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Tapper's FREE GIFT WRAP idol= amin "IA - CASH REFUNDS Tapper's has the right gift for you. 26400 West Twelve Mile Road in Southfield's Racquetime Mall, Northeast corner of 12 Mile & Northwestern Hwy. ORDER BY PHONE 357-5578 MON.-SAT., 10:00-5:45 — THURSDAYS, 10:00-8:45 ting the "execute" button. Except that Moorawnick, who apparently has more storage capacity for facts and figures than the biggest corporations' computers, can spew information without stopping for air or waiting for another ques- tion or "command." He recalls doing statistics in the late '40s for Cincy Sachs' old pro basketball team, the Detroit Fal- cons. "I've been in the NBA longer than the NBA," Moorawnick says with a laugh. In the early '50s, George Mask- ing, who then was on the sports staff at the Detroit Times, re- cruited Moorawnick to write high school and sandlot sports stories as a replacement for Wally Dwyer, who went into the service. It wasn't until 1959 that Moorawnick began his associa- tion with U-M baseball. Don Lund ,was the coach and Moby Benedict his assistant. Moorawnick flew to Florida to handle the team's statistics for the Wolverines' spring trip. When Moorawnick began get- ting more and more duties with the Red Wings, the Pistons and Michigan, he drifted away from Wayne State and Michigan State assignments. Most teams feed members of the press and statistical crews, and pro teams often put out a big spread. Moorawnick has been known to pack away triple serv- ings with regularity, be it roast beef or French pastry. But — de- spite all the freebies available and thus the temptations — he ob- serves kashruth. "I was brought up in an Or- thodox Jewish home," he says. "I never have, nor ever will, inten- tionally eat pork or any product of a pig, or crustaceans. That's the way I was brought up. I won't eat butter or cheese. I loved shrimp in junior high until my mother told me I couldn't eat it. "I don't attend a synagogue, but I went to Hebrew school for six or seven years._On all holidays I was the singer. On Chanukah I'd sing a song on each of the eight days while lighting the candles. I was the designated singer. "I can read Hebrew, but I can't speak Hebrew." He says sometimes he's razzed on road trips, good naturedly, about his eating habits. "When we go on Michigan trips (baseball coach) Bud Middaugh at McDonald's orders 27 cheesebur- gers and two or three hambur- gers. The hamburgers, of course, are for me. I've got these people trained. "I'll eat anything that isn't moving — and sometimes things that are moving — but only if they're proper." Moorawnick says he had a grandfather, Abraham Mooraw- nick, who was a rabbi, and a cousin, Jerry Godfrey, who is a rabbi now in Oak Park. "Jerry will not even eat in a synagogue unless he watches the preparation of the food," Morrie says. "He doesn't eat outside his home." In the 40-plus years of Mooraw- nick's adult life, he says he has had only two jobs that could be . Morrie checks the Silverdome scoreboard. considered full time: as a reporter for the Detroit Daily Press in 1962 and the Polish-American in 1968, both when regular Detroit news- papers were not publishing due to strikes. The Polish-American paper's workers, Moorawnick recalls, all were from the Free Press and the paper paid everyone Newspaper Guild scale, including overtime. "I made more money then than I did any other time in my life," Moorawnick says, a touch of gid- dishness in his voice. "I got over- time, doubletime as much as I wanted," He kept his big Zenith Trans- oceanic radio at his side to monitor various sporting events around the country. One day, in June 1968, the staff was about ready to wrap up for the night when Moorawnick, in a room by himself, heard some strange mut- terings by radio reporters who had been giving California elec- tion results. They said something about hearing a shot and that someone was hurt. Moorawnick listened intently. It turned out to be the assassina- tion of Robert Kennedy. Nedless to say, Moorawnick alerted the news room and page one was ur- gently remade. Workers who headed for the door at 1:45 a.m. didn't leave until 9:15. The paper printed three editions and ran out of them all. "All the other papers in the area had headlines saying election re- sults in California were slow," Moorawnick says. "The Polish- American headline said, 'Ken- nedy Shot.' The next night all the headlines said, 'Kennedy Sink- ing.' Ours said, 'Kennedy Dead!' We doubled the circulation of the paper." One of his biggest thrills, he says, was going into the Detroit Public Library and seeing on mic- rofilm stories in 1968 with his byline. Moorawnick has favorite athletes and persons he's worked with, but he's almost reluctant to mention them for fear of leaving someone out. However, among them are baseball star Steve Gar- vey (who spent some time at Continued on Page 18 .