Paul Waner

Waner was born in Harrah, Oklahoma, four years before the region became a state. He was born with the middle name of John. He was the third child of five of Ora and Etta Waner; Ora had once been offered a contract by the Chicago White Stockings but declined it, instead settling a 400-acre farm. His middle name was changed from John to Glee after an uncle of the same name gave him a shotgun at the age of 6. Waner played baseball at East Central State Teachers College (now known as East Central University) in Ada, Oklahoma, having a 23-4 pitching record with a 1.70 ERA in 1922. He wanted to play pro baseball, and he signed with the team in Joplin, Missouri in the Class A Western League. After he decided to finish college work, he was sent to the Southwestern League in Muskogee before being sold again to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1923. A sore arm led to a change…