Another legend has passed: Hank Aaron

[DeanH3]

RIP Mr. Aaron. Sad he had to endure what he did.

[samosa4u]

Ohhhhh ... this one is going to really hurt! Aaron was the MAN! And yes, "I had a Hammer" is definitely a good read! It's insane how he managed to go through all of that! RIP!

[Tao_Moko]

Sad news. I just don't believe it's possible to replace this type of royalty. There's no Bonds or Griffey that can match the challenges Aaron had to contend with. We still have Mays, but we are really closing in on an end of era for living legends. RIP

[triwak]

One of the G.O.A.T. RIP, Hammerin' Hank.

[71buc]

All of my childhood heroes are gone now. Henry Aaron was the very definition of class on and off the field. His offensive prowess is mind boggling. If he had not hit one home run in his career he still would have amassed 3000 hits. Is there any other power hitter who accomplished that?

[perezfan]

I was at Crosley Field, to see Hammerin' Hank get his 3,000th hit. A great time to be alive. As I recall, he had a few extra base hits that day including a homer (it might've been a double header).

But his 3,000th was a little seeing-eye single up the middle that barely got through the infield. I was just a kid, but still remember the loud standing ovation from the crowd. A memory I will always treasure.

RIP Hank

[FrankWakefield]

He was a gentleman.

I wish I had dvd's of him on a two or three program sequence on the Dick Cavett show, it included Mantle, Durocher, and I think Tom Gorman. Fantastic recollections...

He went through way too much of the racial brutality of the day... he maintained his dignity.

I saw him play. He had all of the tools. He moved his wrists well, he could whip the bat through the strike zone quicker and stronger than most.

My favorite memory was in a moment I heard during a Cardinals night game, within a year or two of 1970... I may have faulty recollection, but this is how it went... The Braves had one or two runners on, Aaron was at the plate, middle innings. I have no idea who was pitching, but he'd already given up a few runs. Jack Buck and Mike Shannon are calling the game. Aaron slams a pitch between outfielders, the ball is down and off the wall. Another run or two scores and Aaron is at second base with a double. The Cardinals manager goes out to pull the pitcher. And during that break in play what I think I heard Mike Shannon say was something like this... "Fans, out there at second base stands two of the superstars of baseball, Dal Maxvill and Henry Aaron."

[Santo10Fan]

It's a day all baseball fans dreaded, RIP Hammerin' Hank

[Hirbonzig]

We all want our heroes to live on forever, but the time comes to move on to the greatest hall of fame of all. I was lucky enough to see Henry as a kid in County Stadium, no home run was hit just the thrill of seeing the new home run champ was enough. Rest In Peace Henry.

[clydepepper]

This is getting to be so hard. As part of the Braves' fan base, loosing Hank was loosing a family member...and that's three in a month...Hank was voted one of the Franchise Four along with May, Bench and Koufax.

As a player, he was forever underrated, but one of the elite of the elite.

As a Man, he was more than that.

I was allowed down into the Braves dugout, prior to a game early in that first season in Atlanta- 1966. My cousin, Whitlow Wyatt, was the Braves' first pitching coach. He got the team to autograph a ball for me- including Hank and Phil. I did not appreciate it at the time and lost the ball somewhere...as a collector, I have replaced it with a ball signed by fourteen of the 1966 Braves...again including Hank. It is one of my prized possessions. I'm constantly looking for a full team-signed ball.

Mom drove us up to see a Braves game every year and, because she had to work the next day, we would leave early - and listen on the radio on the way home. I cannot tell you how often, Hank came up to bat late in the game and delivered, frequently with a homer. We were in the left-field stands and less than 100 feet from where his Home Run in the 1972 All-Star Game.

I just finished reading Tom Stanton's, 'Hank Aaron and the Home Run that Changed America'. - and it did and the book was great.

Hank went through so much - so those that followed wouldn't have to.

Mr. Aaron- I appreciate your walk on this rock and will miss you and think of you every time I look at my digital clocks when it indicates 7:14. Seared in my memory. Rest in Peace Sir.