Back in 1974, in the days before the internet and the smartphone, the days before streaming TV channels, even the days before SuperStation WTBS, the way you followed the Atlanta Braves was radio.
I had a clock-radio on my bedside table, and many nights I'd try to pull in WSB or some other distant station to hear Milo Hamilton and Ernie Johnson. It would be two days later before I could read about the game in The Atlanta Constitution because the edition that came to my part of the state went to press before the previous night's game was over.
The Atlanta Braves, though some four-plus hours away from Southwest Georgia, was my team. And Hank Aaron was my favorite player.
I don't remember the exact year, but I remember us all going to Atlanta one weekend, for a Braves game one night and a trip to Six Flags the next day. It was the only time I got to see Aaron play in person, and I was thrilled.
The news that Aaron died last week hit me hard. You know I love sports, and you know I look up to quite a few athletes, who not only excel on the athletic fields but also in their lives off the field. Aaron was probably the first athlete I considered a hero.
When I'd play baseball in the front yard, I pretended to be Hammerin' Hank. I was definitely pretending because I struck out a lot more times than I hit home runs.
On the night of April 8, 1974, my mother let me stay up late. NBC was carrying the Braves-Dodgers matchup at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, hoping that Aaron would hit homer No. 715 and break the home run record set by the immortal Babe Ruth.
Aaron drew a walk in the second inning. But in the fourth, he hit a 1-0 pitch from Al Downing over the left-centerfield wall. The Braves broadcaster Hamilton was on the call.
“He’s sitting on 714. Here’s the pitch by Downing. Swinging. Here’s a drive into left center field. That ball is gonna be … outta here! It’s gone! It’s 715! … There’s a new home run champion of all time, and it’s Henry Aaron.”
It's one of the happiest memories of childhood. The greatest player in the game had just made history, and he was on my team.
And he really is arguably the best player of all time. He holds the record for most career runs batted in, extra base hits and total bases. He's in the top five for career hits and run. And the most remarkable stat: Take out his 755 home runs and he still has more than 3,000 hits.
It wasn't all fun for Aaron. He became baseball's home run king under the duress of many death threats and mounds of hateful, racist mail. And he did so without uttering a complaint or mention of the stress he was under. Henry Aaron was always, to the very end, one incredibly strong and morally upright person.
I hate that he had to go through that. I hate that part of our history. I hate that, even today, that kind of hate exists here.
But I loved Aaron. The best Braves player ever. Maybe the greatest to ever play the game. Ol' No. 44. A real hero. A great and honorable man. And best ballplayer I ever saw.
I am sad.
