1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

RIP Hank Aaron

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Moderator1, Jan 22, 2021.

  1. Ookpik

    Ookpik Member

    RIP

    [​IMG]
     
  2. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    THE jackpot baseball card when I was a kid (took about a dozen Milt Pappasas before you ever came across an Aaron, it seemed). I've only had two favorite baseball players. He was the first.

    Got to see him hit four of his 755 in person.
     
    Driftwood likes this.
  3. UNCGrad

    UNCGrad Well-Known Member

    There's so much goodness in Pos' Top 100 story on Aaron: The Baseball 100: No. 4, Henry Aaron

    And Hank Aaron was not a home run hitter.

    No, Aaron was a pure hitter. He was an excellent outfielder. He was a superb baserunner. And he was a metronome, pumping out the same brilliant seasons year after year and decade after decade. He led the league in total bases eight times, first as a 22-year-old, last at age 35. Eight times. Nobody — not Ruth, not Williams, not Hornsby, not Musial, not Cobb, not anybody — led the league in total bases as many times.


    *

    Donald Davidson was there in the crowd that day. He had been the Braves’ traveling secretary. He had given Aaron his famous uniform number, No. 44. Aaron had not asked for that number specifically, he’d only wanted a repeating number for his uniform. “You’re too skinny to have a double number,” Davidson had said, but then he made sure that Aaron got the now legendary No. 44.*

    *Aaron and another 44, Willie McCovey, hold the baseball record for most home runs in a season that also matches their uniform number. Aaron hit 44 homers four times. Davidson would always say his big mistake was not giving Aaron the number 66.

    *

    If you took away his 755 home runs — just took them away — he would still have had 3,000 hits.

    *



     
    Slacker, maumann and Webster like this.
  4. cyclingwriter2

    cyclingwriter2 Well-Known Member

    Also, was the guy who incidentally gave MC Hammer his name. Either Finley or one of the As made a joke about how much they looked alike and the name stuck.
     
    Slacker, garrow and HanSenSE like this.
  5. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    I’ve unfortunately never made it to Cooperstown but a traveling exhibit came to Oaktown and I read some of the hate letters and death threats Aaron got in the chase to 715, absolutely scary; amazing how he was able to overcome, and reminded me of his greatness. May he RIP.

    I remember watching that ‘71 All-Star game, Aaron/Mays/Clemente, just wow.
     
    maumann, OscarMadison and wicked like this.
  6. OscarMadison

    OscarMadison Well-Known Member

  7. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    Just one of the handful of the greatest players of all time. One of the greatest men across all sports and a man of absolute integrity.
    I don’t know what a long life is anymore, but a life well lived is a cause to be celebrated as well as mourned. He will be greatly mourned and revered.
     
    maumann and HanSenSE like this.
  8. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Those are great.

    Was always struck by the team pictures in the Braves' yearbooks that showed the 4-foot-2 Davidson next to everyone else.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. UNCGrad

    UNCGrad Well-Known Member

    This is great from Pos as well: 60 Moments: No. 9, Henry Aaron hits home run No. 715

    Love this one:

    Lewis Grizzard, the legendary humorist, was the sports editor for The Atlanta Journal when Aaron broke the record. The coverage in the paper the next day was legendary on several fronts, but here’s my absolute favorite thing he did: He had reporters lined up at all the bathrooms when Aaron hit the homer.

    And those reporters were there to ask fans in the bathroom their reaction when they missed it.
     
  10. Junkie

    Junkie Well-Known Member

    RIP to a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan. I had the fortune to meet him and talk to him one day when he visited Browns training camp in the early 1990s. He held court with the media for a while, telling old stories about all sorts of things, including how he used to sneak in to Browns games at the old stadium. ... I have a ticket stub from the Reds' opening day at Riverfront Stadium in 1974, when my Grandparents saw him tie Ruth's record. Saw him play live exactly once, but had no idea at the time, as a very young kid, just how cool that was.
     
  11. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Aaron was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982 receiving votes on 406/415 ballots (97% of the vote).

    Would love to know the 9 No's ...

     
    Wenders and OscarMadison like this.
  12. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    God loaded up on pitchers last year, so he needed some power in his lineup?

    RIP.
     
    HappyCurmudgeon likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page