Clint Stark ’59 Joins List of Anaheim High Hall of Famers

Baseball was very good to Anaheim High Class of 1959 graduate Clint Stark. On the flip side, Clint Stark was very good for baseball, as well as his alma mater and the community at large.

A left-hand pitcher who stood at 6-foot-4 and weighed in at 175 pounds, Clint signed with the St. Louis Cardinals National League Baseball Club on Sept. 10, 1959.  He played for 11 years, including a stint in the Army in 1963, when he continued to pitch for his military team.

Among his career highlights was being the exercise partner of Hall of Famer Stan “The Man” Musial’s for three years. Musial was a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman on the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 seasons, from 1941 through 1963.

Stark retired as a player/coach in 1971, then returned to school as a social studies major and physical education minor, receiving his Bachelor’s from Long Beach State in 1973. It took Stark 14 years to finish his degree, attending college whenever he wasn’t playing winter ball or during extended seasons due to playoffs.  Clint said he learned to persevere in obtaining his education because he knew it was critical for his future. Stark said his academic success (he was on the Dean’s list throughout his academic career) was inspired by having a family, which includes his wife Dianna Hays, his son and daughter, Jeff and Jana, and four grandchildren. He returned to school once again in 1993 and received a MA in education from Azusa Pacific in 1993.

The road leading Clint to his pro baseball career, university degree and future as an educator in the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) started three generations ago, back to his grandfather, Alex Stark, an Anaheim farmer, who married Hulda Remlan in the early 1900s. They met at Bethel Baptist Church in Anaheim and married soon thereafter.

Hulda attended Anaheim High with Cordelia Knott and when Cordelia opened her pie shack to help ends meet, Hulda worked alongside her high school friend. Clint’s father, Gus Stark, was born on the Chapman Ranch in Fullerton in 1915. A 1932 graduate of Anaheim High, Gus worked with his father on the ranch, caring for the orange groves and chickens. Gus married Margaret Wessel and the couple moved to Los Angeles. Four years later on Feb. 22, 1942, Clint was born in Methodist Hospital in Los Angeles. The young family moved to Anaheim in June of 1946. Clint’s younger brother, Stuart, was born in Fullerton at the old Cottage Hospital across the street from Hillcrest Park.  He, too, went to Ben Franklin, Fremont and Anaheim High, graduating in 1965. The Stark Family also had many aunts, uncles and cousins who lived throughout Anaheim, and were well-respected members of the Colony.

Clint’s love of sports began with the Anaheim Parks and Recreations Leagues while attending Benjamin Franklin Elementary School and Fremont Junior High. He said his talent for pitching was “God given” but also credits his coach Dave Hernandez, a parks and recreation coach who worked with him for hours to perfect his delivery. While at Anaheim High, Clint participated in basketball and baseball, achieving All-Sunset League in baseball in ’59.  His Anaheim High coach was John Wallin, a Colonist graduate from Class of ’44 who became a coach and teacher. Stark was also a member of the Mozart and A Capella choirs, as well as the Hi-Y Club.

Along with playing for Anaheim High, Clint also played on a team for Anaheim Legion Post 72. In a State Legion Tournament, Clint pitched a 12 inning no-hitter, striking out 24 batters, and was awarded the trophy for “Outstanding Pitcher in California.” He was also awarded the Anaheim Legion Tournament “Bill Dial Outstanding Pitcher Trophy” in both 1958 and ’59. In the ’59 tournament, the summer after he graduated from Anaheim at age 17, he pitched four one-hitters and one no-hitter. The day he pitched the no-hitter, he had already thrown two hours of batting practice at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles as a double in the Twilight Zone Episode “The Mighty Casey.”  The episode features a robot named Casey who has the ability to throw super-fast balls that cannot be hit.

After his sophomore year at Anaheim, Clint coached kids from the ages of 4 to 6 on the field at Lincoln School for Anaheim Parks and Recreation.  Many of those boys turned out to be great athletes for Anaheim High.

Clint is still giving back to his community and alma mater as a recently retired Anaheim Union High School District teacher as a member of the AHS Alumni Association, and as a key player on the AHSAA Colony Classic Car Show Committee. During his 32 ½ years of teaching in the AUHSD (1973 to 2007), Clint coached numerous sports teams. He was head coach of Varsity Baseball, Track and Field, Cross Country, and Boy’s and Girl’s Golf teams. He restarted the Golf Program at Kennedy High School and during his tenure, the Boys’ Team won two Empire League Championships, and the Girls’ team, took one championship. Clint also took groups of students to Sacramento and Washington D.C. to meet and work with our legislators. In addition, he served on many committees at the high school and district level, including curriculum and book review committees that chose new social studies books that were used throughout the District. His career achievements also included serving as a presenter at an Early Childhood Education Conference in San Francisco on the topic of curriculum writing for Special Education. Clint was also selected to mentor new teachers throughout the AUHSD district.

With his heart always in baseball and sports, Clint served as vice president of the newly formed Lake Forest Little League and managed and coached in the organization for several years.  He followed many of his players onto high school where he volunteered his time as assistant baseball coach. Stark also worked many baseball clinics, when he was professional athlete and when a coach. In addition, Clint served as an umpire for 15 years, as well as an instructor and president of the Orange County Baseball Officials Association. During his professional baseball career, he spoke to many organizations, from Boy Scouts to church groups, while playing in different cities.  He even did color commentary during live broadcasts for TV in Arkansas.

Retirement has allowed Clint to pursue his hobbies of fishing, golf and street rods. As Activities Director of the Hot Rods Unlimited Car Club, Clint revitalized the activity program for the club into a successful social experience that attracted many new members. Clint also serves on the Anaheim Alumni Association Colony Classic Car Show Committee, an event that raises money for student scholarships, school programs and campus improvement projects. His classic cars, a ’56 Chevy Model 210 (actually his wife’s car) and his ’40 Ford Woody will be among cars displayed at the Oct. 12 event, at which Clint will be inducted into the Anaheim High School Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to athletes and his community.