*Fans of baseball in general and Henry “Hank” Aaron, in particular, are in mourning today because the famed, legendary player passed away this morning at age 86
“Hammerin’ Hank” as he was affectionately known, played the majority of his career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1954-1974 and finished up with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1975-76. The former home run king, Aaron was one of the most popular figures in Major League Baseball.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 as a first-ballot hall of famer with 97.83% of the vote.
For his career, Aaron’s batting average was .305, he hit 755 home runs and totaled 2,297 RBI. The 25-time All-Star won just one World Series championship in 1957 with the Braves but was also named the NL MVP that year.
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Here’s more via24/7 Sports.com:
His No. 44 is retired by the Braves and the Brewers.
“Aaron remains baseball’s runs batted in leader with 2,297 and total base leader with 6,856. Hammerin’ Hank finished his career with 755 home runs, an all-time record that stood for decades until Barry Bonds passed him and finished his career with 762 home runs,” CBS46 wrote. “He was easily elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1982.
“But Aaron was more than just a baseball player. He overcame racism in the deep south throughout his career and even received death threats while he was making his historic pursuit of Ruth’s record. All the while, he remained humble and continued to power through every hurdle that was in front of him.”
Aaron was a model of consistency when hitting the baseball throughout his career. The former right fielder actually hit 44 home runs in a single season on three separate occasions (1957, 1963 and 1966). But, he topped those numbers in 1962 when he hit 45 home runs and in 1971 at the age of 37 when he hit a career-high 47 home runs.
Aaron also had over 100 RBI in 11 different seasons throughout his career, with a career-high 132 in 1957. His legendary status extends into his All-Star selections at 25, which is the MLB record. He was also a three-time gold glove winner, two-time NL batting champion, four-time NL home run leader and four-time NL RBI leader.
Aaron was named to the MLB All-Century team in 1999.
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Aaron was more than just a baseball player. Among other things, he was a businessman who owned a luxury car dealership. But just because he was Hank Aaron don’t think his road to ownership was easy ’cause it wasn’t. His story was detailed right here at EURweb by Jeff Fortson in his AutoTrends column from last February. Here’s a taste of that article:
When many learned that the baseball icon, who was in his mid-sixties, was being awarded a BMW dealership, it sent shock waves through the business community. Many could not understand why someone without dealership experience was being awarded a premium store – especially the black dealers – who had yearned for years to break through the dealership ceiling, acquiring a luxury import store.
In fact, it was reported that the late Sheila Vaden-Williams, who was the executive director of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), was surprised that the baseball icon was on BMW’s radar, being that the organization that she led typically served as the point person for all of the carmakers, supplying them with viable candidates for available dealership opportunities.
While many of the black dealers, had already had access to the keys to own such American luxury makes, as Cadillac and Lincoln, the dealers, just like consumers, yearned to have the keys to unlock the luxury imports doors, which was the pinnacle of success, especially a German new car franchise.
With the exception of Mercedes-Benz, which had approved Bob Ross, as their first and only black dealer in the late seventies, no other black business dealer had been granted access to the class of car buyers, who could afford to buy such vehicles, which in turn would mean more money added to the dealers’ bottom line.
Get the rest of this AutoTrends article on the bumpy road Hank Aaron took to become the USA’s first Black BMW dealer, HERE at EURweb.
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