhouse - Washington State University

Other Notable Selections

• 1988: 3rd round (76th overall) OF Marquis Grissom - Florida A&M University

Angels 1st Round Picks

• 2000: 10th overall P Joe Torres - Gateway High School
• 2000: 20th overall P Chris Bootcheck - Auburn University
• 2001: 13th overall 1B Casey Kotchman - Seminole Community College
• 2001: 33rd overall C Jeff Mathis - Marianna High School
• 2002: 12th overall P Joe Saunders - Virginia Tech
• 2003: 23rd overall SS Brandon Wood - Horizon High School
• 2004: 12th overall P Jered Weaver - Long Beach State University
• 2005: 37th overall P Trevor Bell - Crescenta Valley High School
• 2006: 25th overall C Hank Conger - Huntington Beach High School
• 2007: No Pick (lost for signing Gary Matthews, Jr

Other Notable Selections

• 2000: 5th round (140th overall) P Bobby Jenks - Inglemoor High School
• 2001: 2nd round (57th overall) 3B Dallas McPherson - The Citadel
• 2002: 10th round (294th overall) 2B Howie Kendrick - St. John's River Community College
• 2003: 7th round (210th overall) OF Reggie Willits - University of Oklahoma

Significant Trades

Expos None

Angels

• March 23, 2000 traded Jim Edmonds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield
• July 29, 2000 traded Kent Bottenfield to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ron Gant
• July 13, 2001 traded Kimera Bartee to the Colorado Rockies for Chone Figgins
• December 27, 2001 traded Mo Vaughn to the New York Mets for Kevin Appier
• November 19, 2004 traded Jose Guillen to the Washington Nationals for Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis
• December 9, 2005 traded Alexi Casilla to the Minnesota Twins for J.C. Romero
• December 21, 2005 traded Steve Finley to the San Francisco Giants for Edgardo Alfonzo
• July 5, 2006 traded Jeff Weaver to the St. Louis Cardinals for Terry Evans
• December 15, 2006 traded Brendan Donnelly to the Boston Red Sox for Phil Seibel

Significant Signings

Expos

• February 29, 1988 signed Miguel Batista as an amateur free agent
• March 5, 1988 signed Otis Nixon as a free agent from Cleveland Indians
• May 24, 1988 signed Wil Cordero as an amateur free agent

Angels

• January 11, 2000 signed Scott Spiezio as a free agent from Oakland A's
• September 2, 2000 signed Ervin Santana as an amateur free agent
• January 20, 2001 signed Brendan Donnelly as a free agent from the Chicago Cubs
• January 24, 2002 signed Aaron Sele as a free agent from the Seattle Mariners
• November 24, 2003 signed Kelvim Escobar as a free agent from the Toronto Blue Jays
• December 10, 2003 signed Bartolo Colon as a free agent from the Chicago White Sox
• December 20, 2003 signed Jose Guillen as a free agent from the Oakland A's
• January 14, 2004 signed Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent from Montreal Expos
• December 11, 2004 signed Steve Finley as a free agent from Arizona Diamondbacks
• February 15, 2006 signed Jeff Weaver as a free agent from Los Angeles Dodgers
• November 11, 2006 signed Gary Matthews, Jr as a free agent from Texas Rangers

Further Reading

• Danny Gallagher: "Stoney goes to the Angels", in Remembering the Montreal Expos, Scoop Press, Toronto, ON, 2005, pp. 232-236.
• Alden Gonzalez: "Stoneman has no regrets about his run as Angels GM", mlb.com, February 2, 2016. [1]
• Norm King: "Expos Get First Franchise No-Hitter Right Out of the Gate", The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 41, Number 1 (Spring 2012), pp. 90-92.
• Norm King: "Stoney's Second No-No; October 2, 1972: Montreal Expos 7, New York Mets 0 At Jarry Park", in Norm King, ed.: Au jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2016, pp. 15-16. ISBN 978-1-943816-15-6
• Bill Stoneman (as told to Al Doyle): "The Game I'll Never Forget", Baseball Digest, June 2005, pp. 70-73. [2]
• Adam J. Ulrey: "Stoney sets record for fastest no-hitter by a franchise; April 17, 1969: Montreal Expos 7, Philadelphia Phillies 0 At Connie Mack Stadium", in Norm King, ed.: Au jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2016, pp. 10-11. ISBN 978-1-943816-15-6

Related Sites

• Bill Stoneman at the SABR Bio Project