Hank Aaron
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Comment by scott wilcott on September 11th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
The only people to whom Aaron was “defined” by the chase to Ruth’s record are people who weren’t there for Aaron’s career and don’t know that career.
Henry Aaron was “defined” as the Milwaukee Braves’ great, All-Star, batting champ, gold-glover, HR champ, ’56 Sporting News Player of the Year, ’57 MVP, World Series Champ (and runner-up), flirting with .400 in ’59, missing the ’63 Triple Crown by .007, the hitter opposing pitchers named “the last man you want to see come to the plate in a clutch situation”, part of the first 4 teammates to hit 4 HRs in a row; teammate on the great Milwaukee Braves teams with Eddie Mathews (with whom Hank hit the most HRs by 2 teammates) and Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, etc., his “greatest thrill” HR being the blast that won the pennant for Milwaukee in 1957, part of the “Milwaukee Miracle”, ie breaking all NL attendance records – the 1st NL team to draw over 2 million; part of the Harvey Haddix 13-inning perfect game, the shoe polish incident game in the WS, contemporary of Mantle, Mays, a star when Williams and Musial were still playing; one-third of Willie Mays’ “favorite All-Star outfield” with Clemente, synonymous with Milwaukee Braves in the days of Elvis, school desegregation battles, I Love Lucy, Howdy Doody, Doc Kitty and Chester on Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Sputnik, McCarthyism, Marilyn Monroe, Vince Lombardi, Cassius Clay, Bill Russell, Koufax, Camelot, the space race, The Cuban Missle Crisis, Nov. 22, 1963, Beatlemania, LBJ bombing North Vietnam… this was the prime, the heyday and the Glory Days that “define” Hank Aaron. Only those who don’t know that “define” the player by one swing of the bat at age 40 or the time leading up to that. If you weren’t there, you don’t know. Best wishes.
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Dear Mr Wilson
Thanks for your feedback. I’ve rewritten the passage so that it now reads: “To later generations he earned enduring fame for his home runs and his unrelenting pursuit of Babe Ruth’s record.”
Dan Fefferman
Associate Editor, New World Encyclopedia
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