Yes, Hank Aaron set records playing baseball. But to me, that wasn’t his greatest accomplishment. Despite taking abuse as an African American playing baseball, Aaron was never ejected from a game.
I was 13 years old on April 8, 1974, and I started my second year of playing Dixie Youth Baseball’s Pony League. For my twin brother and me, baseball filled our springs and summers. Our Pony League games were played at Spring Creek Park in East Ridge, Tennessee. Fortunately for us, we could hop on our bikes and ride to the park.
Once school was out for summer, it became a daily ritual for many neighborhood kids.
For hours, we’d take batting practice and snag ground balls in the hot sun until it was time for the fields to be lined for that evening’s games. Within a couple of hours, we were back at the park, had on our uniforms, and played in ‘a real game.’
The previous summer had been special for a baseball-loving kid in the South. Why? ‘The Chase’ was on. A transistor radio was the main link to a Braves game in those days, and I knew I was witnessing history. Milo Hamilton and Ernie Johnson called the action of the greatest baseball player ever to play the game. And being from the South, Hank Aaron played for my favorite team–making it even more special. That summer, I even had a chance to see Hank play in person.
My brothers and I tracked every home run as Aaron closed in on the record. But Hank didn’t break it that summer. We had to wait another year. It was well worth the wait. “The Game” (April 8, 1974) was broadcast live on national TV. A rarity. My brothers and I screamed and jumped around the house as we had just won the lottery. My hero did it!
But there was a downside, too. I grew up in an all-white, middle-class community, and the first black kid I remember knowing was a baseball player on a traveling All-Stars team. It was 1970, and I was ten years old, and I heard just about every racial slur known to exist.
Even with that upbringing, it never occurred to me that Hank Aaron was black. Why should that have even mattered? But it certainly did to some people. I didn’t know about, and couldn’t possibly imagine, the death threats. I didn’t know about the hundreds of hate mail letters Aaron received–not in total, but every day. I didn’t know that he feared for his life.
Aaron experienced prejudice throughout his career. In the early years, he couldn’t eat or sleep with the rest of the team. When it was announced that his Milwaukee Braves were moving to Atlanta, he was less than thrilled to be playing in the Deep South. During ‘The Chase,’ a much lesser man would have been angry, bitter, resentful, or hateful. Not Hank, though. He stood tall, quietly and gracefully.
When I learned about the injustices Aaron experienced, my childhood hero became my hero for life.
Yes, Hank Aaron set records playing baseball. But to me, that wasn’t his greatest accomplishment. It was that Hank was never, ever ejected from a game. My goodness! How can he not be my hero?
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Jerry Manning recently completed his first novel, which is set in 1963. A paragraph is devoted to Hank Aaron.
