Hank Aaron has died
- Thread starter FlotownDawg
- Start date
WTF did we Braves fans do to deserve all this? Holy ****. Niekro, Sutton, and Hank all gone within a month.
People get wrapped up in the HR record, race stuff, and things like that when talking about Hank Aaron, but here are some takeaways for me:
- he demonstrated two decades of sustained, consistent greatness.
- he hit 755 home runs, yet never hit more than 50 in any one season.
- he slugged .514 or more (and in some seasons significantly more) for nineteen (!) straight seasons.
- if you subtracted his 755 homeruns from his hit total, he would still have more than 3000 hits.
- he was an all star every year between 1955 and 1975
- he had a career OPS+ of 155 (!) and a career OPS of .928
Plainly put, one of the absolute greatest to ever play the game. And he doesn't get enough credit for his sustained greatness.
- he demonstrated two decades of sustained, consistent greatness.
- he hit 755 home runs, yet never hit more than 50 in any one season.
- he slugged .514 or more (and in some seasons significantly more) for nineteen (!) straight seasons.
- if you subtracted his 755 homeruns from his hit total, he would still have more than 3000 hits.
- he was an all star every year between 1955 and 1975
- he had a career OPS+ of 155 (!) and a career OPS of .928
Plainly put, one of the absolute greatest to ever play the game. And he doesn't get enough credit for his sustained greatness.
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All this, plus his RBI record is gonna stand for a WHILE
| Rank | Player (yrs, age) | Runs Batted In | Bats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hank Aaron+ (23) | 2297 | R |
| 2. | Babe Ruth+ (22) | 2214 | L |
| 3. | Albert Pujols (20, 40) | 2100 | R |
| 4. | Alex Rodriguez (22) | 2086 | R |
| 5. | Cap Anson+ (27) | 2075 | R |
| 6. | Barry Bonds (22) | 1996 | L |
| 7. | Lou Gehrig+ (17) | 1995 | L |
| 8. | Stan Musial+ (22) | 1951 | L |
| 9. | Ty Cobb+ (24) | 1944 | L |
| 10. | Jimmie Foxx+ (20) | 1922 | R |
| 11. | Eddie Murray+ (21) | 1917 | B |
| 12. | Willie Mays+ (22) | 1903 | R |
| 13. | Mel Ott+ (22) | 1860 | L |
| 14. | Carl Yastrzemski+ (23) | 1844 | L |
| 15. | Ted Williams+ (19) | 1839 | L |
| 16. | Ken Griffey Jr.+ (22) | 1836 | L |
| 17. | Rafael Palmeiro (20) | 1835 | L |
| 18. | Dave Winfield+ (22) | 1833 | R |
| 19. | Manny Ramirez (19) | 1831 | R |
| 20. | Al Simmons+ (20) | 1828 | R |
| 21. | Frank Robinson+ (21) | 1812 | R |
| 22. | David Ortiz (20) | 1768 | L |
| 23. | Honus Wagner+ (21) | 1732 | R |
| 24. | Miguel Cabrera (18, 37) | 1729 | R |
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This is the absolute truth. He never got, and still doesn't get, enough credit for the other stuff he did besides hit home runs.
Hank was always such a tragic figure to me. I read a couple of biographies on him in the past. His life story was an epiphany for me about race in America. I was born in 1960 and grew up in NY. So I had no exposure to many issues that existed during Hank's time and locations. It always angered me that Hank Aaron could not enjoy his accomplishments. He always seemed to give more weight to the haters than the lovers. There were many thousands (probably millions) of people of all colors that praised and celebrated the man, but that much smaller percentage of haters had too much influence on his life. I am not saying he was wrong, but it sucked that he was given that burden. I just wished he could have found a way to let the much greater good be more influential.
He was a hero to me.
He was a hero to me.
Aaron could have hit 850 home runs if he wanted to. He gets associated with that HR record too much in my opinion. He was so much more than just a slugger. It's why I didn't care about Bonds breaking his record....someone was going to get it some day.
I think I get what you're saying, but his haters weren't merely booing and telling him he sucked (as you and most people probably know).
Obviously. As I said he wasn't wrong in any way about how he felt. To compare I am sure Willie Mays had many of the same issues. Same time frame, born in the same area, etc. Willie just seemed happier and enjoyed life more than Hank. I know everyone deals with their burdens differently and people are half full or half empty, I am mad that Hank was put in that position and was unable to enjoy it more.
Take away Bonds 70+ home run season and knock it down to 50, Aaron is still #1.
as someone pointed out..he was about sustained consistency. He was the real Ironman, not Ripken.
If I remember correctly from reading a biography of him when I was in middle school he honed his batting eye by hitting thrown coca-cola metal bottle caps with a broom handle. You know there was no way to throw a likely bent bottle cap anywhere near straight.
Agree that he was more than just a HR hitter, but 850 would have been damn near impossible. He was 42 when he hit 755, and would have had to play 4 more seasons or so to get to 850 even if he sustained the pace he was on the last 5 years of his career (which he wouldn’t have been able to do).
Unless you are saying he could have hit more during his prime years and he “settled” for singles or doubles, which wouldn’t make very much sense.
I did plenty of times ..and was lucky enough to be there for 715 ..I was in the RF nose bleeds and was looking through binoculars when he hit it and then picked up the track of the ball just before it cleared the wall.....obviously..the moment is etched in my memory.
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