Bent Corner

An anonymous person here in Hagerstown has responded to my letter to the editor that was recently published in the Herald-Mail newspaper. This anonymous person instead of actually writing a letter and signing it as I did, elected to respond to my letter by phoning it in.

Seriously, they just phoned it in.

The Hagerstown Herald-Mail has something they call “Mail Call”. People can call a telephone number and leave a message. They don’t have to identify themselves. All they have to do it state where they are from and leave a message. Newspaper staff then sorts through the messages and attempts to find ones worthy of publishing. Here it is:

“This is about Memorial Boulevard. Virginia Magruder, a retired teacher from North Hagerstown High School - many of us had her for English -came in to Council to carefully delineate the history of Memorial Boulevard, and she had researched it. I wouldn’t presume to say what she gave in the way of information that evening, because it obviously is not going to be believed by the writer of the letter about Memorial Boulevard, but to overcome his ignorance on the subject of Memorial Boulevard and what it was to memorialize, and what it means to many of us out here, as the only thing that genuinely honors veterans in this whole community, I would like to suggest that he go to the Washington County library and avail himself of the many materials that are there on the history of Washington County. He gets to believe whatever he wants to believe, but to suggest that Memorial Boulevard doesn’t have any connection with honoring veterans is ridiculous.” - Hagerstown

What’s funny about this comment is the anonymous person first brags that Mrs. Magruder was their high school English teacher. They then proceed to phone in one of the longest run on sentences I think I have ever read. I’m not a high school English teacher, but I think a sentence with five comas is simply too long. Throw a period or two in there somewhere. They don’t cost anything. They are free. Even on the telephone. Then again, maybe it sounded better over the phone.

If I had a chance to speak with this anonymous person from Hagerstown, I would tell them that I did research on the origin of Memorial Stadium. I would tell them that though some in Hagerstown wanted to erect an actual Memorial to World War One veterans on the street, they never quite got around to doing it.

It’s kind of like me losing 20 pounds. I often say that I’m going to do it, but I never quite get around to it. It would be like calling a road Elm Street and then never getting around to planting elm trees there. It’s the same with the city of Hagerstown. They just never quite got around to erecting the actual memorial.

Why would I want to go do research at the Washington County library? I can sit here at home drinking coffee and taking advantage of Internet sites such as Google and Ask Jeeves. I guess I could do the same thing at the Washington County library, but I would have to do it sitting next to some smelly homeless guy looking for porn.

I wrote a letter into my local newspaper last week, The Herald-Mail. The letter was published in today’s issue. The letter pertained to the renaming a street here in Hagerstown in honor of Willy Mays. One of the greatest baseball players of all times. He actually played his first professional baseball game in Hagerstown. The street that was to be renamed in his honor is where the baseball stadium is located in Hagerstown. It actually has true historical baseball significance associated with it. It’s not every city that can claim to be the site where one of the best baseball players of all time got his very first start.

The street’s name was never changed. It seems some Hagerstown area people got upset because they felt that renaming Memorial Boulevard to Willy Mays Way would be an insult to military veterans. Even though nobody is really quite sure why Memorial Boulevard was named Memorial Boulevard.

People tend to believe that it is called that to honor military veterans. Not that there is any proof or evidence of that. It’s my belief that Memorial Boulevard wasn’t renamed Willie Mays Way simply because he is black.

It’s not because Hagerstown especially loves military veterans.

If Memorial Boulevard was to honor veterans, where was the actual memorial? The street lacked a true memorial for decades. It took the threat of naming the street after a black man to get the enough people interested in paying for a real memorial.

Here is the letter:

I’m responding to a letter you published written by Louise Dawson of Hagerstown. In her letter, she states that the reason Memorial Boulevard was not renamed Willie Mays Way was because people complained. The reason they complained she states was not because Willie Mays is black, but because “veterans did not want it changed.”

For the record, I’m a veteran of the U.S. military. I wanted Memorial Boulevard renamed Willie Mays Way. I thought it would be a fitting tribute to one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Not only a tribute to the player, but to the city where he played his first professional baseball game - it’s a fact that those of us who live in Hagerstown can be proud of. The street and the city actually has some historical baseball significance connected to it.

What I am not proud of is the way some of our city’s residents treated Willie Mays. It has been documented that Mays was subjected to racial slurs during the game. He also was not allowed to stay in the same Hagerstown hotel with the rest of his teammates. I, for one, am ashamed of the treatment Willie Mays received here. Renaming of the street in his honor would have been a positive first step in righting a past wrong committed by people of this city. It would have sent the message that the people of Hagerstown today do not agree with the way Mays was treated. Not only is Hagerstown known at the city that treated Willie Mays wrongly during his first professional baseball game because he was black, it’s now known as the city that more recently refused to rename a portion of a street to honor him.

It’s not as though a famous World War I epic battle took place on Memorial Boulevard. From what I can tell, few even know actually what war, battle, or group of warriors Memorial Boulevard is supposed to memorialize. That’s if it was even named Memorial Boulevard to honor anything at all. The fact that few city officials or residents even know why it was named Memorial Boulevard speaks volumes of its significance.

Blame military veterans for not honoring Willy Mays if you must. Just don’t blame this veteran.