AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > May > 27 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPraise for Aaron, not Bonds
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Well, what’s all this fuss about Barry Bonds breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, which he may or may not have done by this time? First place, Ruth doesn’t hold the home run record. Once Bonds has hit his 715th he’ll still be 40 home runs shy of the record, and that record is real. Unenhanced by any substance stronger than a 12-ounce steak and a buttered baked potato. I guess. I really don’t remember what Henry Aaron’s favorite foods were, and are.
You hear old-time baseball dudes talk about sweet swings, they speak of Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, you rarely ever heard them serenade the Aaron swing. Tell you this, you never saw a more controlled swing. It was as sweet as you could have wanted. He wasn’t swinging for the fences, Henry was swinging for base hits. It was as pure a swing as you’ll ever see, wrist-powered, and his trademark home run was not a rocket shot, he hit line drives.
Team press guides weren’t what they are today. You could carry them in your hip pocket. But, believe or not, the season after Aaron broke Ruth’s record, it was never mentioned in the Braves’ 1975 press guide, which was something awful, to begin with. He breaks the record in an Atlanta uniform, he is traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, and as far as the press guide editor was concerned, he may as well have been extradited to Siberia.
He hit his first home run in 1953 off Vic Raschi in St. Louis. No. 755 was hit off a journeyman named Dick Drago, a California Angel. For years in between, the eye was on Willie Mays as the likely new home run king. Mays got attention. He was exciting. When he ran his cap always seemed to fall off. Aaron, taking note, once said, “Maybe I should wear a larger cap.”
Whether he is or is not the greatest player of them all won’t be decided here. Babe Ruth was more than a home run slugger, he was first a pitcher who won 93 games, three more in the World Series, and for the longest time held the record for most consecutive scoreless innings in the Series. He had two careers, and was a star at both, and it’s pretty tough to top that.
Aaron was a mild man as a player, never flamboyant. When he talked, he made sentences and chose his words carefully. And when he was amused, he had a catchy little throaty chuckle. He had, as well as I can remember, only one spat with a sports writer, and that was a case of mistaken identity. The guy who actually wrote the distasteful reference got away with it.
As Mays’ career took the downward path, suddenly here came Aaron. Forty-seven home runs in 1971, his most productive season with the long ball; 34 the next season, then 40 in 1973, and he was poised to strike. You’ll notice that his home runs were hit at a rather even pace, ranging from 24 to 47 in the meat seasons of his production. Never any outlandish surge of numbers, and at the end of his career, he weighed about the same as when he broke in.
I can’t say that anywhere east of San Francisco are the hearts beating furiously until Bonds hit his 715th. Ho hum. With Aaron, he couldn’t take a shower without finding someone in it with him. News types were everywhere. The quiet man had exploded into a world personality. And as Pat Conroy wrote, “Even Pravda took note.”
Henry is now quietly successful, sitting behind the desk at his BMW place in Union City. He can be himself again, and I’ll have to confess that I’ve joined in with the 755 choir, singing his anthem. I don’t see 40 more home runs in Bonds’ bat, at least that’s the way I’ve diagrammed it.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By gotigers72
May 27, 2006 01:26 AM | Link to this
I saw Henry play a lot in my younger days, and he was the best player I saw play. He was so graceful in the outfield and on the bases. Because of his power numbers, most people don’t know about his above average base stealing ability, especially early in his career. He was also a very good baserunner in addition to his steals. Almost never made a mistake on the bases. And just a wonderful outfielder that always threw to the right base and played the game the way it should have been played. He was the whole package, and I feel sorry for anyone that never got to see such a wonderful player.
He was and always will be a class human being. He set the HR record with death threats and all kinds of bigots making their hateful comments. But Henry always took the high road. He turned the death threats over to the FBI, and just went out and did his job and did it well.
There are lots of players that got more credit than Henry. He never blew his own horn because his goal was to help his team win. What a player! The likes of him in a baseball uniform will be rare if ever. Great player, great man.
By Mike Vick
May 27, 2006 01:32 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, you should copy the first 2 sentences of this article and forward it to everyone at ESPN. 714 is the most overrated number in sports right now. I can’t remember the last time someone was more celebrated for being 2nd place. Great article.
By schramd
May 27, 2006 01:36 AM | Link to this
When I lived in Wisconsin as a young boy, I picked out a player that I liked. I followed him throughout his career, buying a plastic figure of him in his famous batting stance and his baseball cards. Ironically, I moved south when the Braves did so I could continue to follow them on the radio until Ted Turner’s Ch.17 became a super station. During all that time, he played consistently, never made a spectacle of himself, and played his heart out. He is the greatest living player today and an even better man who stood up and spoke out during the civil rights period and during his run at the Babe. God Bless Henry Aaron!
By gerald
May 27, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this
Hank Aaron was a great player who does not get enough attention now. Why not name the all star game home run trophy after him.
By doc
May 27, 2006 09:31 AM | Link to this
the 714 was a a marketing device pure and simple. who cares about being second. didnt hank become number two without much fanfare back in his day?
furman, thanks for bringing perspective to the pages of the ajc. i think this should have been said a lot earlier and maybe loudly by t. moore but he was back peddling because the mafia of mays and mccovey were after his sympathy vote because he just didnt know how it was for poor barry. that is two pros brought up in the entitlement zone of sports that laws were not made for them whether it be governtmental laws on drugs or laws of the irs.
agree, second place is all it is going to get barry. he does now get more notoriety and acclaim than sosa and mcguire so it was what he wanted just not in the manner that he thought it would be.
By Gene
May 27, 2006 10:04 AM | Link to this
When the Braves came to Atlanta, I was a student at Georgia State, and I think that I attended about half the home games in 1966 and 1967. Aaron could perform difficult feats and make them appear easy. He just flicked his wrists and the ball sailed over the fence. I thought Aaron could field and throw as well as Clemente. In spite of all of the racial attacks, he remained composed and gracious toward his fans. He clearly loved the sport and was a credit to it.
By craig miller
May 27, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this
I for one am hoping that Bonds takes the high road for the first time in his career, and decides to hang up his spikes after this year, at which point he’ll still be at leat 20 HR shy of Aaron. However, I have a bad feeling that we’ll see Mr. Bonds as the DH for the Yankees next year.
By big dog
May 27, 2006 10:28 AM | Link to this
Don’t poop on Ruth. Poop on bonds. Look at homeruns per at bat for Ruth and Aaron. By the way I am a big Aaron fan, but Ruth was a freak of nature.
By pitbull
May 27, 2006 10:56 AM | Link to this
Why does MLB consider it bad to wager like Joe Jackson or Pete Rose, but not to cheat by using steriods like all of the suddenly prolific home run hitters whose health have declined and whose hitting potentency have suffered with drug screening? I guess the wagering didn’t pack fans in the gates, but the home run races did. It’s always about the money, isn’t it?
By HAROLD LEE SCOTT
May 27, 2006 11:17 AM | Link to this
The first time I saw Hank Arron play was in Savannah,Ga. He was a second baseman for the Jax team before he moved up to the big Braves. We are about the same age. Every hit he had was a shot off the fenses of Grayson Stadium. He looked llke a great player then and he has proved to be one of the greatest players of all time and not only that, also one of the greatest role models of all time. He is a great ambassador for baseball, sports, the braves, and the city of Atlanta. He is a special Gentleman that shows a lot of class. We should all be proud of Mr. Hank Aaron.
By slurbe
May 27, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this
Quite simply, there will never be any player better than number 44. A great player and a class act!
By marc
May 27, 2006 11:36 AM | Link to this
G reat E xceptional N atural T all in Life L oved by all E nvied by lessers M odest A lways mannered N o other player like “Hank”
By Gary
May 27, 2006 12:55 PM | Link to this
I am not a Barry Bonds fan by any means but one thing seems to get overlooked here. If it were steroids that was the reason for his HR record, then why aren’t there more hitters out there approaching the same record? We can only assume that there are several other ball players doing steroids right? So why not more hitters coming close to the record? Maybe because when it gets down to it regardless of the steroids, the fact may remain that Bonds is still a good hitter. Otherwise he’d just be another ball player doing steroids. The steroids didn’t give him the talent.
By A Real Fan
May 27, 2006 02:36 PM | Link to this
Go Barry! Keep hitting those home runs! I think its a great accomplishment. I don’t blame you for avoiding the media, let your bat do the talking. I too believe that steroids don’t make you a great home run hitter, hand eye coordination does.
By old timer
May 27, 2006 03:01 PM | Link to this
Well, 715 would be a record for a lefthanded hitter. I guess that’s something. Actually, it would be huge without the steroids. Henry Louis Aaron was fun to watch if you liked baseball the way it should be played. He just never made mistakes. He made an error every season or so because he was human, but he never threw to the wrong base or made any other type of mental mistake that I can remember. I watched him from the time he was 23, beginning in the 1957 season. A boy could not have lucked into a better man to idolize.
By Hy Anenzede
May 27, 2006 03:49 PM | Link to this
Henry Aaron’s problem if you want to call it aproblem was that he was not in NY, Chicago or LA and didn’t get the ink he deserved. Thier loss, our gain. He was the best, with Clemente a close second, I ever saw.
So fluid, not just with his bat but defensively and every other phase of the game. Watching the great Andruw make an outstanding play reminds me that very few balls found green between the bat and Henry’s glove. Remember how some accused him of being lazy because it appeared as though he wasn’t hustling?
The man was the best and a joy to watch. Steroid Barry and his ego can hit 900 homers and he still will never be the ball player Henry Aaron was.
By pill popper
May 27, 2006 04:34 PM | Link to this
Hey gary. I think you overstate it. The blatantly painful fact of Barry’s HR statistics is the RIDICULOUS surge in power that came late in his career when most other non-enhanced players start to taper off. He didn’t just suddenly develop that hand eye coordination late in his career. Clearly he is a good hitter, but virtually every writer, player, coach, sportscaster, fan etc. (outside of SF) sees the writing on the wall. He was juiced.
By Gran Jen
May 27, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this
Makes me sick to hear ‘barroid bonds’ name mentioned with Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron! SO TIRED of hearing about how ‘persecuted’ bonds is! Please, Lord, let him retire and let us have Baseball again! Jenny Martin, Montgomery, AL
By Tmizerek
May 27, 2006 05:15 PM | Link to this
I was just a young boy when Aaron hit what was to me, his greatest home run…in the 11th inning, against St Louis to put the Braves in the 57 World Series. Been a fan ever since…and I’m from NJ.
By War Eagle
May 27, 2006 09:52 PM | Link to this
It really a shame to even have Barry Bonds and Henry Aaron in the same sentence. Hank was the greatest…no comment on Balco.
By Dennis
May 27, 2006 11:47 PM | Link to this
I started going to Braves games in 71. I think my cousin and I went to about 20-25 games that year. We used to sit in the outfield (general admission) for 3 bucks and lean over the rail or spend the 5 bucks to sit in the upper deck behind home plate. It seemed like Hank in a HR in almost every game we went to that year. He was great to watch and gave the Braves someone to root for even in the years when we were out of contention early.
The record that Hank holds that no one seems to mention and none of the steroid freaks have come close to is the RBI record. He if far and away the all time leader, and once again it shows his consistency in getting runs across the plate.
By old timer
May 28, 2006 12:22 AM | Link to this
Tmizerek I was at that game. I was just about to turn 10 years old. The Hammer calls it his greatest homer ever. Good point, Dennis, about the RBI record. My favorite Aaron stat, the one that really shows what an all-round hitter he was, is this: Subtract all 755 home runs, and he still has more than 3,000 hits. The Home Run King is a Hall of Famer without the HRs.
By Aaron Fan
May 28, 2006 07:29 AM | Link to this
Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron will always rate tops in my book. When I hear the name Bonds I think of arrogance, self pride and a look at me attitude. When I think of Aaron I think of love for his fans, a smiling face and a nice guy doing a great job. Bonds could hit a million home runs but if he is about himself instead of the fans then he has not included me in his success. Therefore I really don’t get a thrill from anything Bonds does.
By Joe Roman
May 28, 2006 12:15 PM | Link to this
FB! Two ‘big thumbs up’. Aaron’s lack of attention is due to two factors. He is the definition of a class act. Ruth and Bonds are both bad boys. Bad boys get the ink. Secondly, the black and white angle as in racial competition gets the ink. Personally, I believe The Hammer’s record is safe. This year, Bonds can barely walk. Next year, he may need a walker to get to the plate. My fondest hope is that baseball will get its revenge when no American League team will trade for Bonds so he can go for the record as a DH. My second fondest hope is that Bonds will get all the negative effects of steroid abuse just as he has benefited from the ‘performance enhancement’.
By RIP
May 28, 2006 05:00 PM | Link to this
Barry the Drugeeee, couldn’t hold HANK AARONS jockey . HANKS THE HOMERUN KING AND ROGER MARIS IS THE SINGLE SEASON CHAMP.ESPN also must be on something.