Presidents, others honor Aaron

Hank Aaron celebrated his 75th birthday Thursday night with 755 some-odd of his closest friends.

Over a dinner of steak and shrimp, in a Marriott Marquis ballroom that could double as an airplane hangar, Aaron shared a table with former President Bill Clinton and baseball commissioner Bud Selig. He was honored in a program emceed by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, paid tribute to by Bob Costas, and read a personal note from former President Jimmy Carter.

Aaron might not be the Home Run King anymore, but he was king for the day.

As Barry Bonds continues his fall from grace with recent revelations in his impending perjury case that he failed steroids tests, Aaron’s friends honored the one they still consider the true home-run king.

“For my way of thinking, he is,” said Ted Turner, who showed his allegiance to the team he once owned with a navy blue-and-red Braves tie.

He joked from the podium over dinner that he and Aaron, once Aaron had moved into the Braves front office, both voted to fire Bobby Cox and Joe Torre as managers.

“We fired the best two managers in baseball,” Turner said. “That’s how screwed up we were.”

But in seriousness, Aaron’s guests honored the man they knew for much more than his 755 home runs.

“Most of all, it’s not just that he hit all those home runs, not just that he was fast and a good fielder,” former New York governor Mario Cuomo said. “It’s that he is such a magnificent human being. … When you look behind Hank Aaron, you see real depth and beauty. He’s a wonderful clear-minded, responsible, intelligent, patient human being and smart, too.”

Former Brave Brian Jordan recalls being nervous in the visiting dugout in Atlanta the first time he approached Aaron as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

But he was immediately assured by Aaron’s humility.

“You rarely find guys like that who establish history and stay humble,” Jordan said. “Usually you see, when you make history, there’s a price to pay, whether it’s drugs or whatever. With Hank, it’s all him, it’s all natural. He’s humble, and he went about his business the right way.”

The man in the room who had the claim on knowing Aaron the longest was Selig, who got to know Aaron when Aaron first arrived in the majors with the Milwaukee Braves.

“The thought that comes to my mind the most is that he’s just the same nice person, quiet and thoughtful that he was when I met him in 1958,” Selig said. “Here he is, he breaks the most famous record in American sports, has a meteoric career that neither one of us could have imagined. And yet he’s never really changed. That’s the really wonderful part of all this.”

Selig said as commissioner he knows he’s supposed to remain neutral on certain subjects. But he doesn’t mind answering a tough question when it comes to Aaron: who’s the greatest baseball player he’s ever seen.

“I was a Joe DiMaggio fan growing up as a kid, and he was a great, great player,” Selig said. “And Ted Williams was the greatest hitter that ever lived. I think that’s absolutely fair. But I grew up watching Hank play, his first game and his last game. I know a lot of people would answer Willie Mays. I believe that Hank Aaron was the greatest player of our generation.”

At 75, Aaron walks with a slight limp but still has the spring in his step of an athlete.

“My leg is kind of stiff, but other than that, I feel good,” Aaron said.

He took pride in what he said was the real reason for Thursday’s celebration, and that was his Chasing a Dream Foundation, which benefits kids pursuing talents not only in sports but in the arts.

His foundation has surpassed its original goal of reaching 755 kids. That number is now 822. His foundation has also been endowed so that it can reach 44 kids every year in honor of Aaron’s old jersey number.

As for all the attention from so many people who consider him not only a friend, but a legend, he said: “It just means you’ve tried to carry yourself in such a way that people will have respect for you. That’s the most important thing. I don’t try to do anything special. I try to share whatever I’ve been able to accomplish with other people.”