Well, it happened just two and a half years before I was born. It was April 8, 1974, at the house that I grew up loving, even to this day, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It was the bottom of the fourth inning and Dodgers pitcher Al Downing threw the 1-0 pitch that sent this now legend to the record books. Outfielder/1st baseman Henry “Hank” Aaron sent career home run 715 over the left center field wall.
It wasn’t until this six year old kid started playing tee ball that I was introduced to who Aaron was. I was in awe of Aaron every time I saw him on TV, and growing up in the same state where he played, made this youngster think I knew him personally. I never saw him play ball, just saw him at the ballpark when there was a special ceremony going on and he was introduced. To this day he is and will forever be the icon of Braves Baseball and baseball in the south.
Both Aaron and Jackie Robinson had the courage to cross the color barrier to take baseball to African Americans. With so much tension going on in this world right now, Aaron’s passing (1934-2021) brought a tear to my eye as the notification came across my phone. But at the same time it is bringing unity to baseball as so many people from all walks of life are coming together to talk about how a great person Aaron was not only on the field, but as a person throughout his 86 years.
There has been talk on social media about changing the Braves name to the Atlanta Hammers, as Aaron’s nickname was ‘Hammerin Hank.’ I also read that Aaron liked to be called Henry instead of Hank. My opinion is the Braves shouldn’t change name, but change this year’s uniforms, or be it for now on, a uniform from what Aaron played in during his time as an Atlanta Brave. My favorite are:
There has also been talk around social media that Truist Bank should do the right thing and update name of ballpark to be Henry Aaron Field at Truist Park or Hank Aaron Field at Truist Park. But why not do both uniform and ballpark change? The Braves current uniform is one of the best in the big leagues, and it would remain just as good with a change to one of these.
Aaron’s baseball stats were incredible. His career began with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966. Aaron played with the Braves from 1954-1974 before heading back to Milwaukee in 1975 to play for the Brewers the next two seasons. Over Aaron’s 23 year baseball career, his batting average was .305 with 755 home runs and 2297 RBI’s. The stat that stuck out most to me was Aaron had 3,771 hits. In Aaron’s career he hit 20 or more home runs every year except his rookie season where he hit 13 and his last season he hit 12 home runs. If Aaron would have never hit a home run in his career, he still would have been elected to the Hall of Fame because he still had over 3,000 hits in his career.
The Braves organization is having a private ceremony at Truist Park today and his funeral will be on Wednesday in Atlanta.
Enjoy the pearly gates Hammer…Tommy Lasorda has a hell of a team to manage in Heaven.
See below for the chilling video as Aaron surpasses Babe Ruth for the all-time home run leader.
Header Photo Courtesy of New Georgia Encyclopedia
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