Henry Aaron is 80
There were a couple of baseball stories making the rounds this week.
They were on polar opposite ends of the spectrum for me.
A little known fact is that for three years there...1973, 74, 75, I was primarily an Atlanta Braves fan.
(Yeah, Larry...it's true...but I had no love for them at all when the Yankees were beating the piss out of them in those World Series in the 90's).
I had the Yankees whispering in my ear, of course (Dad and Grandpa) but it was all about Hammerin' Hank then...and Ralph Garr, and Dusty Baker, and Davey Johnson.
Loved those teams.
Hank is 80 years old.
What a classy dude.
He was lambasted because he was black and chasing a white man's record. He was called every name in the book. There were death threats.
You ever hear a bad word ever attributed to him?
I know his whole story. He grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He was raised by his Mom...who he cherished. He held the bat wrong. He just kept hitting.
Hit his way out of poverty.
A day later the story came down that A-Rod was dropping all his lawsuits because he was cheating and they caught him and he didn't like that.
Classless.
His Yankee days are over. There will be a buy-out. No one will ever hire him to hit a baseball again.
He blew everything.
And I thought of some poor kid who may have idolized A-Rod as I had idolized Aaron.
That kid is just plain confused now.
You see, Aaron did it all right. He helped me build my love for the sport. He was part of the reason why I sort of imagined that those who came after him could also hit homers in bunches.
Hall of Fame players existed in my little kid's mind.
I wonder if they exist for the kids now.
Chris Davis of the Orioles hit a lot of homers last year.
"He's juicing," my son said.
I told my boy that I doubted it. Good players came still come along, without help.
I didn't want my boy to lose faith.
Two men.
Look at their legacies.
Happy Birthday, Henry.
Go away Alex.
They were on polar opposite ends of the spectrum for me.
A little known fact is that for three years there...1973, 74, 75, I was primarily an Atlanta Braves fan.
(Yeah, Larry...it's true...but I had no love for them at all when the Yankees were beating the piss out of them in those World Series in the 90's).
I had the Yankees whispering in my ear, of course (Dad and Grandpa) but it was all about Hammerin' Hank then...and Ralph Garr, and Dusty Baker, and Davey Johnson.
Loved those teams.
Hank is 80 years old.
What a classy dude.
He was lambasted because he was black and chasing a white man's record. He was called every name in the book. There were death threats.
You ever hear a bad word ever attributed to him?
I know his whole story. He grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He was raised by his Mom...who he cherished. He held the bat wrong. He just kept hitting.
Hit his way out of poverty.
A day later the story came down that A-Rod was dropping all his lawsuits because he was cheating and they caught him and he didn't like that.
Classless.
His Yankee days are over. There will be a buy-out. No one will ever hire him to hit a baseball again.
He blew everything.
And I thought of some poor kid who may have idolized A-Rod as I had idolized Aaron.
That kid is just plain confused now.
You see, Aaron did it all right. He helped me build my love for the sport. He was part of the reason why I sort of imagined that those who came after him could also hit homers in bunches.
Hall of Fame players existed in my little kid's mind.
I wonder if they exist for the kids now.
Chris Davis of the Orioles hit a lot of homers last year.
"He's juicing," my son said.
I told my boy that I doubted it. Good players came still come along, without help.
I didn't want my boy to lose faith.
Two men.
Look at their legacies.
Happy Birthday, Henry.
Go away Alex.
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