By Ron Wynn
Consistent excellence was the hallmark of Henry Aaron’s extraordinary baseball career, one that saw him earn 21 All-Star team honors in 23 seasons while playing for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, returning at the end to the Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron, who passed last week at
86, was never flashy, just routinely outstanding. Despite never hitting 50 home runs in a single season, he had eight 40-homer years. When Aaron retired he had amassed 3,771 hits (third all-time) and was the Major League career leader in runs batted in with 2,297 and total bases 6,856. It’s a measure of his greatness that while Aaron only won one Most Valuable Player award, he finished in the top 10 among MVP candidates 13 times.
But it was his prowess as a home run hitter that earned Aaron his greatest fame, but also made him a target of hideous racial slurs and death threats. Aaron broke a record many thought would never be threatened, that of Babe Ruth’s 714 career homers. During Aaron’s quest to set the new home run mark in 1973 and 1974, he needed personal security at every major league ballpark, as did his family. Aaron kept the numerous vile letters, and there were later some who were shocked at the language and degree of hatred displayed. But Aaron, who grew up in
Birmingham, Alabama during the Jim Crow era never was, nor did he let the venom and hatred stop him from setting the record at 715 early in 1974.
Aaron finished with 755 home runs. His mark was later surpassed by Barry Bonds in controversial fashion, with Bonds accused of using steroids to help him. While Major League Baseball never put any asterisks by Bonds’ name, and he’s considered the all-time leader, there are many who still view Aaron as the home run king.
But much more importantly, Hank Aaron constantly spoke out against injustices he saw, both inside and outside baseball. One thing that stunned veteran baseball writer Bob Nightengale was in 2014, when Aaron, then working for the Atlanta Braves front office, was once more subjected to horrible racist emails and letters after he dared to speak openly about systemic racism and police misconduct. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution became a source on its website for sentiments that were reminders of how little in some ways things had changed in the South over the decades.
Aaron didn’t back down in any regard, and he was even more critical of the conduct and statements of Donald Trump during his presidency, which got him another round of condemnation from the racist crew online. He was rightly awarded the Medal of Freedom by President George W.Bush in 2002.
Interestingly, there is research that says Aaron began his career in Nashville at Sulphur Dell Stadium. The Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro Leagues signed him at 18, and supposedly his first professional game came May 11 1952 in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Stars in a game arranged by Nashville Sports Enterprises. He’d later make other Nashville appearances as a member of the Braves in exhibition games in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Sadly, at 86, he leaves a sport that’s struggling to re-establish ties and popularity among Black sports fans. His loss is a huge blow to that effort.
