Interstate 57, Itchy Jones, and the Called Shot

Another memory about Hank, and I don’t know when this occurred, was when he drove the wrong way on I-57. It was just another reason for people to say that he really was crazy. It could have been the time that he had attended SIU Baseball Coach 'Itchy' Jones’s baseball camp. Carl Mauck had told me the story about Hank going to Itchy’s baseball camp at SIU one summer. 'Itchy' couldn’t believe his eyes when he did his usual scan of his new crop of campers. In this group was a man that looked like he was someone’s grandpa. When he got to Hank, Hank simply told him that he wanted to learn how to throw a knuckle ball. Itchy couldn’t believe it but Hank stayed the whole camp and did all the drills with the kids.

Another story that Carl jogged my memory with had to do with a ‘called shot ‘. Remember the homerun that Ruth called. Well, something similar happened during an American Legion All-Star game. The game took place in Fairfield, and there was a carnival going on past the centerfield fence. There was the biggest tent that I had ever seen just beyond the centerfield fence. When Hank saw the tent, he proceeded to shout out to everyone that Carl Mauck would hit a ball and hit that tent during the game. And sure enough, Carl did hit that tent with a mammoth shot.

Hank would always ask Kathy, my future wife, if she wanted a Coke. He wouldn’t talk baseball with her, he’d just say, “I don’t know a lot about cheerleading (Kathy was a cheerleader) but I’ll tell you one darn thing, boys just don’t want to practice baseball, too many other things on their minds.” Kathy doesn’t seem to remember, but I keep reminding her that Hank even bought her a coat one time. I believe it was before we were married.

More later..........