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Friday, February 6, 2009
From home run hero to 75-year-old good citizen, Henry remains classy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
His 75th birthday has come and gone and I still call him Henry. After all, that is his name, and it bears a fitting touch of distinction. “Hank.” OK, fine in the clubhouse, at home, with the gang, but when I get serious, it’s Henry to me, as it was when we worked on his book in his twilight days as a Brave.
On the cover of “Aaron,” it is written “The Autobiography of the Greatest Home Run Hitter of the Modern Era.” It could have, and should have, read “any era.” I don’t think you could ever have known a more normal, down-to-earth athlete than Henry Aaron. More than just an athlete, an immortal athlete, “wonderful, clear-minded, responsible, intelligent, patient, human being” in the words of that former minor-league outfielder Mario Cuomo. That’s right, Cuomo was an outfielder on the Brunswick farm team of the Pirates in the 1950s, before launching his political career.
Few people, if any, could attract such a cast as did Henry’s 75th the other night, including a former president, the most expensive sports commissioner on the planet and Ted Turner, who became his employer after Aaron’s playing days were done. The winner on this occasion was the foundation Henry and Billye Aaron have founded called “Chasing the Dream Foundation,” and it should be recorded that Major League Baseball came through with a contribution of $2.5 million, hopefully some of it out of Commissioner Bud Selig’s enormous salary. (Only three players make more, you see.)
You get to know a fellow pretty well when you become his writing “ghost.” Some reviewers were quite impressed, and one, Library Journal, wrote “An, honest, thrilling and frequently poignant story by an unusual man who has broken color lines and home run records.”
On the way to his 75th anniversary, one particular trait has stood out in the assault on his home-run record. While the names of McGuire, Bonds, Sosa, Canseco and other would-be challengers have swirled around in the public mind, Aaron has risen above it all. In the opinion of baseball purists he remains the home-run king, and shall continue to prevail. His reluctance to become engaged on the subject is a reflection of his character. The public determines the winner, not the combatants.
The beauty of Aaron’s performance was not the home runs, but the swing. “I don’t go up there swinging for the fence every time,” he once said. “I like the feel of a home run. You can almost tell when the ball leaves the bat, but I just swing to meet the ball.”
That was, until the Braves moved to Atlanta. Fans began expecting home runs of him. Then as he moved nearer Babe Ruth’s number of 714, he admitted that he did go to bat often swinging for the long ball. He hit his first home run as a Brave off Vic Raschi of the Cardinals, and his record-breaker, of course, off Al Downing of the Dodgers, and his last 22 were hit in the American League. There is no more impressive collection of offensive records in the major leagues than Aaron’s, from at-bats to home runs.
So much for home runs and the glitter of Aaron, the athlete. Here’s to Aaron, the good citizen.
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