Tributes to Hank Aaron (1934-2021), Forever the Home Run King

The baseball Hall of Fame family lost another member on Friday when the news broke that Hank Aaron, the man who broke Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record, had passed away at the age of 86. Aaron, who played 23 years in Major League Baseball, was one of the last living Hall of Famers whose professional career began in the Negro Leagues. Besides being the official Home Run King until 2007 (with 755 career taters), Aaron is the all-time leader in Runs Batted In (with 2,297) and Total Bases (with 6,856, 722 more than the “Man” in 2nd place, Stan Musial). Only Pete Rose and Ty Cobb rapped more than Aaron’s 3,771 career Hits.

Baseball is a game of numbers. With Hank Aaron, three numbers are iconic. If you speak these numbers to a serious baseball fan, they’ll know instantly what you’re referring to.

• 44 (Aaron’s uniform number)
• 715 (the career home run that put Aaron one ahead of The Babe’s 714)
• 755 (the final home run tally for Hammerin’ Hank)

What’s amazing about Aaron’s home run prowess is that he hardly looked like a prototypical slugger. Although 6 feet tall, he was only 180 pounds. His unique gift was having extraordinarily quick wrists, allowing him to wait on a pitch a split-second longer than most hitters.

 Henry Aaron once said, “I never worried about the fastball. They couldn’t throw it past me. None of them.”

— George Will (Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, 1990)

He could be fooled completely and be way out on his front foot, and the bat would still be back, and he’d just roll his wrists and hit the ball out of the ballpark.

— Lew Burdette, Aaron’s teammate (We Played the Game, 1994)

While Barry Bonds eventually broke Aaron’s home run record thanks to in part to his ridiculously great 2001 campaign (in which he swatted 73 taters), Aaron never hit more than 47 homers in a single campaign. But he was consistent, piling up 30 or more homers in 15 different campaigns and 24 or more 19 times (Bonds also did this).

Aaron’s 2,297 RBI are the most in the history of baseball but he never drove in more than 132 runners in a single season. He did, however, collect 90+ RBI in 16 different campaigns, the most in MLB history (Ruth did this 14 times, the second most).

Besides his out-of-this-world hitting ability, Aaron was also an excellent defensive right fielder (he won 3 Gold Gloves) and a fast and smart base-runner. He stole 20 or more bases 6 times in his career, succeeding at an impressive 77% rate.

With all of his skills, Aaron posted a 143.1 career WAR (Wins Above Replacement), the 5th best for position players in all of baseball history, behind only Bonds, Ruth, Willie Mays, and Ty Cobb.

You cannot sum up Aaron, not in 100 words or a million. The best I can do is to say he was the perfect ballplayer. He did everything well, he hit, he slugged, he ran, he defended, he threw. He is known in baseball history as the Home Run King, but he was not a home run hitter. He just hit the ball so hard, so often that 755 of them left the park.

— Joe Posnanski (The Athletic, January 22, 2021)

Cooperstown Cred: Hank Aaron (RF)

• Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982 (with 97.8% of the vote)
• Milwaukee Braves (1954-65), Atlanta Braves (1966-74), Milwaukee Brewers (1975-76)
• Career: .305 BA, 755 HR, 2,297 RBI, 3,771 Hits, 2,174 Runs
• Career: 155 OPS+, 143.1 WAR
• 2nd most HR in MLB history; 3rd most Hits all-time
• Most RBI in MLB history; 4th most Runs all-time
• Selected to 25 All-Star teams in 21 seasons (17 times as starter)
• Won 3 Gold Gloves
• 1957 N.L. MVP (.322 BA, 44 HR, 132 RBI, 166 OPS+)
• 7 times in Top 3 of MVP voting
• Career postseason: .362 BA, .405 OBP, .710 SLG, 6 HR, 16 RBI (in 17 games)

(cover photo: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

As I was gathering my thoughts about what to write about the legendary Hank Aaron, I felt frankly inadequate to the task. Although I have written about a few dozen existing Hall of Famers, the focus of “Cooperstown Cred” is on the candidates, the players who are not yet enshrined in Cooperstown. There are only a handful of writers (most notably Bill James, Jay Jaffe, and Joe Posnanski) who have written more words about non-Hall of Famers as I have. If you want to read about the Hall of Fame candidacies of players absent from Cooperstown, this is the site for you.

When it comes to Hank Aaron, I had to ask myself what I could add to the voluminous body of tributes authored by others who knew Aaron better, who had interviewed him multiple times, and who were old enough to have had the privilege to have seen him play in his prime. And so, this piece is somewhat curatorial, featuring as many words from others as my own.

If you’ve visited this site before, you’ll notice that I usually cover a player’s career chronologically. In this case, however, the story must start with Aaron’s pursuit of Ruth’s all-time home run record.

The Home Run Chase

Hank Aaron began his Major League Baseball career with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. In Milwaukee, he won an MVP Award and World Series title (in 1957) and another pennant in 1957.

After 12 years in the Badger State, Aaron spent 9 seasons and chased Ruth’s record in the deep south, with the team having relocated to Atlanta. Hammerin’ Hank ended the 1973 season with 713 career home runs, making his ascendancy to the home run throne an inevitability at the beginning of 1974 (Ruth’s mark was 714 taters). Aaron tied Ruth with his 714th career long ball on Opening Day (in Cincinnati).

Four days later, Aaron swatted his 715th in the Braves’ first home game of the season (on April 8th against the Los Angeles Dodgers), in front of 53,775 fans at Atlanta’s Fulton-County Stadium. In his second at bat of the game, facing left-hander Al Downing, Aaron hit a high fly ball that cleared the left-field fence, out of the reach of Dodgers’ left fielder Bill Buckner, caught in the bullpen by Braves’ relief pitcher Tom House.

Vin Scully, the future Hall of Fame announcer for the Dodgers, captured the moment in classic Scully style:

What a marvelous moment for baseball; what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia; what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron. … And for the first time in a long time, that poker face of Aaron shows the tremendous strain and relief of what it must have been like to live with for the past several months.

— Vin Scully (Dodgers radio announcer, April 8, 1974)

The other famous call of Aaron’s 715th tater comes courtesy of Braves’ announcer Milo Hamilton: “That ball is gonna be outta here!! It’s gone,!! It’s 715!! There’s a new home run champion of all-time, and it’s Henry Aaron!!”

Sadly, as noted in Scully’s call, Aaron’s pursuit of the Bambino’s home run mark was as famous for the racism he endured because of it. In 1973, when it looked inevitable that he would eclipse the mythical barrier set by the Great Bambino, Aaron received over 900,000 letters. Most were supportive, wishing him well, but hundreds upon hundreds of them contained racist attacks and death threats. According to Carla Koplin, who became the first full-time secretary for a Major League Baseball player, letters came “with scrawled KKK hoods, and read, ‘You black animal,’ and ‘You will die in one of those games,’ and many things worse.”

My kids had to live like they were in prison because of kidnap threats, and I had to live like a pig in a slaughter camp. I had to duck. I had to go out the back door of the ball parks. I had to have a police escort with me all the time. I was getting threatening letters every single day. All of these things have put a bad taste in my mouth and it won’t go away. They carved a piece of my heart away.

— Hank Aaron (as told to William C. Rhoden, New York Times, Feb. 5, 1994)

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Still, despite the pain of all of the hatred being spewed his way, Aaron could appreciate the majesty of the moment and his accomplishment.

Years later, Aaron would still marvel at who was there to witness his seemingly effortless swing into immortality. Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, who was just two years away from being elected president. Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first Black mayor. Even Sammy Davis Jr. “Those were the giants in our time,” Aaron said. “I was out there playing this little bitty baseball game … and these guys were coming to watch me play. I guess it must have been a pretty big deal.”

— Paul Newberry (Associated Press, January 22, 2021)

Hank Aaron: Before the Majors

Henry Louis Aaron was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama, one of eight children to Herbert and Estella (Pritchett) Aaron. One of Hank’s siblings was Tommie Aaron, who also played Major League Baseball for part of 7 seasons as his brother’s teammate in Milwaukee and Atlanta. The “other” playing Aaron hit 13 home runs in 1,046 career plate appearances. (For the record, the Aaron brothers’ combined total of 768 MLB homers is the most for a pair of siblings in baseball history).

When Aaron was 8 years old, the family moved to Toulminville, just outside of Mobile, to a house built by Herbert Aaron made from leftover ship wood. As a boy, Henry recalled more than one occasion when his mother would have the children hide under their beds as the Ku Klux Klan marched down the street.

— Howard Bryant, Aaron biographer (espn.com, January 22, 2021)

Young Henry didn’t have any proper instruction in the game of baseball. He taught himself how to hit by hitting bottle caps with brooms and sticks.

Before I was a teen-ager, I was telling my father that I was going to be a ballplayer, and he was telling me,  “Ain’t no colored ballplayers.” Then Jackie broke into the Brooklyn Dodgers lineup in 1947, and Daddy never said that again. When the Dodgers played an exhibition game in Mobile, Ala., on their way north the next spring, Daddy even came to the game with me. A black man in a major-league uniform: that was something my father had to see for himself.

— Hank Aaron (op-ed in the New York Times, April 13, 1997)

In November 1951, at the age of 17, Henry signed a $200 per month contract with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. With Aaron on the team in 1952, the Clowns won the Negro League World Series, played in June.

A lot of people don’t know that Henry Aaron played for the Clowns. It is an awakening for them. But Aaron went on to become an icon, one of the greatest to come out of the Negro Leagues. I always delight in that.

— Bob Kendrick, President: Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NBC News, January 22, 2021)

Aaron’s performance in Indianapolis was noticed by two clubs in Major League Baseball, the New York Giants and the Boston Braves. He signed with the Braves because they offered an extra $50 per month.

(Can you imagine what the Giants might have accomplished if they had Willie Mays in center field and Hank Aaron in right field for nearly 20 years?).

Anyway, Aaron’s minor league career was brief: he spent half a summer in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and one year in Jacksonville, Florida. Aaron and four teammates were the first black players to appear in the South Atlantic League. The 19-year old Aaron was the MVP of the league in 1953, hitting .362 with 22 home runs and 135 RBI.

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After the season, Aaron played winter league ball in Puerto Rico, where he learned to play the outfield.

1954-65: Hank Aaron in Milwaukee

Aaron was originally signed by the Boston Braves but never played a single game in the city, as the franchise moved to Milwaukee for the 1953 campaign. In March 1954, Aaron was the beneficiary of an injury to left fielder Bobby Thomson (of “shot heard round the world” fame), who broke his ankle during a spring training game.

And so, at the age of 20, Aaron was the Braves starting left fielder. He didn’t play every day as a rookie (appearing in 122 games, thanks in part to a season-ending ankle injury in early September) and wasn’t yet the Hall of Fame version of Hank Aaron but he was good enough to finish 4th in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting (he hit .280 with 13 HR and 69 RBI).

Starting in 1955, when he was moved to right field, Aaron began his remarkably consistent run of excellence:

• He made the first of his 25 All-Star squads (spanning 21 seasons, since two games were played per year from 1959-62).
• He finished 9th in the MVP balloting, the first of 19 consecutive seasons in which he received at least some down-ballot consideration as his league’s best player.

The MVP, World Series Title, and Consistent Excellence

Aaron’s 1957 was not his best but it was darned great, and good enough to earn him his lone MVP trophy and help the Braves to the N.L. pennant. Aaron earned the MVP honors on the strength of his MLB-best 44 HR and 132 RBI (while modern metrics credit him with a 166 OPS+ and 8.0 WAR).

The Hammer’s season was capped by a walk-off, 11th-inning home run in late September in a game that clinched the pennant for the Braves. (He later called the moment the highlight of his career).

“Hats and scorecards and streamers and torn-up paper were thrown into the air. The din was so loud you couldn’t hear the person standing next to you. Fans jumped up and down and screamed. The entire Braves’ dugout poured out onto the field and mobbed Aaron as he reached home plate.  He was swallowed in a swirling, pounding mass of delirious players and coaches.”

— Doyle Getter (The Milwaukee Journal), reported in the SABR Games Project

The Braves, in the World Series against the dynastic New York Yankees, prevailed in a 7-game series. Aaron was the team’s batting star; he hit .393 with 3 HR and 7 RBI.

Aaron helped Milwaukee back to the Fall Classic in 1958 but this time the Bronx Bombers prevailed, again in 7 games.

From 1956-63 (an eight-year stretch), Aaron’s offense was consistent and superb: his slash line was .324/.381/.588 for a 165 OPS+. He averaged 38 HR and 118 RBI for those eight campaigns while averaging 8.3 WAR per season. He won his three consecutive Gold Gloves during these years (from 1958-60). In ’63, Aaron nearly won the Triple Crown: he led the NL with 44 HR and 130 RBI, while his .319 BA was just .007 behind batting champ Tommy Davis.

Thanks in part to a September ankle injury that caused him to miss 15 games, Aaron’s 1964 campaign was what might be considered an “off-year”: he tallied just 24 HR with 95 RBI.

In his first 12 MLB campaigns, Aaron had already fashioned a Hall of Fame resume: .320 BA, 398 HR, 1,305 RBI. By today’s metrics, Aaron could have made the Hall on the basis of those 12 seasons alone: he had a 158 OPS+ and 88.5 WAR, already the 17th best among position players in MLB history. Although 398 longballs seems quaint by today’s standards, Hammerin’ Hank’s total put him 12th on the all-time HR list after the ’65 season.

1966-74: Hank Aaron in Atlanta

Thanks to the lure of more TV and radio money and a brand new stadium, the Milwaukee Braves franchise relocated to Atlanta for the 1966 season. This put the Alabama-born Hank Aaron back in the deep south; he wasn’t exactly wildly enthusiastic about the move.

“I have lived in the South, and I don’t want to live there again,” Aaron said at the time. “We can go anywhere in Milwaukee. I don’t know what would happen in Atlanta.” Aaron found a sprawling home in the comfortably middle-class Black enclave of Southwest Atlanta and started building relationships with his neighbors and other Black figures in town — notably Andrew Young, Martin Luther King Sr., and Martin Luther King Jr.

— Ernie Suggs (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 22, 2021)

The 32-year old Aaron’s first season in Atlanta featured 44 HR with 127 RBI, both best in the N.L., although he hit “only” .279; that was the first time since his rookie season in which Aaron failed to hit at least .300.

As Aaron continued his consistent, steady climb up the ranks in the record books, he passed multiple milestones with the Braves on a nearly year by year basis. In early 1966, he hit his 400th home run at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia by going 4 for 5 with 2 HR.

On July 14th, 1968, Aaron clubbed the 500th home run of his career at Atlanta Stadium. That made him just the 8th player in baseball history to swat at least 500 taters.

A little over a year better (July 1969), Aaron hit home run #537 to move into 3rd place on the all-time HR list, passing Mickey Mantle. This was also the year of the Hammer’s final postseason appearance. The Braves won the N.L. West title in the new, two-division format. Aaron hit a tie-breaking solo tater off future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver (who passed away last summer) in Game 1 of the first-ever N.L. Championship Series; the Braves eventually lost the game and were swept by the New York Mets. (Overall, Aaron hit .357 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the NLCS).

In May 1970, Aaron collected his 3,000th career hit, making him the first player in baseball history to reach both the 500 HR and 3,000 hit milestones.

It was in April 1971 that the Hammer hit the 600th long ball of his career (off future Cooperstown inductee Gaylord Perry), putting him into an exclusive club occupied only by Mays and Ruth. Overall, in 1971, the 37-year old Aaron had a superb offensive season: he slashed .327/.410/.669 (194 OPS+) with a career-best 47 HR and 118 RBI.

In June 1972, Aaron hit his 649th HR to pass Mays and move into 2nd place on the all-time HR list (Mays finished his career with 660). Aaron hammered the 700th home run of his illustrious career on July 21, 1973, surprisingly in front of just 16,236 fans at Atlanta Stadium.

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As we’ve previously noted, Aaron finished the ’73 campaign with 713 career taters, one shy of Ruth’s immortal number.

1974: The New Home Run King

Early in this piece, I chronicled the culmination of the great home run chase in which Henry Louis Aaron tied and then surpassed the career home run total of the legendary George Herman Ruth. In three games, Aaron tied and then surpassed the Babe’s magic number of 714. Here are a few more stories and perspectives on what will forever be one of the greatest moments in the history of baseball.

Dusty Baker, best known today as one of baseball’s winningest managers, was in the on-deck circle when Aaron hit #715.

It was the home opener. That and Hank’s situation led to the biggest crowd of the season (53,775). And it was a cold, cold night in Atlanta. It was the coldest night I ever spent in Atlanta. Before the game he told me, “I’m going to get this over with right now.” He walked that first time up, but then in the fourth inning, there was a runner on first. Al (Downing) pitched to him and he hit the home run.

— Dusty Baker (mlb.com, interview with Tracy Ringolsby, April 8, 2017)

Aaron’s historic homer was caught in the left-field bullpen by Braves’ relief pitcher Tom House.

Tom House had no earthly clue what it would mean when history landed in his hands at Fulton County Stadium. Baseball’s minimum salary in 1974 was $15,000. “So, the ball was worth (almost) twice what I was making at the time,” House said. “But I’ll guarantee, if you asked anyone on the field that day, if they would have caught the home run they would have done exactly what I did.” House ran the ball to home plate, wedging his way into the growing throng to hand history to the man who authored it. Pandemonium ensued.

— Bryce Miller (San Diego Tribune, January 22, 2021)

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The negotiations were simple: I begged. “No,” they said. I pleaded. “Nope,” they replied. I bargained: Let me stay up until 9 o’clock, and I’ll go to bed a half-hour earlier tomorrow. Swear to God! 

“A half-hour tonight in exchange for a half-hour tomorrow. You’ll shake on it?” my father asked… I extended my hand. My father shook it. So it was that on the evening of April 8, 1974, inside the modest house at 669 Thrush Avenue, West Hempstead, a deal was struck: I would be allowed to stay up past my bedtime to watch two Hank Aaron at-bats on a night when a Braves-Dodgers baseball game would be televised on Channel 4.

(Aaron homered on his second at bat)

— Mike Vaccaro (New York Post, January 22, 2021)

Finally, another reporter from the New York Post incapsulated both the majesty of the moment and the anxiousness.

On April 8, 1974, Aaron hit homer No. 715. At the time he took Al Downing deep, Aaron was spending the day with two full-time security guards assigned to him, the threats so real that the FBI was looking into them. When Aaron crossed home plate, his mother, Estella, embraced her son in full. Out of pride, yes, but also in case there was an assassination attempt, so the bullet would take her instead of him.

— Joel Sherman (New York Post, January 22, 2021)

On October 2nd, Aaron hit the 733rd home run of his illustrious career. It was the last game of the season and his final game for the Atlanta Braves. He finished the season with 20 HR, 69 RBI, and a career-low .268 batting average.

1975-76: Swan Song Milwaukee

Hank Aaron finished his 21 years in a Braves’ uniform with those 733 taters to go with 3,600 Hits and 2,202 RBI. He was traded after the ’74 season to the Milwaukee Brewers and spent the last two seasons of his 23-year career primarily as a designated hitter. Now 41 years old, age finally caught up with Hammerin’ Hank. He hit just .234 with 12 HR and 60 RBI in 543 plate appearances in 1975.

He did thrill the Milwaukee faithful when he became the game’s all-time RBI leader on May 1st by driving in two runs. (At the time, his 2,211 RBI were considered better than Ruth’s total of 2,209 but historians later discovered 5 more ribbies for the Bambino so, by retroactive analysis, Aaron actually passed the Babe two weeks later, doing it in style with a 3-run tater, his 737th).

Aaron played in just 85 games in 1976, his final MLB campaign, hitting .229 with 10 HR and 35 RBI. He hit his 755th and final home run on July 20, 1976, against the California Angels.

Del Crandall was our manager when Henry came back (to the Milwaukee Brewers), and Del made it a point for me to be with Henry all the time after games. Riding a cab back to the hotel or whatever it may be. We were that close. Hank and I were that close. I remember many times seeing hate mail that he got. It was awful. It was really bad. I got mail, because I was talking about him on the air. I got mail from idiotic people who would rip me for talking about Henry. It was bad. Our manager, you should have seen the hate mail that came into the manager’s office from stupid people. They were unbelievably vile and vicious.

— Bob Uecker, Aaron’s teammate & longtime Brewers announcer (MLB.com, January 22, 2021)

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After the end of his playing career, Aaron returned to Atlanta, where he became the Braves’ vice president of player development. In 1982, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum although, inexplicably, he got “only” 97.8% of the vote. Yes, there were nine writers who felt that Hank Aaron wasn’t worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Personal Thoughts on Hank Aaron

For those of us who love and revere the legends who have been honored with plaques in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, the last five months have been mind-numbing, with nine Hall of Famers passing away in such a short period of time with another (Al Kaline) passing away last April. In early September, we learned that Tom Seaver had passed away on the last day of August. And, in the months since, we’ve lost Lou Brock, Joe Morgan, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, Phil Niekro, Tommy Lasorda, and Don Sutton. Additionally, slugger Dick Allen (a strong candidate for the Hall) died in early December.

I was too young to see Hank Aaron in his prime. The only time I ever saw him bat on live television was a pinch-hitting appearance in the 1975 All-Star Game at County Stadium in Milwaukee. I learned about his record-setting accomplishment from the 1974 season by collecting baseball cards. There were two Aaron cards in the ’75 Topps set. One was a profile shot, the one containing all of his prodigious statistics on the back-side; the other was his “’74 Highlights” card, the one announcing that he had set the homer mark.

25 years after the one and only time I saw Aaron live on TV, I had the distinct honor and privilege of meeting Aaron in person. At the time, I was the Coordinating Producer of ESPN’s “Up Close” show. For those who aren’t familiar with it, “Up Close” was a 30-minute interview program that immediately preceded the 6p ET edition of SportsCenter. Most of our shows were taped in a studio in Hollywood but we made occasional exceptions for exceptional guests. Hank Aaron was one of those exceptions. With the 2000 All-Star Game scheduled to be played at Turner Field, I flew to Atlanta with the show’s host (Gary Miller) to produce his interview with Hammerin’ Hank.

By the year 2000, I had been working for ESPN for 11 years. It was my third year as the CP for “Up Close.” On my 10th day on the job, our live in-studio guest was O.J. Simpson. (Yes, that was in 1998, four years “after”). Between the “Up Close” years and previous ESPN assignments, I had met and had personal conversations with dozens of sports legends, including luminaries such as Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Frank Robinson, Reggie Jackson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Tony Dorsett, Walter Payton, and Joe Montana. You might notice that I mentioned mostly older athletes, the ones I followed or read about in my childhood. Still, most writers or TV people will tell you that hero-worship disappears when you’re “in the business.”

Shaking Hank Aaron’s hand was different. Even after meeting so many of the aforementioned megastars, I was star-struck when I met him. When in Aaron’s presence, in a luxury suite at the Braves’ still very new ballpark, I felt like I had entered a palace and met the king. (Of course, this was 2000, and was still the official Home Run King). There was a regal nature to the man, but one of benevolence. Aaron was the classic gentleman. He was also generous with his valuable time. Because I wanted to showcase the field in the background and it was a sunny day, we had some lighting issues that delayed the start of the interview. The Aaron interview will always be near the top memory from my years at ESPN.

Baseball’s Great Ambassador

Hank Aaron was an ambassador to the sport of baseball and an important figure in the civil rights movement in the USA, a man of importance perhaps behind only Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, and Jim Brown among the ranks of professional athletes.

Aaron was a monumental figure in the city’s development as a sports city, but even more in the changing culture of the New South, of which Atlanta is the unofficial capital. He was a civil rights activist, a hero to millions, and when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record and received an extended standing ovation at old Fulton County Stadium, after enduring months of racial slurs and death threats, it was the South’s most iconic sports moment.

— David O’Brien, Braves beat writer (The Athletic, January 22, 2021)

Six months after our “Up Close” interview, baseball’s greatest ambassador was awarded the Presidents Citizens Medal by outgoing President Bill Clinton. In 2002, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.

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Over the course of his 86 years, America asked him to do everything right. It asked him to pull himself up by his bootstraps: Henry’s father had built the family house with saved money and leftover planks of wood and nails he scavenged from vacant lots around the Toulminville section of Mobile, while he had taught himself to play baseball. America asked him to put in the hours and the hard work and to not complain: Henry played 23 seasons and never once went on the then-disabled list after his rookie season ended three weeks early because of a broken ankle. No special favors. No handouts. America asked him to believe in meritocracy, the meritocracy of the record books and the scoreboard.

In 2009, Henry, his wife, Billye, and I were sitting in a conference room at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I was trying to comprehend the historical arc of Henry Aaron, and told him he represented so much of the Black American aspirational journey. I said to him, ‘You went from your mother hiding you under the bed when the Klan marched down your street as a toddler to sleeping in the White House as the invited guests of the president.’

“No, no, no, Mr. Bryant,” Billye Aaron interrupted me with a proud smile. “We didn’t sleep at the White House. We slept at the White House twice.”

— Howard Bryant, Aaron biographer (espn.com)

Tributes to Henry Louis Aaron

Having shared my personal thoughts about the great Hank Aaron, allow me to conclude with the thoughts of others on the day of the sad news that we had lost another living legend.

Hank Aaron was the most important influence on my life, next to my Dad. He was the best person that I ever knew, and the truest, most honest person that I ever knew. He taught me how to be a man and how to be a proud African-American. He taught me how important it was to give back to the community, and he inspired me to become an entrepreneur. Hank impacted my life, my family and my world, both on and off the field. He was a great man.

— Dusty Baker, Aaron’s teammate with Braves (1968-74)

Hank was a great ballplayer who played hard every day and accomplished so much on and off the field. Although we were never teammates, we played in many All-Star Games together, and I enjoyed our friendship over the years.

— Hall of Famer Willie Mays (San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 2021)

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It’s beating me down. When you see your guys, your idols, the people that taught you so much about how to act and how to do things in life — it’s really hard. He’s in the last sentence of greatest player of all time: Aaron, Ruth, Mays, Gehrig, Mantle.

— Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson (New York Times, January 22, 2021)

(When Jackson joined the Yankees in 1977, he chose the uniform number 44 in honor of Aaron).

The first time I really had any personal contact with Mr. Aaron was in 1964. We go to spring training and we’re playing the Braves. Henry Aaron comes over and (Yankees teammate Elston) Howard says, “Hank, this is the kid I was telling you about.” And without breaking stride, Hank says, “Hey young man. It’s so nice to see you up here. You ever have anything you want to know about, any advice you need, just call me and talk to me any time you’d like.” I never forgot those words.

— Al Downing, the pitcher who gave up Aaron’s 715th home run (NBC News, January 22, 2021)

He lived his life as an example to all of us.  His talent, major league records and honors are easy to see, but all who had a chance to know or even meet him know his true greatness was in how he lived and inspired people off the field.

— Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (Associated Press, January 22, 2021)

Let me tell you something, when he walked through the clubhouse it was like E.F. Hutton. Everybody shut up. Everybody watched his movements.

— Chipper Jones, longtime Braves’ star and Hall of Famer (Associated Press)

What Aaron endured, and how he persevered through it, not just with his greatness as a player, but with his dignity and focus as a person, is remarkable. He’s a Mount Rushmore-level player, but the social significance of it, and his qualities as a person, take him to another place. He was a genuinely humble person. Kind. Welcoming. Respectful. Very generous in his assessment of other players. He never forgot the ugly side of America that he confronted and triumphed over. But it never turned him bitter.

— Bob Costas (NBC News, January 22, 2021)

Even though it’s a sad time, the memories you have always put a smile on your face.

— Joe Torre, Aaron’s teammate with Braves (1960-68) (New York Times, January 22, 2021)

He loved playing baseball. He was good at it, right from the start, and he loved the challenge, loved to run the bases, loved making great catches, loved to throw. He particularly loved to hit… “It made me feel good I could outguess those two guys. I’d think, ‘Here comes the fastball,’ and when it came and I hit it, oh, that felt so good.” He laughed when he talked that way. Henry Aaron’s laugh was pure joy.

— Joe Posnanski (The Athletic, January 22, 2021)

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