If you took away all of Hank's home runs, he would still have over 3000 hits. Think about that. If he had never hit a home run in his entire career, he would still have made it to the Hall of Fame.
In 1965 I was an 8-yr old kid in Milwaukee. Henry Aaron was my hero. It broke my heart that my team was leaving at the end of the season. Last game my dad and I went to, we sat in the right field bleachers and saw Hank hit a homer off Sandy Koufax. That's a memory I'll never forget. As an adult today I have a whole different level of respect for the man.
Some pitchers were sitting around discussing how to get out the best hitters. A name would come up, "low and inside." Another name, "slow stuff away." Hank Aaron's name came up, nobody said anything. Finally someone, maybe it was Koufax said, "Make sure no one is on base when he hits it out." Koufax said that he usually had a plan on every hitter on how to get him out. But with Aaron he never figured one out.
His mental toughness. Is incredible. To be able to block out all that hate and focus on his job. His courage is incredible also. He didn't let death threats or hate mail stop him. Great man. I am proud to have been named after him.
@@igethighhighhigh Teally a natural swing a true mf leader a when he connected with the baseball it gone u just got kill the ball he did surely he was respected and was steady and what he did didn't get the love that other players got he finally got his respect u know
@@igethighhighhigh Teally a natural swing a true mf leader a when he connected with the baseball it gone u just got kill the ball he did surely he was respected and was steady and what he did didn't get the love that other players got he finally got his respect u know
Hank Aaron my hero. I lived in Savannah during the 60s and used to listen to the radio and taped all his homers. He is one great American. May God bless him.
Hank has been my hero since 1954 when I was six years of age. Sixty-four years later, he’s still my hero. The injustices he went through were appalling. My one wish over all these years has been to shake my hero’s hand and say “Thank You”.
Imagine how much even Greater he would have been if he could have played in a Comfortable Supportive Environment...That goes for us All...we're just so mean to eachother
Maybe the generation that grew up to adults who remember sitting in a classroom reading the Weekly Reader with Mr Aaron's amazing accomplishment on the cover finally got a chance to cheer. WE, the kids, ALWAYS loved Hank Aaron. Mr. Aaron, God Bless you. You were and remain MY hero.
So true. As a 9 year old kidI had a Hank Aaron poster in my bedroom (and I'm white). All the white kids in my neighborhood LOVED Aaron. We loved Willie too, but we def loved Hank.
That's how I remember it too. I never knew any racist kids. I used to try to copy Hank Aaron's signature and wrote it every where. I even wore number 44. I'm glad to have lived back then. No matter what they tell you, it was a great time to be a kid. Having nothing only meant that you had to improvise and use your imagination. Beats the crap out of owning a "smart phone" any day...
September 16, 2018: Hank, you are one of baseball's greats. (Envy and malice are nothing new for society.) Thank you for bringing your talents to the game!!! Kate
If you ask me, Hank Aaron is the greatest baseball player of all time. Depending on who you ask, he is still the home run king, but he was a complete hitter, as well as a three-time gold glove winner. Add in all of the off-the-field distractions he had such as death threats to himself, and his family, I don't think anyone else can come close to his achievements.
I remember watching number 715 April 8th 1974 I was 9 years old in St Louis watching it in my mother living room and just picture Al Downey rest in peace mr. Hank Aaron the greatest of all times I was always the st. Louis Cardinals fans chill mr. Aaron came to the plate
Dear Mr Aaron Dear Mr Baseball may you Rest In Peace I’m a white man in my 50,s grew up in the south experienced desegregation in its implementation in our small Texas town in the past two days I have been seeing the outpouring of the respect and the acknowledgment for your many achievements you were a very Brave man Brave soul surpassing you as an Atlanta Brave as I only now have become aware of the true story I have cried real tears of sorrow and felt genuine pain having my eyes enlightened and i wanted to send to you and your family a letter of love and admiration for all you have done I take it on myself to say thank you and congratulations from AMERICA your a hero on so many levels and in closing I want to add you hit more home runs than the official number I saw you hit one over right center in Arlington Texas in the old timers game after you retired in the 70,s thank you from America MR AARON
Here in mobile, al they are tearing down hank aaron stadoum now... it maies me sick, we didnt have the best baseball team but we had a cool ass name and the last few years the baybears were pretty good. People in mobile,al just dont support the sports teams (mobile mysticks, mobile baysharks/baybears, mobile revelers bball, mobile seahawks arena football. Only the mysticks and baybears lasted longer than 5 years and were top of the league, but our town never supported them even when they were on top smh... we supported the mysticks during the 90s mainstream hockey blowup and the late 90s/early 00s baseball reemergence with the homerun race blowup... its still a shame that hank aaron stadium was chosen to be torn down instead of left vacant and standing with some real history behind it, built on satchell paige dr. Ala the black nolan ryan)
There isn’t a country in existence where a black man could make so much money and attain such prestige playing a sport at that time. It’s a shame how individuals treated him but let’s put things in perspective.
@@zerocool1344 Nice try jackass: Everybody knows that SOUTHERN Democrats of that era were NOT members of the same party as TODAY'S Democrats. THOSE southern Democrats...yes, THOSE racist bastards who were responsible for starting the KKK...switched parties and became REPUBLICANS. They were racist back then - and unfortunately, too many Repugs still are racist today.
I was a bit more of a Willie Mays fan, but I have all respect for Hank Aaron, one of the greatest ever for sure. I was very happy when he broke the home run record. From what I have read, Hank Aaron was a fine fielder as well.
I love Mays, but I also love Aaron, and Hank was simply a better hitter, clearly, and he never made a mistake out there. I believe he had a few errors on his record, but I saw him play a lot of games, especially on television, and the guy was simply the smartest player on the field. He stole plenty of bases, and I never saw him get caught. He was pure excellence, and everybody knew it in real time when he was playing, it's only that he was so low-key. But all the fans and all of his fellow players knew who the best player on the field was, by far, and that was Hank Aaron. Willie made some spectacular plays in the field that some of us will remember forever, such as the catch off of Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series where he was running straight toward the CF wall, and the one ~1971 at Candlestick Park where he jumped and reached above Bobby Bonds to catch a ball bound to be a HR over the fence, I was actually watching the game live on television when that happened. Willie was a great one, but Hank was more consistent, and more consistently great. Aaron also had a better arm, a great arm. Not that I'm knocking your affection for Willie, not at all. I loved him myself.
alien observer Yes, Aaron played more games, but he has the most home runs. That makes him the Home Run King, by definition. See, I did that without calling you a name. Might want to try that.
alien observer Call it whatever you want; you don’t need to do that. What kind of criteria is this? You might not like it, but Babe’s record fell. What you could have said is that, by my own definition, B Bonds is the record holder. That would be true, but the asterisk there is beyond what I’m willing to accept. So, that’s the fun of talking about these things, yes?
@RNE2224U that's not the discussion though. It's at bats and home runs. Hank has no where near the home runs ruth has with the # of at bats ruth had ruth is by far the king. If I hit 8 hrs with 20 at bats and you hit 12hrs with 60 at bats I'm a better hr hitter ..
I'm old enough (80) to have seen him play with the Brewers and the Braves. What a fantastic ballplayer and a very classy guy. As far as I'm concerned he is still the home run king. All the other guys who passed him cheated.
❤As a kid, I was witness to the magic of Hammering Henry Aaron. Crosley Field was where I saw him get his 3000th hit. Every year he was in the running for MVP and he constantly for about 15 years or more was a 300 hitting,100 RBI and 100 runs scored and he Never struck out a hundred times in Any Of His 24 years. Who is Steroid Bonds? A fraud and I will never accept him. Aaron is the G.O.A.T.❤
i was 8 years old when i got first baseball card of his. in 47 years i never thought of him as anything but a great man and a great player. i can't believe he's gone.
Breaking the HR record as a right handed hitter is an incredible feat. Most pitchers are right handed, giving the advantage to lefty's. Not to mention a 300 ft right field line at Yankee stadium for Ruth. Hank is the greatest ever..and no roids.
I agree .....Hank is the epitome of class..he had to play at a hi level facing all kinds of prejudice how he delt with we'll never know ...if he played in NY they would have named streets and buildings after him....
Can you guys imagine how tough it was for black athletes, black people in general but in this particular case black athletes, to pursuit their dreams while enduring all of the racism bullshit. I mean, to become a great player is tough enough on itself, but back in the 40s, 50s, 60s, if you were a black athlete, on top of everything you have to deal within the sport you also have this huge ammount of bullshit to fight with, the threats, the humiliation, the fear for your life, etc. Oh my god man, all of these black athletes from that era were real warriors, they had to really really want it, they had to really go for it with everything they had plus something else that only true warriors have. Mad respect for them.
Hank Aaron and Roger Maris both payed a price for breaking Ruth’s records. Both men were basically shy and quiet, they didn’t have charisma. Ruth was a gigantic personality who dominated the headlines and practically invented the home run. Aaron also played for the Braves, so he wasn’t playing on a national stage like Willis Mays and Mickey Mantle. And he didn’t hit towering 500 foot home runs, like Ruth, he hit them 350 feet. But he was great all-around player, he could run very well.
I can only speak for myself, but when Hank broke the record, I was rooting for him to do it. Not much of a baseball fan today, but back then I was hanging on every word in the Newspapers every morning and to the games that were on TV. I was elated when he broke the record. That there were sorry ass people that hated him because his race or any other reason was simply a shame.
Hank Aaron was so consistently great that no one noticed but a kid from Greenwood Indiana. My friends followed Micky Mantle and I followed Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews. It snuck up on me, too.
Hank Aaron is still the homerun champ, he did it the right way. You could hit 50 homeruns a year (which he never did), for 15 straight years, and you still wouldn't break his record. Simply incredible
This first book I remember reading when I was a kid was just called hank Aaron I think it was like a kids biography yellow hardback. I must have read that a hundred times at least and it really was a great teaching tool because the parts about the Negro leagues really made an impact on me. Living legend.
I had the honor and thrill to shake his hand. I don't care too much for celebrities as a group of people, but Aaron is a national treasure. He's like Ali or Frazier, like Di Maggio or Williams, like Jordan or Jerry West. He was crossing the street in mid-town Manhattan, walking with two other men. I passed, turned, and said, Mr. Aaron? "Yes?" he replied and stopped. I said, "May I shake your hand, sir?" He took my hand in earnest, like a good man. It electrified me. I maintain that a handshake is worth far more than an autograph.
I remember a story Don Sutton told about Aaron. When he was fresh with the Dodgers, the pitching staff went over how to pitch the NL lineups in spring training. Mays: Hard stuff inside, breaking stuff away. McCovey: Hard inside, soft stuff away. Then it came to Aaron. Drysdale told a young Sutton, "Just hope nobody's on when he hits it out."
Baseball fans in WI still haven't forgiven the Braves for leaving MIL. when the team was still setting attendance records 10 years after they arrived in the smallest market in the league.
The Real Hammer....and if he is bitter I dont even care..loved watching you Henry some fine memories of my childhood..and I for one am so sorry of the Crap you went thru...
He was and is one of my favorite heros, and baseball player of all time l loved watching him beat Ruths record l loved God Bless Henry Aaron my hero jimmy campbell
I cant believe he won the MVP only once in his career. A career 305 hitter, all-time leader in RBI's, 755 career homeruns, 3700 plus hits. His consistency statistically year after year is truly unique. He is an easy argument for one of the top hitters to EVER play.
@@wolfencheepclothes9715 What do u mean? What isn't fair? Please explain. If you are talking about Aaron, at bats have nothing to do with the fact he was a career 305 hitter, averaged around 32 homeruns and 100 RBI's every year over 23 years. There is NO arguing that those statistics are incredible. He also averaged a crazy low 68 strike outs a year. For a hitter putting up his kind of power numbers, 68 k's/year is outstanding. The fact that he DID get many plate appearances is a result of how great he was. Staying healthy for all of those years is a rarity. I'm not saying he is the single greatest baseball hitter ever, but he is right up there.
I think the MVP goes to the player who gets a 100 and the extra credit problem on the test. Aaron got 95s year after year after year.... He wasn't flashy and he didn't play in flashy cities either. Mays and Mantle were flashy and they played in NY. And they had some A+ years. Aaron quietly got his high As. Make sense?
@@nicholasschroeder3678 it makes great sense. Makes me think of Rafael Palmeiro. Regardless of the steroid issue, he put up big numbers (288BA--33HR-105RBI 20 year career ave). He He never apparently didn't have a flashy enough season to ever win MVP
My grandpa was a barber who cut some of the Braves hair in Hales Corners, WI and he knew Hank Aaron personally from his contacts with those players and his frequent attendance at games. Did you hear what Hank Aaron said just after the 15:00 min mark? The people of Milwaukee LOVED Henry Aaron and his wife. The Aaron were treated like loved royalty while Henry played here. When I was a little kid, Henry returned to finish out his career with the Brewers and I personally saw his last at-bats. This whole documentary talks of how mis-treated Aaron was in the South, but it never discusses how loved he was in Milwaukee. Bias!
