Randy Smith
One week ago the guy I knew as the ":Hammer" enjoyed his 82nd birthday. Henry Louis Aaron turned 82 on February 5th. As a teenager I watched him play with the Atlanta Braves and saw him hit many, many home runs. They weren't the tape measure jobs that Mickey Mantle or Harmon Killebrew sent skyrocketing out of the ball park. Hank's homers were practically all line drives that got out of the park quickly. I can never remember seeing Hank Aaron hit a home run that traveled 500 feet or more, but boy did he hit plenty of them.
755 of them as a matter of fact. He broke the immortal Babe Ruth's record of 714 in April of 1974. You've probably seen the replay and heard the call by the late Milo Hamilton. "That ball is ......outa here! There's a new home run king of all-time and it's Henry Aaron."
Now I must confess that when Hank broke the Babe's record I was not happy. Neither were thousands of other people across the south. Their reasoning was based upon racism, while mine was based upon my life-long love of the New York Yankees. Babe Ruth retired with 714 career homers and held the all-time record for almost forty years before The "Hammer" broke it. It was considered to be baseball's most sacred record and I felt it should always be held by a Yankee. I didn't feel that way long because I came to understand that records were made to be broken.
I was also not happy when Barry Bonds broke Aaron's record with his 756th homer in 2006, because of the steroid controversy. In his own classy way, Aaron told reporters that using illegal growth hormones and steroids to enhance performance was inappropriate. Hank refused to attend any ceremonies for Bonds but congratulated him through the media. While Bonds will likely never enter baseball's Hall of Fame due to those steroid allegations, Aaron was a first ballot selection, garnering 97.83% of the vote when he was enshrined in 1982. Babe Ruth received only 95% of the vote when he was a charter member selection in 1936. Aaron was a 25 time all-star. Amazing......25 times he was selected to the National League all-star team. Aaron still holds major league records for runs batted in with 2,297, total bases with 6,856 and extra base hits with 1,477.
Growing up in Mobile, Alabama he joined the Indianapolis Clowns of the old negro leagues in 1952. He made an immediate impact and was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. His only MVP award came in 1957 when his Braves beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. Even though his career numbers were fabulous and still are, his most enviable trait is his amazing consistency. He was baseball's all-time home run king for more than thirty years, yet he never hit more than 47 home runs in a single season. He was a three time gold glove award winner as a right-fielder and finished with a career batting average of .305.
Even before he came to the plate, Hank Aaron could intimidate a pitcher just by his presence in the on-deck circle. Less than six-feet tall, he would kneel slowly on one knee, with his bat resting between his right shoulder blade and that same knee. His helmet would be at his feet and he would slowly carry that helmet with him to the plate, where he would place it on his head just before stepping into the box. When Hank Aaron stepped into the batter's box he was getting down to business. Many pitchers have stated that seeing Aaron kneeling in the on-deck circle was the most unsettling thing they ever saw.
An amazing model of consistency, class and ability, Hank Aaron is also considered to be an influential civil rights activist. As he was fast approaching Babe Ruth's career home run mark, he received hundreds of death threats. The night he actually broke the record in 1974, there was a police presence at Fulton County Stadium that would rival a presidential visit. He has been an outspoken proponent for more African-Americans to be involved in more front office jobs, and in more managerial positions. Never loud or threatening Aaron has always gone about his business in the same quiet way.
Henry Louis Aaron quietly celebrated his 82nd birthday, the same classy way he always did anything else in his life. To say that Hank Aaron is a perfect role model for any young person, no matter what the color of their skin is, is a huge understatement. Happy birthday "Hammer". Thanks for all the memories.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.