Hank Aaron has passed away

[jsnpritchett]

Legendary Atlanta Brave and Major League Baseball record holder Hank Aaron died Friday at the age of 86, according to Aaron’s daughter.

Born in Mobile, Alabama, on Feb. 5, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron was one of eight children born to Herbert and Estella Aaron." – WSB-TV Atlanta

This one hits me hard, since I grew up as a Braves fan. He was such a kind man, too.  I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times. RIP, Hank.

[T.G.]

Damn.

Another great one. In fact, one of The greatest.

[EdmontonAngelsFan]

January has been a tough month for MLB players passing.

Tommy Lasorda, Don Sutton and now Hank Aaron. 

[Dtwncbad]

Hank hitting that homer in 1974 is legitimately my very first memory of watching mlb.  I was 7 years old.

The possible moment of this homer was so big that our whole family was watching this game together and my Dad was explaining to me the whole thing with him passing Babe Ruth.

RIP Hank.  Thanks for pulling me into my lifelong relationship with baseball.

 

[eligrba4ever]

Rest in peace, Mr. Aaron. King of Swat. Newest member of the Eternal All-Stars. You get another chance at taking Sutton deep.

[beatlesrule]

Oh man

[mtangelsfan]

RIP Mr. A.A. Ron

[Redondo]

RIP Hank

One of the greats for sure. 

[Lhalo]

2021 picking up where 2020 left off.

RIP Hammerin' Hank.

[Jason]

The silver lining is he gets to go out leaving behind a great legacy. The world has lost a great man. RIP 

[The_Outrunner]

Damn....One of the best

[daygloman]

I just now heard on the News!

I'm so bummed!

A piece of my childhood just died as well!

RIP.

[fan_since79]

All-time RBI leader, and the real all-time Home Run Leader.

Rest in peace...

 

[Second Base]

Hammerin' Hank lived a good life and served a lot of people. He'll always be an icon in this sport. We lost a truly great one today. 

[Chuck]

What a tremendous loss to the baseball world. RIP Hammering Hank! 

[Chuck]

@VictorRojas has a Hank Aaron themed t-shirt he designed last year that I'm going to get. 

https://bigflygear.com/collections/storytelling-front-page/products/755-tee-hank-aaron

The Design: Born in Mobile, Alabama, Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron fell in love with baseball at an early age. His love, drive, passion & talent for the game of baseball would eventually propel him to one of the all-time great players the game has ever seen. Aaron amassed 755 career home runs, surpassing Babe Ruth’s MLB career record of 714 in 1974 while a member of the Atlanta Braves. Two years later as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Aaron would hit his final career home run. On July 20, 1976 while facing the Angels’ Dick Drago in the 7thinning, Aaron hit #755. He was 42 years old at the time. It was the 10th home run of the season for Aaron and the 23rd consecutive season in which he had reached double-digits in home runs…simply amazing! Mr. Aaron and the Braves uniform are the inspiration for our 755 graphic.

[fan_since79]

Age 35-39 seasons:

BA .299, OBP .396., SLG .601., OPS .997

162-game average, 48 HR, 120 RBI

Only in his final two seasons (age 41-42) was the OPS down in the high .600's.

[JAHV76]

RIP a great player and person off the field.

[Dtwncbad]

For all his remarkable records, I find him to be one of the most underrated players in baseball history.  Yes he is a “legend.”

But can you imagine the level of legend this guy would be if he was a lifetime Yankee?

[Keener]

RIP 

A legend.  

[arch stanton]

When he joined the Brewers in ‘75 I got his autograph at the Big A. He stood patiently for an hour before the game signing for anyone who came up to him. I remember standing there and thinking the greatest home run hitter of all time didn’t look all that athletic or intimidating. Just an average sized man. 
 

RIP Hank

[m0nkey]

My favorite stat of his is the number of hits he compiled.  If you take away all his homeruns, he still has over 3,000 hits in the majors.

[Duren, Duren]

Amazingly consistent his entire career. No 50 plus homerun season to generate extra attention, but every year, homeruns in the 30s and 40s. With elite rbi production and high batting and slugging averages. And a very good outfielder. Lack of high end speed was his only imperfection.

Along with the HOF third baseman Eddie Mathews they formed a tremendous one - two power duo for over a decade. Longer together and better numbers than Mantle and Maris, but out of the spotlight. Their only post season success as a team were the 1957 and 1958 World Series. Winning the first, losing the second. Both against the Yankees, of course.

Interesting how different the baseball mindset was in 1961 andc1974. In 1961 when Maris was threatening and breaking Ruth's homerun record for a season the media has extremely hostile. In 1973 and 1974 as Aaron approached and broke Ruth's career record he was treated mostly with respect and admiration. 

Maybe part of the reason was that Maris played for the Yankees and he hated the media. Many media people (and commissioner Frick) were Ruth mythologists and didn't want the record to be broken. But by the seventies overall cultural sentiments had changed and Aaron's entire career was being appreciated.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Anyone else feel like hes almost underrated? You always read about ruth, mays, williams, mantle etc etc, but he always seemed like just behind guys like that in terms of legacy. Almost viewed as a slugger, not a "baseball player all around" type?

I looked him up a few years ago and had no idea how complete of a hitter he was. 

RIP. Absolute legend.

[ten ocho recon scout]

That clip of him being swarmed when he broke the record is so iconic.