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Hank
Aaron,
baseball's
one-time
home run
king,
dies at
86
By
PAUL
NEWBERRY
19-24
minutes
ATLANTA
- His
name is
all over
the
baseball
record
book
and,
indeed,
Hank
Aaron
could do
it all.
Sure,
he’s
remembered
mostly
for
dethroning
the Babe
to
become
baseball’s
home run
king on
the way
to 755,
but
don’t
forget
about
the .300
average,
or the
graceful
way he
fielded
his
position,
or the
deceiving
speed he
showed
on the
basepaths.
Yet,
when
talking
about
the true
measure
of the
man,
there
was far
more to
“Hammerin’
Hank”
than his
brilliance
between
the
lines.
Exuding
grace
and
dignity,
Aaron
spoke
bluntly
but
never
bitterly
on the
many
hardships
thrown
his way
— from
the
poverty
and
segregation
of his
Alabama
youth to
the
ugly,
racist
threats
he faced
during
his
pursuit
of one
of
America’s
most
hallowed
records.
He
wasn’t
hesitant
about
speaking
out on
the
issues
of the
day,
whether
it was
bemoaning
the lack
of
Blacks
in
management
positions,
or
lobbying
against
putting
Pete
Rose in
the Hall
of Fame,
or
calling
on those
involved
in the
Houston
Astros
sign-stealing
scandal
to be
tossed
from the
game
forever.
“He
never
missed
an
opportunity
to
lead,”
former
President
Barack
Obama
said,
describing
Aaron as
an
“unassuming
man” who
set a
“towering
example.”
Right up
to his
final
days,
the
Hammer
was
making a
difference.
Just
2 1/2
weeks
before
his
death
Friday
at age
86,
Aaron
joined
civil
rights
icons to
receive
the
COVID-19
vaccine.
He
wanted
to
spread
the word
to the
Black
community
that the
shots
were
safe in
the
midst of
a
devastating
pandemic.
“I
feel
quite
proud of
myself
for
doing
something
like
this,”
Aaron
said.
“It’s
just a
small
thing
that can
help
zillions
of
people
in this
country.”
The
Atlanta
Braves,
Aaron’s
longtime
team,
said he
died in
his
sleep.
No cause
was
given.
The
Hammer
set a
wide
array of
career
hitting
records
during a
23-year
career
spent
mostly
with the
Milwaukee
and
Atlanta
Braves,
including
RBIs,
extra-base
hits and
total
bases.
But
the Hall
of Famer
will be
remembered
for one
swing
above
all
others,
the one
that
made him
baseball’s
home-run
king on
April 8,
1974.
It
was a
title he
would
hold for
more
than 33
years, a
period
in which
Aaron
slowly
but
surely
claimed
his
rightful
place as
one of
America’s
most
iconic
sporting
figures,
a true
national
treasure
worthy
of
mention
in the
same
breath
with
Ruth or
Ali or
Jordan.
Another
former
president,
Jimmy
Carter,
described
Aaron as
“a
personal
hero.”
“A
breaker
of
records
and
racial
barriers,
his
remarkable
legacy
will
continue
to
inspire
countless
athletes
and
admirers
for
generations
to
come,”
said
Carter,
who
often
attended
Braves
games
with his
wife,
Rosalynn.
George
W. Bush,
a
one-time
owner of
the
Texas
Rangers,
presented
Aaron in
2002
with the
Presidential
Medal of
Freedom
— the
nation’s
highest
civilian
honor.
“The
former
Home Run
King
wasn’t
handed
his
throne,“
Bush
said in
a
statement
Friday.
“He grew
up poor
and
faced
racism
as he
worked
to
become
one of
the
greatest
baseball
players
of all
time.
Hank
never
let the
hatred
he faced
consume
him.”
Aaron’s
death
follows
that of
seven
other
baseball
Hall of
Famers
in 2020
and two
more —
Tommy
Lasorda
and Don
Sutton —
already
this
year.
“He
was a
true
Hall of
Famer in
every
way,”
said
former
baseball
Commissioner
Bud
Selig, a
longtime
friend.
“His
contributions
to the
game and
his
standing
in the
game
will
never be
forgotten.”
Willie
Mays,
another
Alabama
native
who
arrived
in the
big
leagues
a few
years
ahead of
Aaron
and
seemed
most
likely
to break
Ruth’s
record
until
late in
his
career,
remembered
all the
All-Star
Games
they
played
together
as
National
League
teammates.
“He
was a
very
humble
and
quiet
man and
just
simply a
good
guy,”
said the
89-year-old
Mays,
who
finished
with 660
homers.
“I have
so many
fond
memories
of Hank
and will
miss him
very
much.”
Before a
sellout
crowd at
Atlanta
Stadium
and a
national
television
audience,
Aaron
broke
Ruth’s
home run
record
with No.
715 off
Al
Downing
of the
Los
Angeles
Dodgers.
Aaron’s
career
total
was
surpassed
by Barry
Bonds in
2007 —
though
many
continued
to call
the
Hammer
the true
home run
king
because
of
allegations
that
Bonds
used
performance-enhancing
drugs.
Bonds
finished
his
career
with
762.
Aaron
never
begrudged
someone
— not
even a
tarnished
star —
eclipsing
his
mark.
His
common
refrain:
More
than
three
decades
as the
king was
long
enough.
It was
time for
someone
else to
hold the
crown.
Besides,
no one
could
take
away his
legacy.
“I
just
tried to
play the
game the
way it
was
supposed
to be
played,”
Aaron
said,
summing
it up
better
than
anyone.
He
wasn’t
on hand
when
Bonds
hit No.
756, but
he did
tape a
congratulatory
message
that was
shown on
the
video
board in
San
Francisco
shortly
after
the new
record-holder
went
deep.
While
saddened
by
claims
of
rampant
steroid
use in
baseball
in the
late
1990s
and
early
2000s,
Aaron
never
challenged
those
marks
set by
players
who may
have
taken
pharmaceutical
shortcuts.
“Thank
you for
everything
you ever
taught
us, for
being a
trailblazer
through
adversity
and
setting
an
example
for all
of us
African
American
ballplayers
who came
after
you,”
Bonds
said.
“Being
able to
grow up
and have
the
idols
and role
models I
did,
help
shape me
for a
future I
could
have
never
dreamed
of.”
Even
though
Bonds
claimed
the home
run
record,
Aaron
always
had that
April
night in
1974, a
welcome
diversion
at the
time for
a
country
mired in
the
Watergate
scandal.
“Downing
was more
of a
finesse
pitcher,”
Aaron
remembered.
“I guess
he was
trying
to throw
me a
screwball
or
something.
Whatever
it was,
I got
enough
of it.”
Aaron’s
journey
to that
memorable
homer
was
hardly
pleasant.
He was
the
target
of
extensive
hate
mail as
he
closed
in on
Ruth’s
cherished
record
of 714,
much of
it
sparked
by the
fact
Ruth was
white
and
Aaron
was
Black.
“If
I was
white,
all
America
would be
proud of
me,”
Aaron
said
almost a
year
before
he
passed
Ruth.
“But I
am
Black.”
Aaron
was
shadowed
constantly
by
bodyguards
and
forced
to
distance
himself
from
teammates.
He kept
all
those
hateful
letters,
a bitter
reminder
of the
abuse he
endured
and
never
forgot.
“It’s
very
offensive,”
he once
said.
“They
call me
‘nigger’
and
every
other
bad word
you can
come up
with.
You
can’t
ignore
them.
They are
here.
But this
is just
the way
things
are for
Black
people
in
America.
It’s
something
you
battle
all of
your
life.”
After
retiring
in 1976,
Aaron
became a
revered,
almost
mythical
figure,
even
though
he never
pursued
the
spotlight.
He was
thrilled
when the
U.S.
elected
Obama as
its
first
African
American
president
in 2008.
Former
President
Bill
Clinton
credited
Aaron
with
helping
carve a
path of
racial
tolerance
that
made
Obama’s
victory
possible.
“You’ve
given us
far more
than
we’ll
ever
give
you,”
Clinton
said at
Aaron’s
75th
birthday
celebration.
Aaron
spent 21
of his
23
seasons
with the
Braves,
first in
Milwaukee,
then in
Atlanta
after
the
franchise
moved to
the Deep
South in
1966. He
finished
his
career
back in
Milwaukee,
traded
to the
Brewers
after
the 1974
season
when he
refused
to take
a
front-office
job that
would
have
required
a big
pay cut.
While
knocking
the ball
over the
fence
became
his
signature
accomplishment,
the
Hammer
was
hardly a
one-dimensional
star. In
fact, he
never
hit more
than 47
homers
in a
season
(though
he did
have
eight
years
with at
least 40
dingers).
But
it can
be
argued
that no
one was
so good,
for so
long, at
so many
facets
of the
national
pastime.
The
long
ball was
only
part of
his
arsenal.
Aaron
was a
true
five-tool
star.
He
posted
14
seasons
with a
.300
average
— the
last of
them at
age 39 —
and
claimed
two
National
League
batting
titles.
He
finished
with a
career
average
of .305.
Aaron
also was
a gifted
outfielder
with a
powerful
arm,
something
often
overlooked
because
of a
smooth,
effortless
stride
that his
critics
—with
undoubtedly
racist
overtones
—
mistook
for
nonchalance.
He was a
three-time
Gold
Glove
winner.
Then
there
was his
work on
the
basepaths.
Aaron
posted
seven
seasons
with
more
than 20
stolen
bases,
including
a
career-best
of 31 in
1963
when he
became
only the
third
member
of the
30-30
club —
players
who have
totaled
at least
30
homers
and 30
steals
in a
season.
To
that
point,
the feat
had only
been
accomplished
by Ken
Williams
(1922)
and Mays
(1956
and
’57).
Six
feet
tall and
listed
at 180
pounds
during
the
prime of
his
career,
Aaron
was
hardly
an
imposing
player
physically.
But he
was
blessed
with
powerful
wrists
that
made him
one of
the
game’s
most
feared
hitters.
Hall
of Famer
Mike
Schmidt
described
Aaron as
“an
unassuming,
easygoing
man, a
quiet
superstar,
that a
’70s
player
like me
emulated.”
“He
was one
of my
heroes
as a
kid, and
will
always
be an
icon of
the baby
boomer
generation,”
Schmidt
said.
“In
fact, if
you
weigh
all the
elements
involved
and
compare
the game
fairly,
his
career
will
never be
topped.”
Aaron
hit 733
homers
with the
Braves,
the last
in his
final
plate
appearance
with the
team, a
drive
down the
left
field
line off
Cincinnati’s
Rawley
Eastwick
on Oct.
2, 1974.
Exactly
one
month
later,
he was
dealt to
the
Brewers
for
outfielder
Dave May
and
minor
league
pitcher
Roger
Alexander.
The
Braves
made it
clear
they no
longer
wanted
Aaron,
then 40,
returning
for
another
season
on the
field.
They
offered
him a
front
office
job for
$50,000
a year,
about
$150,000
less
than his
playing
salary.
“Titles?”
he said
at the
time.
“Can you
spend
titles
at the
grocery
store?
Executive
vice
president,
assistant
to the
executive
vice
president,
what
does it
mean if
it
doesn’t
pay good
money? I
might
become a
janitor
for big
money.”
Aaron
became a
designated
hitter
with the
Brewers,
but
hardly
closed
his
career
with a
flourish.
He
managed
just 22
homers
over his
last two
seasons,
going
out with
a .229
average
in 1976.
Even
so, his
career
numbers
largely
stood
the test
of time.
Aaron
still
has more
RBIs
(2,297),
extra-base
hits
(1,477)
and
total
bases
(6,856)
than
anyone
in
baseball
history.
He ranks
second
in
at-bats
(12,354),
third in
games
played
(3,298)
and hits
(3,771),
fourth
in runs
scored
(tied
with
Ruth at
2,174)
and 13th
in
doubles
(624).
“I
feel
like
that
home run
I hit is
just
part of
what my
story is
all
about,”
Aaron
said.
While
Aaron
hit at
least 20
homers
in 20
consecutive
seasons,
he was
hardly
swinging
for the
fences.
He just
happened
to hit a
lot of
balls
that
went
over the
fence.
Through
his
career,
Aaron
averaged
just 63
strikeouts
a
season.
He never
whiffed
100
times in
a year —
commonplace
for
hitters
these
days —
and
posted a
career
on-base
percentage
of .374.
He
was NL
MVP in
1957,
when the
Milwaukee
Braves
beat the
New York
Yankees
in seven
games to
give
Aaron
the only
World
Series
title of
his
career.
It also
was his
lone MVP
award,
though
he
finished
in the
top 10
of the
balloting
13
times.
Aaron
also was
selected
for the
All-Star
Game 21
consecutive
years —
every
season
but his
first
and his
last.
His
only
regret
was
failing
to
capture
the
Triple
Crown.
Aaron
led the
NL in
homers
and RBIs
four
times
each, to
go with
those
two
batting
crowns.
But he
never
put
together
all
three in
the same
season,
coming
closest
in 1963
when he
led the
league
in
homers
(44) and
RBIs
(130)
but
finished
third in
hitting
(.319)
behind
Tommy
Davis of
the
Dodgers
with a
.326
average.
“Other
than
that,”
Aaron
said,
“everything
else was
completed.”
Making
his
accomplishments
even
more
impressive,
Aaron
didn’t
put up
his
numbers
in an
era of
gaudy
offense
and
watered-down
pitching.
He faced
Sandy
Koufax
and Don
Drysdale,
Juan
Marichal
and Tom
Seaver,
Bob
Gibson
and
Steve
Carlton
on a
regular
basis.
Still,
Aaron
never
received
the
attention
he
deserved
until
late in
his
career.
He
played
in only
two
World
Series.
He was
stuck
far from
the
media
spotlight
in
Milwaukee
and
Atlanta.
Early in
Aaron’s
career,
the
press
focused
on
outfielders
like
Mays,
Mickey
Mantle
and Duke
Snider,
who
benefited
from
playing
in the
media
glare of
New York
City.
“In
my day,
sportswriters
didn’t
respect
a
baseball
player
unless
you
played
in New
York or
Chicago,”
Aaron
said.
“If you
didn’t
come
from a
big
city, it
was hard
to get
noticed.”
He
was much
more
appreciated
with the
passing
of time.
Aaron
was
elected
to
Cooperstown
in 1982,
his
first
year of
eligibility
and just
nine
votes
short of
being
the
first
unanimous
choice
ever to
the
Baseball
Hall of
Fame.
In
1999,
baseball
began
honoring
its top
hitter
with the
Hank
Aaron
Award,
akin to
the Cy
Young
for
pitchers.
Three
years
later, a
nationwide
vote
named
Aaron’s
No. 715
as the
second-most
memorable
moment
in
baseball
history,
eclipsed
only by
Cal
Ripken
Jr.
breaking
Lou
Gehrig’s
record
for
consecutive
games
played.
“He
might be
the
greatest
player
of all
time,”
said the
late
Tony
Gwynn, a
fellow
Hall of
Famer.
“Just
look at
his
numbers.
Everybody
characterizes
him as a
home run
hitter
because
he’s
held
that
record
so long.
But he
was a
great
baserunner,
a great
defender,
a great
player
period.”
Dodgers
third
baseman
Justin
Turner
was
struck
by all
the
greats
who have
died in
the last
13
months.
Gibson,
Seaver,
Whitey
Ford,
Lou
Brock,
Al
Kaline,
Joe
Morgan
and Phil
Niekro —
Aaron’s
teammate
with the
Braves
for a
decade —
all died
in 2020,
the most
Hall of
Famers
ever to
pass
away in
a
calendar
year.
“We’ve
lost
some of
the
greatest
to ever
do it,”
Turner
tweeted,
adding
that
Lasorda
is
“gonna
have a
hell of
a roster
to
manage
up
there.”
Henry
Louis
Aaron
was born
in
Mobile,
Alabama,
on Feb.
5, 1934.
He
headed a
long
list of
outstanding
players
who came
from
that
Gulf
Coast
city —
Satchel
Paige,
Willie
McCovey,
Billy
Williams
and
Ozzie
Smith
among
them.
Life
was hard
for
African
Americans
in the
segregated
South.
Baseball
was a
way out.
“You
could
say that
God kind
of had
his
hands on
me,
directing
me on
the
right
path,”
Aaron
said. “I
don’t
know any
other
way I
would
have
gotten
out of
Mobile,
Alabama,
except
for
baseball.”
Aaron,
who
initially
hit with
a
cross-handed
style,
was
spotted
by the
Braves
while
trying
out for
the
Indianapolis
Clowns,
a Negro
Leagues
team.
The
Giants
also
were
interested
—
imagine
him in
same
outfield
with
Mays —
but
Aaron
signed
with
Milwaukee,
spent
two
seasons
in the
minors
and came
up to
the
Braves
in 1954
after
Bobby
Thomson
was
injured
in
spring
training.
Aaron’s
debut
was
hardly
glowing:
he
struck
out
twice
and hit
into a
double
play
while
going 0
for 5.
His
first
homer
came
before
April
was
done,
against
Vic
Raschi.
By
season’s
end, the
rookie
had put
up
promising
numbers:
13
homers,
69 RBIs,
a .280
average.
Aaron
was a
full-fledged
star by
1957,
when he
led the
Braves
to that
World
Series
victory
over
Mantle’s
New York
Yankees.
The
following
year,
Milwaukee
made it
back to
the
Series,
only to
blow a
3-1 lead
and lose
to the
Yankees
in seven
games.
Though
he
played
for
nearly
two more
decades,
Aaron
never
came so
close to
a
championship
again.
In
1959,
the
Braves
finished
in a tie
with the
Los
Angeles
Dodgers
for
first in
the NL,
only to
lose a
best-of-three
playoff
to the
Dodgers
for the
pennant.
Aaron’s
only
other
playoff
appearance
came in
1969,
when the
Braves
were
swept by
New
York’s
Amazin’
Mets in
the
inaugural
NL
Championship
Series.
His
dearth
of
October
appearances
was
baseball’s
loss. In
17
postseason
games,
Aaron
batted
.362 (25
of 69)
with six
homers
and 16
RBIs.
In
the
early
1970s,
as the
Braves
tumbled
toward a
period
of
futility
that
would
largely
last for
two
decades,
Aaron’s
steady,
sustained
excellence
suddenly
put him
in range
of the
Bambino.
No.
600 came
early in
the ’71
season.
No.
700
followed
in ’73.
“It
was some
of the
most
awesome
things
I’ve
ever
seen,”
recalled
former
teammate
Dusty
Baker,
who was
watching
from the
on-deck
circle
when
Aaron
hit 715.
“The way
he set
up
pitchers,
the way
he was
patient.
His
concentration
level
was
beyond
compare.
If he
was
supposed
to hit a
ball
hard, he
didn’t
miss
it.”
The
antithesis
of Aaron
in more
than
skin
color,
Ruth was
a
bombastic
slugger
who once
hit 60
homers
in a
season,
many of
them
towering
shots
that
were
worthy
of their
own
word.
Ruthian.
The
Babe
launched
the last
of his
714
homers
in 1935,
leaving
a career
mark
that
many
felt
would
never be
broken —
or, if
it was,
surely
by a
player
capable
of
spectacular
feats,
someone
such as
Mays or
Mantle.
However,
those
two were
gone
when
Aaron
came to
bat on a
chilly
April
night,
facing a
left-hander
on the
downside
of his
career.
Downing
walked
Aaron
the
first
time up,
the bat
never
leaving
his
shoulder.
On
his way
to the
plate in
the
fourth
inning,
Aaron
had a
few
words
for
Baker.
“He
told me
he was
tired
and he
wanted
to get
it over
with
right
now,”
said
Baker,
who now
manages
the
Houston
Astros.
Aaron
took
ball one
in the
dirt,
then
swung at
a
breaking
ball
that
didn’t
break
much. He
whipped
his
34-ounce
Louisville
Slugger
through
the
strike
zone
with
those
powerful
wrists.
The ball
rose
higher
and
higher
as the
crowd of
53,775
rose to
its feet
with a
collective
roar.
Finally,
it came
down in
the
Braves
bullpen.
Despite
a mighty
leap
that
left him
dangling
atop the
fence,
Dodgers
left
fielder
Bill
Buckner
never
had a
chance.
Atlanta
reliever
Tom
House
made the
catch at
9:07
p.m. and
swiftly
returned
the ball
to
Aaron,
who was
celebrating
at home
plate
with his
teammates
and
parents.
“I
know
that was
the
highlight
of my
baseball
career,”
House
said
three
decades
later.
“That’s
a bad
statement
for a
pitcher
to
make.”
As
Aaron
rounded
second,
two
young
fans
sprinted
in from
right
field,
startling
No. 44
when
they
patted
him on
the back
before
racing
back to
the
stands
in left.
“I
guess
that
will
always
be a
part of
me
running
around
the
bases,”
Aaron
said. “I
never
had
anyone
run with
me
before.
They
were
just
kids
having a
good
time.”
Dodgers
announcer
Vin
Scully
was
among
those
delivering
the call
on the
historic
shot.
“There’s
a high
drive
into
deep
left-center
field,”
Scully
bellowed.
“Buckner
goes
back to
the
fence —
and it
is
gone.”
Scully
remained
silent
for
nearly
30
seconds
as Aaron
rounded
the
bases.
Finally,
the
announcer
piped up
again.
“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,”
Scully
said,
well
aware of
the
cultural
significance.
“A Black
man is
getting
a
standing
ovation
in the
Deep
South
for
breaking
a record
of an
all-time
baseball
idol.”
After
retiring
as a
player,
Aaron
made
amends
with the
Braves
for
trading
him
away. He
returned
as a
vice
president
and
director
of
player
development,
a task
he held
for 13
years
before
settling
into a
largely
ceremonial
role as
senior
vice
president
and
assistant
to the
president
in 1989.
He
ventured
into
business,
buying
fast
food
chicken
franchises,
doughnut
shops
and an
automobile
dealership.
He also
dipped
into
politics
as
campaign
treasurer
for his
brother-in-law,
David
Scott,
who was
elected
to the
U.S.
House.
In
later
years,
Aaron
didn’t
spend
much
time
watching
baseball
on TV —
“I don’t
need
some
announcer
to tell
me if
it’s a
fastball
or a
curveball”
— but he
enjoyed
getting
out to
the
ballpark
into his
80s,
even
after
hip
replacement
surgery
forced
him to
use a
walker
to get
around.
Aaron
never
singled
out
Bonds,
who
became
embroiled
in the
debate
over
performance-enhancing
drugs as
he
closed
in on
the home
run
record.
The
Hammer
always
insisted
that he
didn’t
mind
passing
on his
most
treasured
title to
someone
else,
even
someone
as
tarnished
as
Bonds.
“Records
are made
to be
broken,”
Aaron
said. “I
did my
share,
whatever
I could
do, and
that’s
it.”
Aaron’s
younger
brother,
Tommie,
played
alongside
his
brother
for
parts of
seven
seasons
in both
Milwaukee
and
Atlanta.
Though
he never
had much
success,
the
Aarons
hold the
record
for most
homers
(768) by
a pair
of
siblings.
Of
course,
Tommie
accounted
for just
13 of
them. He
died of
leukemia
at age
45 in
1984.
Hank
Aaron’s
survivors
include
his
wife,
Billye,
and
their
daughter,
Ceci. He
also had
four
children
from his
first
marriage
to
Barbara
Lucas —
Gail,
Hank
Jr.,
Lary and
Dorinda.
Long
after
his
career
was
over,
Aaron
acknowledged
that
today’s
athletes
are
bigger,
stronger
and more
fit.
Still,
he would
have
been a
success
in any
era.
“I
may not
have hit
70
homers
in a
season,”
Aaron
once
said,
“but I
would
have
been up
there.”
___
Follow
Paul
Newberry
on
Twitter
at
https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963
and find
his work
at
https://apnews.com
___
This
story
includes
research
from the
late Ed
Shearer,
a
longtime
Atlanta
sports
writer
for The
Associated
Press
who
covered
Aaron’s
715th
homer.
___
More
AP MLB:
https://apnews.com/MLB
and
https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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