Hank Aaron passed away...

[Naperville]

https://youtu.be/QjqYThEVoSQ

[legOFwhat?]

Very sad! Never forget that iconic jog around 2nd base and the fan chasing after him, when he broke the record.

[MacLaren]

I am saddened to learn of this.....
Sad day here in Braves Country...

[JD Spydo]

This was the REAL home Run KING. No steroids or other type of cheating with this guy. I will always honor his all time home run record. I knew he was getting up there in years but yet I'm still sad for him and his family/friends.

Hank Aaron was truly an American Hero

[TkoK83Spy]

Sad day indeed. I don't care what Sosa, Mac and Barry did. This man was the TRUE homerun KING. No asterisk needed when you talk about Hank.

[TkoK83Spy]

This was the REAL home Run KING. No steroids or other type of cheating with this guy. I will always honor his all time home run record. I knew he was getting up there in years but yet I'm still sad for him and his family/friends.

Hank Aaron was truly an American Hero

Birds of a feather my brother! Hahaha, same time and same thoughts :D

[MacLaren]

This was the REAL home Run KING. No steroids or other type of cheating with this guy. I will always honor his all time home run record. I knew he was getting up there in years but yet I'm still sad for him and his family/friends.

Hank Aaron was truly an American Hero

Birds of a feather my brother! Hahaha, same time and same thoughts :D

Count me in guys.
Hank Aaron is the all-time home run champ in my book
And, mercy the man also had 2,297 ribbys!!!

[benben]

1974, I was 9 years old and I still remember watching that game with my Dad. With that swing I remember him saying "THERE IT IS!!!"

[JD Spydo]

This was the REAL home Run KING. No steroids or other type of cheating with this guy. I will always honor his all time home run record. I knew he was getting up there in years but yet I'm still sad for him and his family/friends.

Hank Aaron was truly an American Hero

Birds of a feather my brother! Hahaha, same time and same thoughts :D

Also Hank Aaron more that proved himself against a tidal wave of racial hatred during the 50s, 60s & 70s during the high parts of his illustrious career. He beat Babe Ruth's all time home run record when many thought it to be impossible.

Nobody even beat Roger Maris' single season home run record of 61 homers until the "steroid droids" hit the scene i.e. McGuire, Sosa, Bonds ect, ect. But Hank Aaron did it in spite of all the adversity that a lot of black players had to endure during that dark era of modern American history. And he did it "fair & square". If I were Bonds, Sosa or McGuire I would be ashamed to claim any record at this point. And I think you can throw A-Rod into that bunch as well. It was about the late 80s when I sort of gave up on Baseball. I found the "Steroid era" to be quite sickening to say the least.

GOD BLESS Hank Aaron>> A true American Hero :cool: may he RIP

[JD Spydo]

This was the REAL home Run KING. No steroids or other type of cheating with this guy. I will always honor his all time home run record. I knew he was getting up there in years but yet I'm still sad for him and his family/friends.

Hank Aaron was truly an American Hero

Birds of a feather my brother! Hahaha, same time and same thoughts :D

Count me in guys.
Hank Aaron is the all-time home run champ in my book
And, mercy the man also had 2,297 ribbys!!!

When I was still an avid baseball fan my personal heros were Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, and Bob Gibson and you could throw Mickey Mantle in there for honorable mention. Oh I know a bunch of you want to throw rocks at me for mentioning Pete Rose but you can't take away what he did on the field because of a couple of bad decisions>> 4,256 base hits :eek: ARE YOU KIDDING ME>> no one will ever top that I'm certain. But Willie Mays for many reasons is still my #1 BB player of all time. He was just as good on defense as he was at the plate. I would love to shake his hand before he leaves the planet.

OH I forgot one more baseball hero I had during my high school years. Anyone remember Roberto Clemente :cool: ??

[bearrowland]

Now this is really sad news. He really was the real home run king.

[p_atrick]

I got this information from a private Slack I'm on. This originally came from Tom Verducci (sorry, no link was provided). I was blown away by this.

Aaron played 23 seasons. He came to the plate almost 14,000 times. He hit .305 with 755 home runs and 6,856 total bases—more than 700 total bases beyond everyone else. The gap between Aaron and No. 2 on the list, Stan Musial, is more than 12 miles worth of bases.

[p_atrick]

Here is Aaron participating in the 1982 HR Derby of the KBO's inaugural season. By this point, Aaron is 48 years old, and has been retired for six years. He's still cranking them over the fence. He flew all the way to Korea to be a part of their burgeoning baseball culture.

https://twitter.com/DanielKimW/status/1 ... 98240?s=20

[ugaarguy]

Hank Yesterday, Don Sutton a few days before, and Tommy Lasorda a couple weeks ago. Rough start to the year for baseball fans.

[M Sea]

This was the REAL home Run KING. No steroids or other type of cheating with this guy. I will always honor his all time home run record. I knew he was getting up there in years but yet I'm still sad for him and his family/friends.

Hank Aaron was truly an American Hero

Birds of a feather my brother! Hahaha, same time and same thoughts :D

Also Hank Aaron more that proved himself against a tidal wave of racial hatred during the 50s, 60s & 70s during the high parts of his illustrious career. He beat Babe Ruth's all time home run record when many thought it to be impossible.

Nobody even beat Roger Maris' single season home run record of 61 homers until the "steroid droids" hit the scene i.e. McGuire, Sosa, Bonds ect, ect. But Hank Aaron did it in spite of all the adversity that a lot of black players had to endure during that dark era of modern American history. And he did it "fair & square". If I were Bonds, Sosa or McGuire I would be ashamed to claim any record at this point. And I think you can throw A-Rod into that bunch as well. It was about the late 80s when I sort of gave up on Baseball. I found the "Steroid era" to be quite sickening to say the least.

GOD BLESS Hank Aaron>> A true American Hero :cool: may he RIP

Very well said sir.

[MacLaren]

Hank Yesterday, Don Sutton a few days before, and Tommy Lasorda a couple weeks ago. Rough start to the year for baseball fans.

Indeed

[MacLaren]

I got this information from a private Slack I'm on. This originally came from Tom Verducci (sorry, no link was provided). I was blown away by this.

Aaron played 23 seasons. He came to the plate almost 14,000 times. He hit .305 with 755 home runs and 6,856 total bases—more than 700 total bases beyond everyone else. The gap between Aaron and No. 2 on the list, Stan Musial, is more than 12 miles worth of bases.

Another thing, his .305 avg over that many years is incredibly impressive as well.
Hank Aaron is in that ELITE OF THE ELITE Group. A very small group to be sure.

[Doc Dan]

He was one of my heroes. I've seen him play and hit homeruns on a number of occasions. He will be missed, but never forgotten.

[p_atrick]

I got this information from a private Slack I'm on. This originally came from Tom Verducci (sorry, no link was provided). I was blown away by this.

Aaron played 23 seasons. He came to the plate almost 14,000 times. He hit .305 with 755 home runs and 6,856 total bases—more than 700 total bases beyond everyone else. The gap between Aaron and No. 2 on the list, Stan Musial, is more than 12 miles worth of bases.

Another thing, his .305 avg over that many years is incredibly impressive as well.
Hank Aaron is in that ELITE OF THE ELITE Group. A very small group to be sure.

To further prove your point that Aaron is in the elite of the elite (taken from Twitter):

Hank Aaron's seven-best seasons:
56.4 WAR, avg 8.1 WAR, 166 wRC+ and 40 homers

Hank Aaron's next seven-best seasons:
49.1 WAR, avg 7 WAR, 157 wRC+ and 36 homers

Hank Aaron's next next seven-best seasons:
30.7 WAR, avg 4.4 WAR, 143 wRC+ and 28 homers

Hank Aaron is the only player since 1947 with more than 65 WAR both before reaching age-30 and after hitting age-30 (Only Babe Ruth pre-1947)

If you want to compare recent players, Aaron was Albert Pujols or Ken Griffey Jr. in his 20s and then just repeated his 20s for his 30s.

[James Y]

Hank Aaron was one of the VERY FEW professional athletes I’ve ever looked up to. Even more than being perhaps the greatest baseball player in history, he was an even greater human being.

Jim