Aaron’s stature only grows

Thirty-three years after they retire from baseball, neither Barry Bonds nor Alex Rodriguez will inspire a plethora of who’s who to gather to worship their past, present and future. For one, both players have been nailed by some as legitimate juicers but illegitimate sluggers.

For another, even before such reports, neither Bonds nor Rodriguez was within a steroid-induced blast of the classy Hank Aaron on or off the field.

So, with much help from baseball’s era of bloated knuckleheads, Aaron has become even more of a classic. That’s why, 33 years after his retirement, just about the only person of significance who wasn’t inside a ballroom last week at the Marriott Marquis for his 75th birthday celebration was his new hero. Ever hear of Barack Obama? He made Aaron cry that November night when he was elected president of the United States.

Have you guys talked?

“No, we haven’t,” said Aaron, easing into one of his contagious laughs. He added after a pause, “I probably could talk to the president, but I think he’s got enough people talking to him right now.”

There goes Aaron’s splendid dance with modesty again. In some ways, he is bigger than any president, because presidents are elected. Kings aren’t. Kings have more longevity, and Aaron is a king. More specifically, he is baseball’s legitimate home run king, and everybody knows it, including the commissioner of baseball.

Said Bud Selig, Aaron’s friend of more than 50 years: “I think that, as a result of everything that has happened, Hank Aaron is more of an icon today than ever before.”

It was about “755” before. Now, courtesy of “everything that has happened,” as in those bloated knuckleheads, “755” has combined with the extraordinary man who made it famous for a second life.

This actually is an eternal life when it comes to sports. In other words, that number and Aaron will prosper forever inside the hearts of many. You have the greatness of Aaron that keeps strengthening by the decades. You also have those hits that keep coming by the moment for the supposedly elite of the current elite.

We’re not talking about hits from the batter’s box, by the way. The feds say they have proof that Bonds didn’t slam many of his 762 home runs through a combination of quick wrists and pushups. Plus, according to Sports Illustrated, Rodriguez really is A-Fraud, but for a reason other than what Joe Torre said in his recently published book called “The Yankee Years.”

We’re back to the “s” word.

Simply put, the man who officially has more homers than anybody (Bonds) is tainted by an upcoming perjury trial involving his possible steroid use. Then the man (Rodriguez) who has the best chance of catching that other man (Bonds) is tainted by an SI report that claims he tested positive for steroids while capturing the 2003 MVP award in the American League.

Through it all, Aaron has remained Aaron to inspire the masses. He has received physical or verbal hugs during the last few days from Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, nationally and locally acclaimed politicians, former and current players, business leaders everywhere, casual fans and diehard ones, and folks in between.

There also was something I was told by Ted Turner, Aaron’s former boss, who made Aaron the Braves executive that he has been since the late 1970s. Said Turner, “He’s like Obama. He’s just got magic. There’s a song in ‘South Pacific,’ that says, ‘Fools give you reasons. Wise men never even try.’ He’s just got magic. He really does.”

He really, really does.

tlmoore@ajc.com