RIP Hank Aaron

[heyabbott]

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 ...

The New York Times: This Day In Sports

Article on the 9

 

[Splendid Splinter]

 

[rtse11]

Aaron is No. 1 all-time in total bases. He's 722 ahead of No. 2, Stan Musial.
...
The difference between Musial and No. 10, Yaz, is 595.

 

[Scout]

Aaron is No. 1 all-time in total bases. He's 722 ahead of No. 2, Stan Musial.
...
The difference between Musial and No. 10, Yaz, is 595.

Good Lord.

 

[garrow]

I started collecting baseball cards fanatically in the mid-1980s. I have no older siblings, but a pair of older male cousins (born 12 and 8 years before me) gave me their card collection, all of which were from the mid-1970s. I cherished the Hank Aaron Brewers card that came with it.

RIP to a legend.

 

[MTM]

In 1975, Hostess offered baseball cards with their products. My friend and I would go to the Hostess outlet store near my house and look for Hank Aaron cards on Twinkees packages. One time we rode our bikes for what seemed like miles (I just looked it up, it was 6 but at 15 years old it felt like 20) and bought some more at a different store. His mother could never figure out how we kept eating Twinkees but the supply never ran out.

RIP to the greatest player of my lifetime and a truly classy gentleman.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

One of my favorite memories was sitting in the Tiger Stadium bleachers for the 1971 All Star Game
Starting NL outfield was Aaron in left, Mays in center and Clemente in right

One of my favorite bits of trivia was that there were six home runs in that game ... and all six were by future Hall of Famers.

That was Aaron's first ASG home run, too. In the broadcast, Curt Gowdy (either during that at-bat or one previous) alluded to Aaron being homerless in the ASG. The wind sure was blowing out that day.

 

[HanSenSE]

 

[micropolitan guy]

Saw No. 715 on a tiny b & w TV in my dorm room. I never realized until recently he played in Buffalo before turning affiliated pro, with the Indianapolis Clowns, who played at Buffalo's Offerman Stadium, not in Indy.

The HOFers dying now were the stars of my youth/teens, when I ate, drank and slept baseball. These deaths really hit home.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Atlanta should now rename the team the Hammers.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I knew Aaron played for the Milwaukee Braves, but I did not know until today that the Braves signed him while they were still in Boston, in 1952. They did not announce the move until March 1953.

 

[tapintoamerica]

Atlanta should now rename the team the Hammers.

Should have done it years ago. It sounds good. The logo has possibilities. It’ll never happen. SEC Values and all that. But a nice thought.

 

[UNCGrad]

Charles Schulz could drop a mic. These were EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE Aaron broke the record:

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I knew Aaron played for the Milwaukee Braves, but I did not know until today that the Braves signed him while they were still in Boston, in 1952. They did not announce the move until March 1953.

I remember reading a biography of Aaron when I was in elementary school. It talked about how he was signed with two other African-American players (Felix Mantilla and someone else whose name escapes me) and they were assigned to play on Jacksonville's team. Needless to say, the fans weren't kind. However, his manager, Ben Geraghty went out of his way to welcome the players, and would visit them nearly every night whether they were at home or on the road, sleeping at African-American hotels or people's homes due to segregation, to make sure that they were OK. Sometimes he would visit just a few minutes, and other times for hours just to talk baseball. Aaron called Geraghty the most fairest-minded man he'd ever met.

Geraghty had an interesting career as well. He managed a minor league team in Washington State in the 1940s, which ended up in a bus crash that killed roughly half the team and severely injured Geraghty. Pat Jordan mentioned Geraghty in "A False Spring" as him still having emotional problems after the crash years later. Geraghty ended up dying young in the mid-1960s after working for years as a respected member of the Braves' farm system.

Anyways, RIP to Hammering Hank, who retired when I was very young. An incredible career in the face of terrible hardships.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I knew Aaron played for the Milwaukee Braves, but I did not know until today that the Braves signed him while they were still in Boston, in 1952. They did not announce the move until March 1953.

Also was a DH for the Brewers in 1976

 

[nickp]

My favorite Hank Aaron story is that he was allegedly instrumental in getting Bill Watts fired from Turner's World Championship Wrestling in early 1993

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Three things I remember about the 715 video: The Bankamericard sign in the outfield, the two fans running with him as he rounded third, and Craig Sager running around behind home plate.

 

[Songbird]

The New York Times: This Day In Sports

Article on the 9

Ahh, Dave Anderson from Tenafly ...

 

[MTM]

Three things I remember about the 715 video: The Bankamericard sign in the outfield, the two fans running with him as he rounded third, and Craig Sager running around behind home plate.

Add Bill Buckner trying to scale the left field fence as Tom House made a running catch of the ball in the bullpen.

 

[Starman]

Atlanta should now rename the team the Hammers.

That would be great; only a minor reworking of the current tomahawk logo.

Thor and Steel as the mascots

My Top Ten: My Top Ten Hammer Songs