It’s sorta strange how the loudest record-setting of modern American sporting history came from such a quiet fellow. But that was Henry Louis Aaron, who let his big bat make all the noise in a marvelous, even definitive baseball lifetime. He departed this world for the next on January 22, leaving a literal legacy on and off the playing field with few true comparisons.
No, this is not the time to argue who the ‘true’ home run king is. For all the admitted and suspected chemical sins of the not-to-be-named-here man at top of the list, he did hit seven more balls out of parks. So that’s that. Ahhh, but who will be regarded more favorably and fondly over time?
That has to be Hammerin’ Hank, who would have been a Hall of Famer on his .305 career average and 3,771 base hits. He was a first-class rightfielder as well. That he surpassed the ultimate longball legend, the Babe, is what makes Aaron an immortal automatically listed in any top-ten ballplayers rankings. He would finish with 755 bombs, by the way.
It needs admitting, I was more a fan of Willie Mays, another Alabama man, back then. Experts still argue that had he not been stuck swinging in windy San Francisco; or not missed almost two whole seasons in military service; Mays would have been the record-setter. The ‘Say Hey Kid’ had the more effusive personality, ran the bases better or at least more often, and made the most famous outfield catch in baseball history. Look it up.
Still in sum-total Aaron, who went by both his given name and nickname, is the greater ballplayer. Though the color barrier had been broken by others, old and ugly echoes were heard as he closed in on Ruth’s record of 714 home runs. He ended up one homer short of the mark in the final game of 1973, so fans in favor or in fury both had all winter to let Aaron know their feelings.
Aaron reportedly received a US Postal Service plaque for a ‘record’ volume of mail for anyone save politicians or Santa Claus. One can only imagine the torrent of emails had the ‘net been around then.
Aaron held up under the stress, even death threats, with dignity and determination. The Braves obviously wanted him to break Ruth’s record in Atlanta, but the commissioner ordered he play as usual in the season-opening series at Cincinnati. There he tied Ruth on the first swing of his season, but didn’t go deep in the other games.
So on Monday evening, with NBC broadcasting a rare mid-week baseball game, that Aaron came up a second time, in the fourth inning, and got a second-pitch fastball from Al Downing, who by coincidence also wore #44.
Vin Scully, a baseball immortal in his own right, had the call. “It’s high fly to the deep left center, Buckner goes back to the fence, it is gone!” And then, unlike today’s motor-mouthed commentators, went quiet for 26 whole seconds and let the camera tell the story, before finally adding what a marvelous moment it was for a player, for baseball, for America, for the world.
It was. It still is. Rest in peace, Mr. Aaron.