Wednesday is Stan Jok’s birthday.
Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of old Stan, who was born on this date in 1926 in Buffalo, N.Y.
He played only nine games for the White Sox in 1955.
Stan has become one of the reference points for my daughters for what it was like to grow up with the SoxNerd as your dad.
For some reason, Stan was part of a long-forgotten research project I was pursuing in 2008. I think it had something to do with grand slams though it may have had something to do with his only Sox hit being a homer.
This was before the internet and the information we take for granted today was widely available. After weeks of digging, I determined the only place with the information I needed was in a book at my local public library.
So after picking up my daughter from school, I dragged her into a branch of the Kenosha Public Library while I looked up the stat.
When I finally found what I was looking for, I dropped to the floor in the library and — only half-jokingly to embarrass a 15-year old — gave demonstrative thanks and praise to SoxGod.
If there was a “dis-ownment” attorney on site, my daughter probably would have enlisted their services on the spot.
“A memory I now cherish,” my daughter texted me today. “Cursing the fact that it was before smart phones were invented. How I wish I had it on video and my reaction as well!”
Thanks Stan and happy birthday!