We Called Him Hank

We called him Hank.
I got to know Hank because of baseball. Hank was always around baseball. He would show up when other adults wouldn’t be around. Hank didn’t work. We had always heard that he was on disability from being in the armed forces. The story that was told around town was that Hank was ‘shell-shocked’ from the war and his nerves were shot. People would say that the government would from time to time question his disability and then Hank would “go off the deep end” and do something to show them he was still crazy. Once he ‘shot up’ the local pool hall, he took his shotgun in and shot out the window. He would also go to the local Legion, wave his gun around, and make threats. This would always land him in jail and then he would be sent to the mental ward at Danville. They would verify his craziness at Danville, give him drug therapy, and then send him home, still able to receive his government disability or pension.

What always worried our parents about Hank never upset us kids. We kids thought he was harmless and funny. I, for one, couldn’t wait to see what he would do next.

On a hot and humid July evening in 1976 a man was being honored for his contributions to the youth of this little town in Southern Illinois. A large crowd was on hand for the occasion which was to be held between the Little and Khoury League all-star games. The people were there for a number of reasons. They all had heard stories of how this disabled veteran had helped many young ball players, and that he himself had been ready to sign a big league contract with the Cardinals only to be inducted into the army on the same day. They knew of the many humorous anecdotes called ‘Moormanisms’ which appeared in the local paper every week. But, most were there because they were very curious, for really they didn’t know this man that had done so much.

The man was Ira Eugene Moorman, known better as Hank. Ironically, the nickname was given to him after Hank Greenberg, the great baseball player. A friend had called him Hank one day while playing a game of sandlot baseball and it stuck. Hank was dying of lung cancer and everyone knew it. He had been a drinker all of his life, and not very many took his advise very seriously. Many thought he was crazy. Very little respect had come his way.

Finally, after being heckled and laughed at for years, this man was being shown the sort of respect he deserved. For many, it wasn’t false respect. They were the many he had worked and talked his guts out for to help them to become better young men and ball players. Some people had always shown disrespect for Hank because they just didn’t understand him. They were here to find out why this man was being honored.

David Lee, Hamilton County Schools’ Athletic Director, had proclaimed “Hank Moorman Night” to take place in between the all-star games of the Unit #10 summer league. Dick Auten, long-time American Legion coach, gave a few remarks. He talked of how Hank had once been a Cardinal prospect but was inducted into the army before he could realize his dream of playing for the Redbirds. Dick also told of a time that Hank and a group went to St. Louis so that a few American Legion baseball players could tryout for the Cardinals and how Hank saw Stan Musial and the head Cardinal scout on an elevator and got them all a personal face to face meeting with the two of them. He also told of the countless hours and bits of advice that Hank had given to the boys of McLeansboro over the years. Then Hank was presented a plaque and an engraved bat for his dedication to baseball and the kids of McLeansboro.