One of 755

 

It was the top of the fifth inning at Candlestick Park on July 3, 1966, a warm, unusually windless day. Hank Aaron, the first batter up against Giants lefthander Ray Sadecki, ripped the first pitch he saw high and deep over left-field fence and onto the grassy lawn in front of the bleachers. A few dozen kids scrambled after the ball as the man they called the Hammer quietly touched all the bases, then joined his Atlanta teammates in the visitors' dugout. No ovations, no boos or catcalls accompanied his purposeful stride. In truth, most fans on the scene were sufficiently discouraged; Hank's homer made it 14-1, Braves, and though most of us were slow to grasp its significance, we'd already seen history made. Tony Cloninger, the Braves' starting pitcher, had already belted two grand-slam home runs that day, and that's how that game, and that date, are remembered.

But not today. As Aaron turned and jogged toward the dugout, a fifty-year-old man sitting nearby leaned in and said, "That's as great a player as I've ever seen." Eight years later we sat in a car with the radio on and listened to the overwhelming roar of an Atlanta crowd as Henry Aaron hit his 715th career home run, and changed the game of baseball forever with that one swing. Vin Scully, on the radio, let the crowd speak for all of us for some time, and then he said, “What a marvelous moment for baseball, what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia, what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking the record of an all-time baseball idol." And we remembered that July day from childhood, and we remembered that one home run, that one small but steady step along the path that led to 715, to history, and beyond.

Henry Aaron, who passed away this morning, was more than a great ballplayer, one of the greatest of all time. He was a man of personal greatness, of character, and courage, and conviction.  On the mlb.com website, Richard Justice has a fine article about Henry Aaron. You all should read it. In a year where we've lost so many of our baseball greats, this one stands out as an example of how loss can magnify gain, and of how one life can magnify the lives of many.

Godspeed to Henry Aaron. There'll never be another like him, and for that, we all are poorer today.