As I mentioned in my first blog I am really not much of a fan of Baseball-however the arrival of spring and the ongoing steroid saga (which has over the past few years reduced even further what was already a limited interest in the sport) brought to mind my favorite player of all time-and in my opinion the greatest of them all-Henry Aaron. This player personified class and the contrast between Aaron and the selfish ego-maniacal players of today (led by Barry Bonds) is really hard to belief. Hammerin Hank was the quiet unassaming star who in the days and months leading up to his breaking Babe Ruth's career record faced the kind of pressure that today's ballplayers could not imagine. As you may remember in 1973 and 1974 racism still very much existed (especially in the South) and Aaron faced it all and he managed to maintain a sense of decorum that is rarely seen today. As a 15 year old I remember reading in Newsweek or Time the things that Aaron faced and was moved to write a letter-several weeks later I received back a letter (on Atlanta Braves letterhead) signed by my hero.
To this day I don't think Aaron gets the credit he is due-when the greatest outfielders are mentioned you always here May, Mantle, Williams and a few others-all of whom played in huge media cities. But if you review their stats to Aaron's - a lifetime .305 hitter with 755 home runs and 2297 Runs Batted In they don't stand up.
To this day the 75 year old Aaron maintains his dignity-even sending a congratulatory message to the cheater (Bonds) when the Giants star broke the career Home Run record. Today's ballplayer would do well to look at the way Aaron carried himself on and off the field-to see the proper way of comporting yourself.
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Hank Aaron did personify dignity and grace, both on the field and off. They just don't make them like they used to...that's for sure!!
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt about it that Hammerin' Hank is one of the all-time classiest men in all of sports, and in my opinion, still holds the home run record. We can all agree that as a man, Hank is a great one.
ReplyDeleteHowever, let's try and break down Hank the player. I will say that he is an all-time great hitter, not player. Mays and Mantle get the edge over him as a player because of the other elements they brought to the game; for reasons such as speed, switch-hitting, and defense. Mantle also ripped up his knee which limited his overall stats. I also believe guys like Rickey Henderson, Pudge Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar, Derek Jeter, and Ken Griffey Jr were or will end up being better overall baseball players than Hank.
Therefore, where does he rank amongst the all-time great hitters? If we throw out the main candidates, I think they would include Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, Frank Thomas, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Dimaggio.
Hank lands somewhere between 2-6. Personally, I'm partial to Manny Ramirez. The stats are there, but what's so great about Manny is that he has the full hitting arsenal: power, average, ability to hit to all parts of the field, and most important, clutch. I already thought he was the greatest before last year, and then he hit .500 in the playoffs and carried the Dodgers after he was regrettably written-off by both the mainstream media and Red Sox organization. His regular season stats are tremendous, but his ability to come through time and time again in the post-season is what puts him over the top for me.