At some point yesterday, Hammerin' Hank Aaron passed away. I realize for many, baseball is about as relevant as high-button shoes but when I was a kid, it was everything, and Aaron broke Babe Ruth's total home run record of 714, going on to finish his career with 755, making him the king of everything at that moment.
Years later, his record fell in the middle of the steroids-are-everywhere-era of baseball but for me, he is and was the home run champion. And now he's gone, along with so much of what was important about America at that time.
So now I have to decide if I'm going out to the garage and remove the baseball from the glove I've got in the back mousetrap of the bike now or wait until Wednesday, February 16, when pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. Goodbye, Hammerin' Hank.
-bill kenny
2 comments:
As great a combination of grace and talent as sports in this country has ever seen. An all-time player and, by all accounts, an even better person. The dictionary definition of a great teammate because he made everyone, players and non-players alike, better.
That humanity came through in just about every word of his interview with Letterman that I've enjoyed viewing over the years but most especially when incorporating into today's observations.
Speaking of which, why are you up at twenty minutes of five on a Saturday morning?
Paper route? ;-)
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