THE HAMMER
Famed slugger, icon of Braves franchise remembered as ‘towering example’
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 signstealing scandal to be tossed from the game for good.
“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 2½ 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 homerun 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.
Lee Walburn, the Braves
Director of Communications from 1966-1972, said Aaron was extremely shy and did not typically autograph in public.
“I would take a baseball, go into the clubhouse and he’d autographed it instead of being out in the public,” Walburn said in a phone interview. “Last time I saw him ... I had been invited to a function in which he was the main speaker and I was totally struck by how this shy baseball player have evolved into this eloquent, dignified speaker with valuable things to say.”
Walburn also fondly remembers Aaron’s laughter, calling it “the greatest laugh I’ve ever heard.”
“He was in a constant stage of entertainment,” Walburn said. “If there was somebody funny on the ballclub like Bob Uecker ... he would just before ballgames sit there and laugh and he had this unusual, wonderful, happy laugh.”
As Aaron began closing in on Babe Ruth’s coveted
record, Walburn said the Braves staff had considered redesigning the team’s jerseys to mark the occasion.
“We decided within my department we thought that he needed a more memorable uniform in which to break the record in, so we totally redesigned the Braves uniform,” Walburn said. “The thing about it is, our prototype design which we did ... primarily had red where you see blue in the uniform now and Hank did not like red, so we changed the whole uniform to its current state because Hank didn’t like red.”
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 very humble and quiet man and just simply a good guy,” said 89-yearold Willie 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.