Volume 12 , Issue 11

Joe Stanka: Best Oklahoma Pitcher

[Caption, photo on left: Joe Stanka, a Waynoka High School senior in 1948.]

[Caption, photo on right: Waynoka named their baseball park the Joe Stanka Ballpark about ten years ago in honor of major league pitcher Joe Stanka.]

Sandie, with the Waynoka Historical Society, sent us these photos and news items concerning one of Waynoka's famous citizens: Joe Stanka: One of the Best Pitchers To Come Out Of Oklahoma!

The most recent issue of the Oklahoma Heritage Association magazine, Oklahoma, features the baseball career of Joe Stanka, who was a 1948 graduate and an outstanding athlete of Waynoka High School.

The story, "The Road Less Traveled - Joe Stanka's Strange Baseball Odyssey", was written by C. Paul Rogers, an SMU Law School professor. Rogers begins the story with the pronouncement, "Joe Stanka is one of the best pitchers to come out of Oklahoma, and considering the legacy of Carl Hubbell and Allie Reynolds, that is saying something."

Stanka's senior year at Waynoka High School found him playing football for the first time in his life, and at 6'5" the star of the basketball team. He was All State, and the top scorer in the state. He went on to play for Hank Iba at Oklahoma A&M on a basketball scholarship. He married his high school sweetheart, Lida Jean McDaniel.

The story gives lots of Joe's baseball pitching statistics while telling of his perseverance in pursuing his career in the sport, and includes time with a Cubs team, the Dodgers, White Sox, and his becoming a baseball icon in Japan. It is a great story, well worth the read. Joe and Jean Stanka live in the Houston area, and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

The magazine is available at the Waynoka Museum Gift Shop for $3.95 + $.36 tax. For mailing, add $2. Send orders to Museum Gift Shop, PO Box 193, Waynoka OK 73860. For further information or credit card orders, call the Gift Shop at 580-824-1886.
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