Elliott: Remembering the brave Milwaukee slugger Hank Aaron
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Hank Aaron watched over me every night.
On the south wall of the newly-painted blue walls of my bedroom at the corner of Johnson and College Streets, I had hung 8-by-10 pictures of the 1959 Milwaukee Braves outfield: Wes Covington in left, Billy Burton in centre and Bad Henry in right.
On the right side of the bed were pictures of infielders first baseman Joe Adcock, second baseman Red Schoendienst, third baseman Eddie Mathews and shortstop Johnny Logan.
On the left wall were starters Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl, plus closer Don McMahon. Above my head were catchers Del Crandall and Del Rice.
Most nights I’d go to sleep hoping that the Braves would win and I’d be able to see them on TV in the fall. Like when they beat the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the 1957 World Series or the next year when they lost in Game 7 to the Yankees.
Aaron had been in the No. 2 spot on the all-time home run list for 4,917 days -- 13 years, five months and 15 days -- between when Barry Bonds hit No. 715 and the day Aaron passed.
Has anyone forgotten the former all-time career home run leader?
Likely not. Nor should they.
Aaron’s funeral was Wednesday and he was laid to rest in Atlanta.
Our memories of No. 44, the Hammer, Bad Henry or Hank, are the same today as they 1958, 1959, 1969 or 1974.
We remember being in the seats at Jarry Park with my father when Aaron homered to left field off Montreal Expos reliever Elroy Face in May of 1969, his first home run in Canada. We were there with 29,060, a Sunday afternoon game and an 8-3 Braves win.
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“That game where Mr. Aaron hit the home run against Elroy Face was the very first major league game that I ever attended. We were sitting about 1/2 way up above the Expos dugout. I still remember the home run.”
David Huctwith
Mississauga, Ont.
Baseball Ontario
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Later that same season as a green reporter, we asked him the first of many of our many dumb questions we have asked inside a major-league clubhouse.
Green reporter: “So, how do you think you guys will do against the Mets if you meet them in the post-season?”
Aaron: “Well, we’ve played them a few times so far and they beat us more than we beat them ... so ...”
He wasn’t rude.
He was not caustic.
No, more like his soft eyes said, “Son, you should know what our record is against them.”
As we often heard from Richard Griffin, Howard Starkman and Jay Stenhouse for decades, “it’s in the notes!”
That season the Mets beat the Braves eight of 12 meetings. The Miracle Mets swept the Braves in the best-of-five National League Championship Series. Aaron was right.
He carried himself with class and dignity. He did not have the flair of Willie Mays, nor the exposure of Mickey Mantle or Carl Yastrzemski. As a youngster, it seemed as if the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox outfielders took turns on TV each Saturday on the NBC Game of the Week with broadcasters Pee Wee Reese and Dizzy Dean.
A few seasons back, we asked Gary Matthews, then the Blue Jays hitting coach, about growing up in L.A. how many Dodgers games he attended as a youngster.
“All of my friends thought that the Dodgers were boring,” Matthews said. “They had pitching and defence. They couldn’t hit. They’d win 3-1 or 2-0. We didn’t miss a games when the Braves came in with Rico Carty, Eddie Mathews and Hank. Man, they would hack.
“Hank would be my No. 1 all-time guy, ahead of Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. Hank’s name didn’t come up often in commercials. When I hear Mr. Coffee, I don’t think of coffee, I think of DiMaggio.”
In 2009, I received an e-mail from a woman named Linda. I’d never met her before. Linda had a request. She wanted a Hank Aaron autographed ball. I replied I had zero chance fulfilling the request and could lose my credentials for even asking.
Then, she said, “Actually it is not a new autograph, but we’d like him to re-autograph baseball that faded. It is for my husband’s 75th birthday.”
After she told me who her husband was, I made a call to the Braves. They told me to phone Aaron’s private secretary, Susan Bailey.
Susan was not real excited about my sales pitch. I countered by saying “but re-signing a faded ball from years ago, I am not asking for a new ball. This gentleman used to work in Atlanta but his team moved.”
What team?
The Atlanta Flames, the NHL team. They moved to Calgary and the man was the general manager of the Atlanta team.
Susan told me all signed balls fade unless kept out of sunlight. She told me to tell Linda to send a completed pre-paid UPS and return air bill.
Months later Linda emailed me a thanks after the birthday gift presentation in August to her husband Cliff Fletcher, the former Maple Leafs general manager.
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Fletcher had met Hank Aaron at a luncheon in April of 1972, the first year of the Flames. Atlanta Braves GM Eddie Robinson gave his counterpart the signed Aaron ball in September of 1973.
“I was there for all the excitement,” Fletcher recalled this week. Aaron went deep for the record-breaking home run on April 8, 1974 against Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Former Atlanta Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher
The next night the Flames played their first playoff game in franchise history. The Flames lost 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia. The Broad Street Bullies swept the series -- outscoring Atlanta by a combined score of 17–6 in the four-game sweep -- on the way to their first Stanley Cup.
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At the 2010 World Series, the Jays’ Jose Bautista and Etobicoke’s Joey Votto of the Reds, each won the Hank Aaron award.
Both Bautista and Votto spoke in hushed voices after getting their respective awards from “Mr. Aaron,” presented annually to the best offensive player in each league.
“Winning a great honour like this, you have to thank all the people who allowed you to get to this position,” Bautista said. “I’d like to thank my family and obviously all the fans, the Hall of Famers, and Mr. Hank Aaron.
“Knowing all Mr. Aaron had to go through in his career, it’s an honour amongst the recipients of this award.”
Fans made death threats against Aaron as he chased Babe Ruth’s record of 714. Fans, Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey, Paul Molitor, Tony Gwynn, Billy Williams and Robin Yount also voted for the winners of the Aaron award.
“This is the first award I’ve won and if it’s the last one, what an honour. I was voted into the all-star game by fans and this is another fan award,” Votto said. “I’m a fan of the game, especially its history, to have been picked by Hall of Famers, players means a lot.
“My manager Dusty Baker played with Henry Aaron and I heard the stories -- all good stories. I know Dusty is going to be proud.”
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And now Aaron joins the rest of the 1959 Milwaukee Braves upstairs. They are probably discussing losing a best-of-three playoff to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the bottom of the 12th when Felix Mantilla threw a ball in the dirt and Frank Torre was unable to pick it out of the dirt for the third out.
Lew Burdette, Bob Buhl, Joe Adcock, Johnny Logan, Don McMahon and Del Rice, all pictures on my bedroom wall ... all gone.
Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn and Aaron all gone.
The only player walking around from my bedroom gallery is former catcher Del Crandall.
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In 1961, a million miles and light years from a major-league game -- before the Expos of the Blue Jays were born -- we’d head to leafy Victoria Park. Think a scene out of The Sandlot without the danger of the dog, to play home run derby and mimic unique swings of the day. We were 11-year-olds in a make believe world pretending to be:
_ Detroit Tiger shortstop Dick McAuliffe, hands and bat held amazingly high as if he was trying to pry loose a ball stuck high in the backstop.
_ Cleveland first baseman Vic Power, moving the bat slowly to and fro.
_ Detroit’s Rocco Colavito, who was flat footed.
_ Sluggers Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins and Ted Kluszewski of the Cincinnati Reds.
When we did Aaron, it was from dugout to the batter’s box.
Aaron easily had the most consistent gait. We had seen him come out of the first base dugout, then kneel in the on-deck circle, lean on his bat with his helmet held in one huge paw and watch the pitcher.
One day someone showed with a plastic Braves helmet, probably bought for $1.99. We added that to our routine. This piece of plastic was like Aaron’s without ear flaps.
We’d imitate Aaron’s slow, knock-kneed walk from the on-deck circle, respectfully passing behind our imaginary blind umpire, helmet held in the left hand and lumber in the right, dragging along the ground.
Settling into the batter’s box, he’d rest the bat against his crotch and use both hands to nestle the helmet snugly on top of his Braves cap.
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Bobby:
Sad day for baseball, sad week actually. The loss of Henry Aaron brings all our lives into perspective. I always remember you taking some hits in batting practice and coming up doing your impersonation of Hammerin’ Hank.
Memories are precious.
I remember you doing it one night after a practice at the Cricket Field. I also remember Vinnie McQuaide having Jim McDonald put on the gear to catch Dougie McIlroy’s bullpen. Man Dougie threw some heat. Vinny would stand and hit line drives because he could. I also remember your father spending time talking to me about taking care of my new cleats. Loved those days.
Stay safe Bob
Cheers
Beagle
(Larry Speagle)
Kingston, Ont.
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The thing was we never could properly mimic Aaron’s swing or his quick wrists ...
How could we?
Certainly not teenagers at Victoria Park in Kingston.
And certainly not any major leaguers.