A misty rain fell in Atlanta.
You probably remember the night that it happened: Hank Aaron waited patiently for Al Downing to throw him a pitch.
The Dodger lefty wound up and threw. “Ball one,” the umpire shouted. Downing wound up again and threw his fastball.
That was the pitch Hank had been waiting for. Crack!
The ball soared over the centerfield fence and into the Braves bullpen.
“Hammering Hank” had just hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s 40-year-old record of 714.
It was April 8, 1974, in the Atlanta Braves stadium. Thirty-one years ago.
A lot has happened to baseball since then.
Juiced up baseballs and juiced up players.
I’m talking about baseballs that are wrapped so tight they literally explode off the bats of players who previously posted mere warning-track power. Now their balls sail out of sight.
I’m talking about steroids. The chemical substances that are rubbed on the skin, sprayed into the nostrils, injected into the muscles, swallowed like a pill.
During the past decade and a half, baseball players have ballooned into caricatures of themselves. Their own parents would hardly recognize them.
What used to be sleek and slender athletes have morphed into something comical: gargantuan mutants with basketball-size heads and titanic torsos bordering on the bizarre.
Enter Barry Bonds.
There is little doubt that the behemoth Bonds, with or without his body armor, has degraded the American pastime with his arrogant antics on the diamond.
True: Bonds is approaching the sacred homerun records of Ruth and Aaron, but what is to be gained by this slugging onslaught. Even if the Giants’ hitter goes beyond the 755-homerun mark, it will prove an empty prize.
Why? Because Hank Aaron’s success has been well earned. When he was fourteen, he chose four goals: play in the major leagues, win the batting championship, be the Most Valuable Player, and play in a World Series.
In 1956, Hank won the batting title with a .328 average. His 200 hits and 34 doubles were the best in the National League.
On September 23, 1957, Hank hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning to clinch the pennant for the Braves. He finished the 1957 season leading the league in homers (44), hits (198), total bases (369) and RBI’s (132).
In 1958 he won a Gold Glove for being the league’s best right fielder.
In 1959, Hank won his second National League batting crown with a .355 average. He led the league in hits, total bases, and homeruns.
Hank had one of his best years in 1963: he led the league in homeruns, RBI’s, hits, and total bases. Because he played so well, he was voted the National League’s “Player of the Year.”
For the 13th year in a row, he was voted to the All-Star team. On May 17, 1970, Hank got his 3000th hit.
During his career, Hank played 3,298 games. He hit 3,771 hits for second on the all-time list. He led the league in homeruns (755) and RBI’s (2297). His career batting average was .305 with 624 doubles, 98 triples, 240 stolen bases and he scored 2,174 runs.
Hank Aaron’s record proves that he is one of the best baseball players that’s ever been, the best that ever was.
And above all, he’s a nice guy.
That’s right. You would love to have Hank over for dinner. And he’d probably come.
But you know what? There was a time when Hank Aaron could not go into a restaurant in the South with his fellow minor league teammates. He had to eat his lunch on the bus.
And yet, he isn’t bitter. Far from it. Hank is the ideal athlete and the model against which all other players are judged for acceptance into the hallowed halls of sports.
I tip my hat to him.
As for Barry Bonds and his coterie of steroid crybabies, they may as well eat their hearts out.
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Top of the morning!