The Hammer whacks another. Hank Aaron holds so many spots in the record book, but his impact in the game has never been truly respected.
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of posts on the 10 most underrated players in Major League Baseball history. Some might are players who never stood in the spotlight of stardom. Others are players whose whole careers were never fully appreciated because of one achievement or controversy.
He walked toward the batter's box, swinging two heavy sticks with his strong his right arm.
The wooden bats didn't just cut rhythmically through the thick Atlanta night. They swung back behind his head and through racial hatred that continued to sting a southern city and state, then whip in front of him beating back Jim Crow's dying grip on a region. And, finally, the bats reach the top of their arc and ran across the scars of a country that is moving in the right direction.
His left hand holds his protective batting helmet near his Braves blue belt that not only fit him, but the time, 1974. He twists to spit at the ground. It lands in an area that was once toiled on by slaves.
He takes his final steps toward the plate, through the fog created from so many memories and accomplishments amassed over a long career. To be sure, this is not the Hank Aaron of 1955. That was a lean young man with a ferocious swing that attacked the ball with the force of a howitzer.
This was also not the Hank Aaron of 1964, whose seasoned eye, quick stroke and sharp mind caused teammate Ernie Johnson to marvel, "Hank Aaron is simply smarter than all pitchers. ... (h)e puts all pitchers to sleep."
This is the Hank Aaron of 1974. With the end of the 1973 campaign, he'd had his last great season. His talents are waning.
This is the Hank Aaron with the slight paunch.
Yes that's right. Gods can have a pot belly.
And, yes, they can be underrated.
A simple question
How is it possible that Henry Aaron, the man who was the home run king for 33 years and will have held the all-time record for runs batted in for at least 40 years, could be considered underrated?
After all, he sits in third place on the all-time hits ladder too.
Yet he is vastly underrated when you think about it.
And it all comes down to one simple question.
Just ask any baseball fan "Who is the greatest hitter of all time?"
Most people will say Babe Ruth.
Some will say Ted Williams.
And they wouldn't be wrong.
But you'll get your fair share of Barry Bonds fans.
Still others will say Willie Mays or Ty Cobb or Rogers Hornsby.
Rarely do you hear anyone respond with "Henry Aaron."
What's really shocking is how many people won't name Hammering Hank in their Top 5.
They'll list all those guys and maybe a DiMaggio or a Wagner.
Beating the Babe
The problem The Hammer has faces when it comes to gaining the appreciation he deserves is that he beat the Babe.
And nobody beats The Babe. He was and is, without a doubt, the most beloved figure in American sports history.
Look what happened to Roger Maris. He chased Ruth's single-season home run record and lost his hair along the way. But it was more than that. He had to deal with a commissioner who attached an asterisk to his record.
Look at how Lou Gehrig was ostracized before he was lionized in death.
Because he broke the Babe's record, fans only looked at him a slugger.
There are two main arguments against Hank's greatness. They are made mostly by people who were "Traditionalists" when he played.
These people couldn't conceive anyone besting The Babe, no matter their race, so they scratched and clawed to find reasons to knock Aaron.
And here they are.
1. He played in more games than most.
2. He never dominated the game.
Both arguments are flat wrong.
Now let's look at why.
Growing fearless
Hank Aaron told The Sporting News he was scared as a rookie, saying, "Last year, I was sort of a kid and I was a little scared, I ain't scared any more."
For the next 20 years, the National League was afraid of him.
First of all, why is it a knock that Hank had longevity and consistency? Isn't that what we admire in America? The guy who shows up for work every day and gets the job done.
For 19 years, Hank Aaron was more reliable than the postal service.
During that time he played in 120 games every season (but topped 150 games played 14 times), clubbed at least 24 home runs (surpassing 30 blasts 15 times) and batted above .279 in every season but one (eclipsing the .300 barrier 14 times.).
Add to that his reliable defense and solid base running and you've got a player to build an organization around.
Who wouldn't want that?
The second argument, that he never dominated the game like Ruth, Lou Gehrig or Bonds is ludicrous.
From 1957 to 1963, the Hammer averaged 42 home runs, 120 runs batted in, 115 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.
No player in history has ever put up numbers like that over a seven year span.
Ever.
And that's why the Hammer struck fear into the hearts of opposing dugouts.
Then again, it also helped that he was one of the most clutch players in history.
Aaron rose to the occasion in late-and-close situations, batting .314 with 122 home runs.
You don't even need to discuss his pennant-clinching home run in the 1957 season. Look at what he did during his 17 post-season games, batting .357 with six home runs and driving in 16 runs.
Aaron's at-bat per home run ratio, which was 16.38 during his career, improved to 11.5 during the playoffs.
Growing into a five-tool player
What's amazing about Hank Aaron is that as he matured into a power hitter he also matured into one of the best all-around players ever.
Just look at his stolen base numbers.
During Aaron's first six years in the big leagues he stole 16 total bases and was caught nine times.
Over the course of the next eight seasons, Aaron stole at least 20 bases six times and finished that stretch with 195 bases swiped and 50 times caught.
He also won all three of his gold gloves during that span as well.
One thing Aaron was able to do during his entire career was hit for average.
The man won his first batting title during his third season. At 25, he had a .323 career average. Fifteen years later, he was able to have a .301 average.
But a closer look at the numbers shows Aaron was able to refine his craft as the years moved on.
After waiting out just 23 walks during his first 509 at-bats, pitchers caught on that they had to pitch around the young man. So his walks increased into the 50s and 60s annually.
Then, at the age of 28, Aaron walked 78 times. In his next 10 years, Aaron would average 73 walks a season.
When Aaron's career came to a close his numbers were leagues ahead of his contemporaries. But the numbers don't say it all.
What the legends themselves have to say about The Hammer tells you the whole story.
Mickey Mantle went as far as to say there was no one during the Golden Age of Baseball who was better than Aaron.
"As far as I'm concerned, (Hank) Aaron is the best ball player of my era," Mantle said, according to Baseball-Almanac.com. "He is to baseball of the last fifteen years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He's never received the credit he's due."
Mantle spent much of his career as the heir apparent to Ruth. But he never reached the extended level of dominance Aaron did.
It was a dominance that culminated on April 8, 1974.
A chance
He stood in the batter's box that night and gripped the bat the correct way: Right hand perched on top of his left hand.
Years before, Aaron had played pro ball batting switch-handed. Along with lugging ice up around his neighborhood as a teen, his original switch-handed approach is credited with building up his wrists.
Aaron's wrists flexed as he moved his hands over the handle.
Aaron was the last member of the Negro Leagues still playing in the big leagues. He represented not only what came before him, but those who didn't get the chance: the Josh Gibsons and the Cool Poppa Bells.
He, his fans and the nation waited for a chance at moving past the Babe.
He should have just been a baseball player trying his best to reach a peak no one else had come close to scaling.
But he represented something more.
He came out of a nation's imperfect past, but his chase represented the progress of his era and the brightness of the future that could follow.
It's a chase that lasted for more than a year and brought him thousands of letters of hate mail.
"I don't want them to forget Ruth," Aaron said of some of the people who weren't happy that he was about to become the home run king. "I just want them to remember me."
And maybe we should remember him more often.
For all that he did.
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