MOORMANISM #2, 7-29-71
The stories of Hank Moorman have become legendary here in McLeansboro, Illinois. Many were told while he was alive and they keep being told after his death.
Hank loved baseball, nature, and the Civil War. He became a 'paragrapher', one who writes short philosophical paragraphs about a topic or cause, and he published some of his #Moormanisms in the local McLeansboro Times Leader.
Articles about Hank were written and published by columnist Joe Aaron of the Evansville Courier. Howard Stevens, Tribune State Editor, also published an article about Hank. Other local publications and historical books about Hamilton County contain articles. Some stories are true and some are just stories.
Over the years I have gathered and saved articles, stories, and personal comments made by residents of Hamilton County.
Some of these I will post here, and some I can not post.
The second one, dated Thursday July 29, 1971, was a letter to the editor.
Dear Sir:
About these kids that play baseball – I think it’s high time that most of their dads should help some by hitting his kid ground and fly balls or pitching him battery practice. Unless this is done baseball will be done in this town, if not already.
Why expect someone else to make your kid a ball player when the job may not be done. Your kid in a few short years will be gone, and I think you’d feel better if you helped him some with his baseball.
Furthermore, I think if some dads would spend a little time with their kids, such as with his baseball, or fishing, or hunting, etc., then the kids that go bad might not go bad.
I have hit kids grounders and fly balls until I am sick of it. I like to see big kids able to catch a ball that want to play ball.
Ira E. Moorman
Hank had been long discouraged with people in general. He had tried to help kids and was constantly meeting up with opposition, so I guess he thought the pen was mightier that the sword and decided to speak out more by writing to the people through the newspaper.
