Hank Aaron - what a life!

[caribbeanhen]

So much to say about Mr. Aaron I don't know where to start

[Gil Dobie]

“I didn’t know if I was leaving home to go play baseball with kids my age or grown men!” -Henry Aaron, 18, at the train station in Mobile, AL leaving to join the Indy Clowns in 1952. Five years later, OTD, he was NL MVP! - From Bob Kendrick, Negro League Baseball Museum

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJYUmeTWoAIIIXt?format=jpg&name=small

[caribbeanhen]

“I didn’t know if I was leaving home to go play baseball with kids my age or grown men!” -Henry Aaron, 18, at the train station in Mobile, AL leaving to join the Indy Clowns in 1952. Five years later, OTD, he was NL MVP! - From Bob Kendrick, Negro League Baseball Museum

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJYUmeTWoAIIIXt?format=jpg&name=small

I read a book about Hank Aaron in the sixth grade that talked about the day he left home and how his mother cried and basically all he had was a couple of sandwiches stuffed inside an old brown bag and a couple of dollars

And then he got on the train and left and changed the world

[Gil Dobie]

I read a book about Hank Aaron in the sixth grade that talked about the day he left home and how his mother cried and basically all he had was a couple of sandwiches stuffed inside an old brown bag and a couple of dollars

And then he got on the train and left and changed the world

I heard an interview with Hank, where he talked about the sandwiches and a couple bucks. He later played with the Eau Claire Bears of the Northern League in 1952, before being called up to the Braves.

Aaron hit 5 home runs in the Negro Leagues, I would if that will add to his total? He would still be 2 short of the fake record.

[Laker]

I was in junior college and the whole house was watching the game in the basement when we heard the fire truck about to go by on Highway 12. Everyone else rushed out to see where the trucks were going. I told them I'd seen fire trucks before but never a home run record to be set. Sure enough, Hank parked one. The two idiots who ran with him on the field were lucky that they didn't get shot because of death threats that had been sent to Aaron. When my roommates came back in the house I told them that he had set the record. They didn't believe me until they heard the announcer talk about it. Never forgot where I was that night and I saw it live- but they didn't.

[POD Knows]

I was in junior college and the whole house was watching the game in the basement when we heard the fire truck about to go by on Highway 12. Everyone else rushed out to see where the trucks were going. I told them I'd seen fire trucks before but never a home run record to be set. Sure enough, Hank parked one. The two idiots who ran with him on the field were lucky that they didn't get shot because of death threats that had been sent to Aaron. When my roommates came back in the house I told them that he had set the record. They didn't believe me until they heard the announcer talk about it. Never forgot where I was that night and I saw it live- but they didn't.I saw it live as well, remember everything, the pitch location, the pitcher, I remember thinking at the time that I could have went yard with what Downing served up. Wow, lots of big time athletes dying this year, makes you feel really old at times.

[caribbeanhen]

Hank Aaron (https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/hank-aaron/)



This article was written by Bill Johnson (https://sabr.org/authors/bill-johnson/)
“Henry Aaron in the second inning walked and scored. He’s sittin’ on 714. Here’s the pitch by Downing. Swinging. There’s a drive into left-center field! 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!” — Milo Hamilton, April 8, 1974
http://dev.sabr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/AaronHenry1.jpgWith that swing of the bat, along with the 714 that preceded it, Hank Aaron not only passed Babe Ruth (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9dcdd01c)as Major League Baseball’s career home run leader, but he also made a giant leap in the integration of the game and the nation. Aaron, an African-American, had broken a record set by the immortal Ruth (https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-8-1974-hank-aaron-hammers-historic-715th-home-run-break-babe-ruths-record), and not just any record, but the all-time major league home run record, and in doing so moved the game and the nation forward on the journey started by Jackie Robinson (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bb9e2490) in 1947. By 1974 Aaron’s baseball career was within three years of sunset, but the road he’d travelled to arrive at that spring evening in Atlanta had hardened and tempered him, perhaps irrevocably, in ways that only suffering can produce. Aaron finally shrugged off the twin burdens of expectation and fear that evening, and few have ever stood taller.
Henry Louis Aaron was born February 5, 1934, in Mobile Alabama, to Herbert and Estella (Pritchett) Aaron. Among Henry’s seven siblings was a brother, Tommie (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a3f2f0b1), who later played in parts of seven different seasons in the major leagues. For whatever such records are worth, the brothers still hold the record for most career home runs by a pair of siblings, 768, with the elder Henry contributing 755 to Tommie’s 13. They were also the first siblings to appear in a League Championship Series as teammates.
Henry was born, and the Aarons lived, in a poorer neighborhood of Mobile called “Down the Bay,” but he spent most of his formative years in the nearby district of Toulminville. The Aaron family lived on the edge of poverty, in part due to the general economic conditions of the Great Depression, so every member of the family worked to contribute. Young Henry picked cotton, among other odd jobs, and while his parents could not afford proper baseball equipment for recreation, Aaron was able to practice in endless sandlot games and by hitting bottle caps with ordinary broom handles and sticks. One of the consequences of this self-coaching was that he developed a cross-handed batting style, a habit he kept until his early days in the professional ranks. Aaron was a gifted athlete and starred in both football and baseball at Central High School for two years. On the diamond he played shortstop, third base, and some outfield on a team that won the Mobile Negro High School Championship during those freshman and sophomore years.
In 1949, the fifteen-year-old Aaron — influenced by the exploits of Jackie Robinson, whom he’d seen on several exhibition passes through Alabama — was allowed to try out with the Brooklyn Dodgers but did not earn a contract offer, likely due to his unorthodox batting grip. Now a high school junior, however, he transferred to the private Josephine Allen Institute for his final two years of education. He had been playing for the semi-pro Pritchett Athletics since age fourteen, and it was during those games, as well as in some of his softball contests, that he drew the attention of Ed Scott. The scout convinced Henry and his mother that it would be a good move to sign with the Mobile Black Bears, a semi-pro team, for $3 a game. Estella granted the boy permission to play, but only on the condition that the he did not travel, thus limiting him to local games.
On November 20, 1951, despite his mother’s concerns about his not continuing on to college, Henry signed a $200/month contract with the Negro American League champion Indianapolis Clowns. Scout Bunny Downs had discovered Aaron playing with the Black Bears during an earlier exhibition, and once with Indianapolis Aaron flourished, helping guide the team to the 1952 Negro League World Series crown. In 26 games that year he posted a .366 batting average, hit five home runs, and stole nine bases. The series, and the season, allowed Aaron to showcase his range of skills not just for regional scouts, but for several major league organizations as well.
Following the championship, two telegrams reached Henry — one with an offer from the New York Giants, and a second with an offer from the Boston Braves. Aaron chose the latter, evidently because of a $50-a-month difference in salary, and Boston immediately purchased his contract from Indianapolis. On June 14, 1952, Aaron signed with Braves scout Dewey Griggs, and reported to the Class C Eau Claire Bears. There the coaches helped him eliminate his cross-handed batting grip, and the results were staggering. The infielder, despite playing in only 87 games, batted .336 with nineteen doubles and not only earned a spot on the league’s All-Star squad, but at the end of the season was selected as the Northern League’s Rookie of the Year. Aaron had also shown the Braves that he was not only a wonderful prospect on the field, but also that he could handle the racist taunts with external detachment.
The next season, 1953, found him and black teammates Horace Garner and Felix Mantilla (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/4fd05b60)on the Jacksonville Tars. Along with two other players, Fleming Redy and Al Israel, the quintet broke the color line in the “Sally” League (or, SAL), playing in the heart of old Dixie without the top-cover of a sympathetic national press. Aaron almost single-handedly forced the Jacksonville fans to accept him, regardless of race, by leading the entire league with a batting average of .362, and also being the top producer with 115 runs, 208 hits, 36 doubles, 338 total bases, and 135 runs batted in (RBI) title. To cap the first desegregated season in SAL history Aaron led the Tars to the title and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. As many parts of the South were still unofficially governed by Jim Crow laws, circumstances that forced the black players to live in separate accommodations on the road and were equally limited in dining choices, one pundit wrote, “Henry Aaron led the league in everything except hotel accommodations.”
That year Henry also met a young woman named Barbara Lewis. On a lark, she had decided to attend a Tars game one night early in the season, and watched Aaron single, double, and homer. By October 6, Aaron, not yet twenty, and Lewis were married and within a year welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Gaile.
Aaron spent part of the offseason playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, learning to play the outfield and working with coach Mickey Owen (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/1dddf7f7) on his batting stance. The following spring, on March 13, 1954, Milwaukee’s left fielder Bobby Thomson (http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2bd9de5b) broke an ankle during a spring training game, and on March 14 Henry Aaron made his starting lineup debut as the new left fielder. He homered. Following that performance, the Braves offered Aaron a major league contract.

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/hank-aaron/

[POD Knows]

I guess I had always assumed Aaron was a unanimous first ballot HOF inductee but he only got about 98% of the votes, you got these idiots that try and be "special" and not vote somebody in on the first ballot, freaking clowns. Mays and Ted Williams weren't unanimous either I guess.

[caribbeanhen]

Aaron was offered by the Braves and Giants in 1951, obviously he chose the Braves but if was the Giants it would’ve been Mays and Aaron on the same team

[Chalupa Batman]

I guess I had always assumed Aaron was a unanimous first ballot HOF inductee but he only got about 98% of the votes, you got these idiots that try and be "special" and not vote somebody in on the first ballot, freaking clowns. Mays and Ted Williams weren't unanimous either I guess.

I think Mariano Rivera a couple years ago was the first ever unanimous selection.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[caribbeanhen]

Tom
@Haudricourt (https://mobile.twitter.com/Haudricourt)


Bob Uecker tells this story about first meeting Hank Aaron with the Braves: "I came up to him and said, I'm Bob Uecker. Henry said, 'What do you do?' I said, 'I'm a catcher.' Henry said, 'For what team?'

[caribbeanhen]

Aaron was also the all-time leading home run hitter against Hall of Fame pitchers with 72

[caribbeanhen]

https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?153542-Henry-Aaron&highlight=Hank+aaron

old thread

Henry Aaron
Posted this over on gohens.net at exactly 9:07 pm - 40 years to the minute

thought it was worthy here as well

Well where to start,

Long before they became Americas team and the "Superstation" was beaming Braves games coast to coast, I can safely say that my father and i were the only Braves fans in Lower Delaware. Around this time, Late at night, on some nights, WSB 750 AM station in Atlanta could be heard loud in clear in slower Lower, I would sit out in the car with Pops listening to the Braves on the radio. He would give me a sip of his Bud (Dad, how can you drink that stuff) The were good for 90 losses a year or more, but we still listened. When the Braves played the Phillies it made for some nice prime time listening brought to you by Harry and Richie and without all the static.

So it is the summer of 1973 and as Henfan said, the build up was National and the media coverage was intense, baseball was still the national pastime and Hank Aaron had the Babe in his sights, the only question was would he catch him that year or would it have to wait, I remember Henry hitting number 700 and I think it was against the Phillies off Ken Brett (Georges brother) only 15 more to go but it's already July something.

1952 - Aaron - left his home in Mobile Alabama with a couple of sandwiches and a twenty dollar bill to go play in the Negro Leagues, played some SS and 2B, hit cross handed meaning his right hand was on the bottom until they changed him. First HR against Vic Raschi, only hit 13 in his rookie year in 1954, never had a serious injury except for a broken ankle that cost him September in 1954.

My earliest baseball memory was a Spring Training game in 1968 at old Al Lang Field in St Pete, I was about 5. The only thing I remember about the game was my father suddenly got weird when Hank came up and told me to pay close attention, and i sure did. Aaron was my fathers idol therefore he became mine.

So Aaron finishes the 73 season at 713 and I had to wait all winter for the 1974 baseball season and the pursuit on the Babe to continue. Despite the tremendous media build up, the death threats and Opening Day in Cincy, Aaron promptly swats a Jack Billingham pitch to tie the record in his first AB of the season. Now it is announced the Braves will play on National TV Saturday game of the week, except the Braves decided to sit hank so he could break the record at home. Bowie Kuhn gets involved for "the best interest of baseball" and order Aaron in the lineup.

So now, its Monday Night, April 8th 1974. Just know there was a farm house on the Bethel Road that was riveted to this game. NBC TV is in Atlanta to televise the game on National TV and America was watching (much less distractions back in those days and one could actually watch a ball game without checking your Iphone). Aaron walked in his first AB and I remember I was getting PO'd at Al Downing for not throwing a strike to him, Aaron comes to the plate for the second AB to another standing ovation from the 53K …… First pitch is yet another ball…. I yell at the set, throw him a strike …… next pitch as JoeC correctly recalled, was a meatball right from the moment it left #44 hand and with a powerful flick of some powerful wrist the ball was sent over the LF fence and caught by Braves reliever Tom House. Pandaemonium. Aaron was met by his mother who locked him up with a hug that almost knocked the wind out of him, he get up to the Mike and said something to the effect of "Thank god it's over". This night was a moment I will never forget.

There was some weird trivia with the #4 and i don't recall the details but Aaron and Downing both wore #44
Date - 4/8/74
time 9:07 - 9 plus 7 is 16 or 4 4 4 4
there is more here I just don't remember and screw google

Mr Aaron was and still is one classy person. Long Live baseballs all time Home run king!

[Laker]

I guess I had always assumed Aaron was a unanimous first ballot HOF inductee but he only got about 98% of the votes, you got these idiots that try and be "special" and not vote somebody in on the first ballot, freaking clowns. Mays and Ted Williams weren't unanimous either I guess.

People who couldn't even hit a wiffleball- not to say a curveball- deem themselves "purists" who need to follow some kind of sacred code of stupidity. Or maybe one day someone didn't give them an interview after a game. Either way- how would you like to be known as one of those who didn't vote for him the first time?

[POD Knows]

People who couldn't even hit a wiffleball- not to say a curveball- deem themselves "purists" who need to follow some kind of sacred code of stupidity. Or maybe one day someone didn't give them an interview after a game. Either way- how would you like to be known as one of those who didn't vote for him the first time?I want the list of assholes who didn't vote for Mays, Aaron, Williams and others on the first ballot. How in the hell can anybody look at those guys and not vote for them, those voters should have had their asses kicked in an alley someplace, some things are self evident.

[caribbeanhen]

I want the list of assholes who didn't vote for Mays, Aaron, Williams and others on the first ballot. How in the hell can anybody look at those guys and not vote for them, those voters should have had their asses kicked in an alley someplace, some things are self evident.

ok you guys are getting me fired up about this, I never payed that much attention To Hall of Fame voting but this is just stupid...

[POD Knows]

ok you guys are getting me fired up about this, I never payed that much attention To Hall of Fame voting but this is just stupid...Another thing cool about Aaron and the early days as he was a switch hitter, somebody decided he should bat right handed and for a while in the minors, he batted right handed with his hands wrong and was still killing it.

Can you imagine this guy as a pure switch hitter, OMFG, who knows.

[caribbeanhen]

Another thing cool about Aaron and the early days as he was a switch hitter, somebody decided he should bat right handed and for a while in the minors, he batted right handed with his hands wrong and was still killing it.

Can you imagine this guy as a pure switch hitter, OMFG, who knows.

Aaron was able to practice in endless sandlot games and by hitting bottle caps with ordinary broom handles and sticks. One of the consequences of this self-coaching was that he developed a cross-handed batting style, a habit he kept until his early days in the professional ranks.


cross handed meaning as a right handed hitter his right hand was below the left hand on the bat

Im gonna be pissed if you dont read his bio :D

[ngineer]

I remember my junior year at Lehigh having a night class, but the prof. was a baseball nut, too, and announced he'd let us out early so we could watch Aaron go for 715. I was all the way down the mountain in Maginnes Hall, and hauled my ass up mountain scaling the steps 2-3 at a time to get back to my frat house in time to see the game and watch Henry hammer it off of Downing. We went 'on tap' that night. A great memory of one of the greatest athletes of all time and a 'solid' human being.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I grew up a huge little league, baseball, baseball card junkie. My grandfather LOVED Hank Aaron which always had a big impact on my baseball/sports perspective.

[Gil Dobie]

Another thing cool about Aaron and the early days as he was a switch hitter, somebody decided he should bat right handed and for a while in the minors, he batted right handed with his hands wrong and was still killing it.

Can you imagine this guy as a pure switch hitter, OMFG, who knows.

Reminded me of this 1957 Topps card. It's a reverse negative, and shows a left handed Hank Aaron.
https://www.oldsportscards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1957-Topps-20-Hank-Aaron-Baseball-Card.jpg

[caribbeanhen]

Watch The Hammer send one onto Waveland Ave

this was #730 in July of 1974

https://mobile.twitter.com/nut_history/status/1352724971538313216

[caribbeanhen]

715 with Vin Scully on the call

Watch his mother greet him after he crosses home plate, Hank later said she almost knocked the wind out of him

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChadBlue83/status/1352640441049620485

[caribbeanhen]

48 years ago today!