Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron
Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron, nicknamed "Hammer", or "Hammerin' Hank", is a retired American Major League Baseballright fielder. He played 21 seasons for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the National Leagueand 2 seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League, from 1954 through 1976. Aaron held the MLB record for career home runs for 33 years, and he still holds several MLB offensive records. He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973, and is one of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth5 February 1934
CityMobile, AL
CountryUnited States of America
Discover Greatness: An Illustrated History of Negro Leagues Baseball,
I want to applaud the commissioner, and I also just want to make sure that whatever we do, we make sure that we clean up baseball.
It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.
It makes me feel good to walk through there and know that some of the things that Negro League players played for has been preserved, and people can go in there, and look at it.
This is wonderful, no doubt about it. You can tell by the fans that it's catching on and is going to get better and better.
Maybe the day will come when I can sit back and be content....But until that day comes, I intend to stay in the batter's box - I don't let the big guys push me out of there anymore - and keep hammering away.
You've got to remember, the older you get the slower you get. I've seen a lot of players get old ... if I can have a good season in 1972 and come back with another good one, well, that's different. I might not quit. But two bad ones back to back and staying home would be written on the wall.
There wasn't much white people would allow us to do in those days. You could be a schoolteacher or an athlete to get away from the manual labor and servant-type jobs, but there wasn't much else they were going to allow you [to] do.
To this day, whenever I'm in Milwaukee, which is often, I'm reminded that the people there still haven't gotten over the Braves leaving ... If it helps, they should know the players haven't either.
The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most with the home runs he hit. So as long as there's a chance that maybe I can hammer out a little justice now and then, or a little opportunity here and there, I intend to do as I always have -- keep swinging.
I'm sure glad this isn't my home ball park.
There is no logical reason why girls shouldn't play baseball. It's not all that tough.
Failure is part of success.
There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life.