National View: Hank Aaron hit everything life threw at him
Much of the universal reverence attached to Henry Aaron’s name is related to figures. You know, something about home runs.
Several years ago, one of his telephone numbers contained a conspicuous set of figures: 7-5-5. Aaron, who died a week ago at age 86 and whose funeral was held this week, once told me, “I didn’t ask for it. The phone company just did it.”
That privilege must be reserved for icons.
Aaron, the 10th Baseball Hall of Fame player to die since last April, was a different kind of cat. Humble, unassuming, methodical, dignified. A hard-hat and lunch pail-type dude. A guy with strong hands, quick wrists, plus enough baseball records in the book to make Stevie Wonder take notice. And enough intestinal fortitude and resolve to stare down racial hatred and still get an A-plus grade on the home run exam.
No brag, just fact.
Some have called Aaron the most underrated superstar in any sport. Perhaps because he played in Milwaukee and Atlanta. Imagine if he had been based in New York or Los Angeles, the nation’s top two media markets. He certainly would have won more than one Most Valuable Player award.
Despite where he played, Aaron’s bopping bat was the source of much resentment because he was in hot pursuit of a superhero, Babe Ruth. Many longtime fans viewed The Babe as godlike, a Zeus in pinstripes. Some believed a Black person had no right to break his record. And if anyone deserved to surpass Ruth, it should have been a Mickey Mantle or a Ted Williams, both white players.
Note legendary broadcaster Vin Scully’s astute call that Monday night in 1974 when Aaron went immortal with historic No. 715: “A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.”
And let’s be real because numbers and figures don’t tell the entire story: Before we ever heard of this Black Lives Matter phenomenon of today, there was the Hank Aaron Social Justice Movement.
This movement was about protecting Aaron from the threats of vicious racists using hate mail to intimidate. How would you feel after being incessantly bombarded with the n-word and animal references, such as monkey and gorilla, threats of being shot between the eyes (just read Lonnie Wheeler’s book, “I Had a Hammer.”)
The death threats against Aaron were so vile that he was assigned a personal bodyguard, Calvin Wardlaw, a plainclothes policeman who shadowed Aaron, particularly at home games. Wardlaw once told me, “It was mind boggling that people would want to harm him. I always had my binocular case with me. I had my snub-nosed .38 and my badge in my case. He (Aaron) picked up from me that you never sit with your back to a door.
“It was quite an experience. There were no incidents, thank God. It worked out.”
And thank God, there was no Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook back in the day. One can only imagine if there were .
That’s what makes Aaron so special. In the 1970s, he faced multiple pressures from multiple sources and still hit it out of the park. Did Pete Rose deal with racial animosity when chasing Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record?
Uh, don’t think so.
Time to get real again: Many baseball fans still recognize Aaron as THE legitimate all-time home-run leader. Not the alleged steroids-induced Barry Bonds (762).
And did you see what the “New York Post” editorial board — not the sports section — published the other day about Bonds: That steroids “turned his Bill Bixby frame into Lou Ferrigno.”
Aaron also wasn’t a stranger to the nation’s capital. In January 2001, President Bill Clinton bestowed him with the Presidential Citizens Medal, an award that Muhammad Ali also received that same day. Which meant White House photographers snapped various portraits of the two icons in exclusive conversation (yes, I have one). Note that Ali once said Aaron was “the only man I idolize more than myself.”
In July of 2002, President George W. Bush honored Aaron with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. In May of 2004, Aaron was among an A-list of speakers and presenters at Constitution Hall for the 50th anniversary commemoration of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, which essentially struck down legal segregation.
In addition to Aaron’s 755 home runs, there’s another mythic figure: He accumulated 3,771 total hits; if you delete all of his home runs, he still would own more than 3,000 career hits, a milestone alone that would loom as Hall of Fame-worthy.
No flash, just bash.
Aaron also served as an elder statesman and social-justice warrior for Major League Baseball, often questioning the lack of people of color managing teams and spearheading front offices.
And, from 1973 to 1996, the percentage of American-born Black players hovered in the high teens; now, the figures are in single digits.
Aaron once told me, “Baseball should try to find out why more American-born Blacks aren’t playing the game. … Black players have played a very instrumental role in promoting this game. Jackie Robinson took more abuse than anybody in baseball; he took a lot of abuse just to play this game.
“Baseball owes something to Black people.”
Again, it’s about the figures — in more ways than one.
Gregory Clay is a Washington columnist and former assistant sports editor for McClatchy-Tribune News Service. He wrote this originally for InsideSources.com.
.
Freedom Summer Of Hope In 1964
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
The Ku Klux Klan, the most vile domestic terrorist organization of the 1960s, accosted three civil rights workers while they were driving near Philadelphia, Miss. The workers’ offense: trying to register southern black folk to vote and leading boycotts of segregated establishments. READ MORE
What about ‘Black Privilege’
By: Gregory Clay
We’ve been hearing a lot about the “P” word lately.
It’s called “Privilege.”
We’ve heard about White Privilege, Athletes Privilege, Educational Legacy Privilege, Presidential Privilege . . .
. . Well, what about “Black Privilege.”
The privilege to riot.
We saw the out-of-control stepfather of Michael Brown screaming maniacally, “Burn This Bitch Down,” on Nov. 24 in riot-and-loot-torn Ferguson, Mo., three days before Thanksgiving... READ MORE
The Book of Cosby
By: Gregory Clay
It almost came tumbling down . . .
. . .for Bill Cosby, that is. The year was 1965. Cosby had been cast in NBC-TV’s new prime-time drama “I Spy.” Except there was one problem: Cosby couldn’t act. The network wanted him gone. But Sheldon Leonard, the show’s acclaimed executive producer, aimed to salvage Cosby, who at the time was known moreso for being a popular stand-up comedian.... READ MORE
No Video Means No Outrage
By: Gregory Clay
It happened several years ago on Bill Maher’s late-night network talk show, “Politically Incorrect.” Rapper-actor-so-called activist Ice Cube essentially surmised during the panel: NFL players are violent on the field so don’t expect them to be... READ MORE
Taping Richard Nixon
By: Gregory Clay
Marvin Kalb, moderator of the anniversary panel and elite CBS News diplomatic correspondent in the 1960s and '70s, posed the question this way: “Why are we so fascinated with Richard Nixon --- even 40 years later?”
Perhaps it’s the negativity that the former president conjures up by the mere mention of his name. READ MORE
Choosing Sides In Ferguson
By: Gregory Clay
The year was 2007, a few days after former Washington Redskins defensive back Sean Taylor was murdered on Nov. 27. I hopped into a cab at 14th and F streets, downtown Washington D.C. The cab driver originally was from Reidsville, N.C. We were discussing the hottest topic in the nation's capital at that time --- the killing of Taylor by four black teenagers.. READ MORE
Why Black Neighborhoods Don't Need Police
By: Gregory Clay
Hard choices. And we’re not talking about Hillary Clinton's political aspirations here. These choices relate to Ferguson, Mo., a town of 21,000 that has become a case study in Third World anarchy in a western civilization following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson.. READ MORE
Don Lemon and Bill O’Reilly told the truth
Journal Sentinel
There was an attack this past weekend. No, not with bullets and guns, but with angry, vengeful words.
But with angry, vengeful words. Don Lemon, a news anchorman for CNN, issued what he hailed as "No Talking Points" on five ills that plague much of the black community. READ MORE
O.J. Simpson: 10 Years After The Verdict
The Augusta Chronicle, October 3, 2005
The tension was palpable. The anxiety was immense. The date was Oct. 3, 1995. The time was 1:07 p.m. EDT. That's when the court clerk announced Orenthal James Simpson was found "not guilty." It's been 10 years since that Tuesday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom; has it really been that long already? READ MORE
The City's A'Changin'
McClatchy-Tribune Wire Special Sections, July 2, 2012
WASHINGTON - It's a four-minute bus ride. That's all.
It takes four minutes in the heart of Washington to see night and day, a city of stark contrast.
We're talking neighborhoods here.
Like many major cities, the nation's capital is defined by "pockets." READ MORE
A timeline of civil rights anniversaries from 1963
McClatchy Tribune, August 21, 2013
The date is when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his game-changing "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He started speaking at 3:01 that afternoon for 16 minutes.
Timeless ...
The year 1963 was a landmark time during the era of the civil rights movement. Here we are, remarkably, 50 years later. READ MORE
Sheryl Sandberg effect – Lean In or Lean Out
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Sheryl Sandberg created a national firestorm earlier this year when she said women should “Lean In” aggressively to maximize their careers. The $64,000 question, though, is how realistic is that for most women?
Not every woman is like Sandberg, who is the Harvard-educated chief operating officer for Facebook. READ MORE
Guest opinion: Journalist Aynesworth has covered historic day for 50 years
Originally published November 22, 2013, Billings Gazette
The conspiracy theories are endless. They seem to multiply like locusts.
Just who REALLY was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? READ MORE
The Five Phases of B.J. Thomas - and the 'Raindrops'
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
The year was 1969. What was the "it" list? The upstart New York Jets shocked the world by rocking the vaunted Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. READ MORE
Making Their Marks - Historical and Cultural Contributions of Black Women
Prospectus News
Most of us know prominent black women in Hollywood - from Cicely Tyson to Halle Berry to Kerry Washington. We know superstar black athletes, such as the tennis-playing Williams sisters, and we remember bronze medalwinning figure skater Debi Thomas from the momentous Calgary Winter Olympics of 1988. READ MORE
