They don't make them like that anymore..

Like what? Good players on the Braves?

He thinks white men today that wear ties, are in the KKKK.

I hope you are joking. I never heard any bad about Hank Aaron or heard him say anything bad about anyone else, White or any other color. He was the last perhaps, of a dying breed. One that did the job better than anyone else and did it with dedication and without complaint. Nor did he ever
abuse his wife or children, never did drugs and never (as far as I know) ever got a DUI. [frypan]

Yep. He said it last year on Opening Day & Hank Aaron Fay at Turner Field on the anniversary of his 715th home run.

He was criticizing white men republicans of today, saying the only difference is today they wear starched white shirts & ties, and back then they wore white hoods.

Google it. I was pissed.

I grew up admiring the hell out of him. My only athlete hero. I was at the game when he hit 600. My dad was at the game when he hit 715. My airline painted his likeness on a 757 when Bonby Bonds was approaching his record. My admiration for him has seriously waned.

QMPASH, he was a quiet gentleman for a long time. But Jet is right.

whitey sux

wheel,,

If it's someone you have admired for several decades, and not like him to be controversial then maybe it's worth considering the comments in their full context instead of the emotional visceral response. It's an old black man that has been a hero to black and white. He has done and seen things I haven't. He sees things through a very different lense than I and most of us in here. He's also been exposed to the business side of a game where people are the product.

Maybe instead of a hissy fit it's worth trying to figure out why he sees things like he does. You don't have to agree with him to do so. Maybe instead of taking it to the extreme and thinking he meant all whites in ties he may have been using a play on the wolf in sheeps clothing message. If that's the case I agree with him to an extent.

CBID is an awesome place. Since there are no bigots in here we assume there are no bigots (or very few) out there. Our lense says what's the big deal because we are not bigots, we don't know any bigots therefore the whole thing is overblown and anyone disagreeing with that is the real bigot. It's against the odds to not have a bigot or two in here but I am happy for it.

My guess is hank has seen a lot. He's still a hero of mine and comes across as a class act. I'll save my outrage for something else.

oh my

wheel,,

Hank was among the first wave of athletes that left this kid with stars in his eyes back in the early 60's, and he was also one of those who displayed what I still consider proper behavior during competition. As Chas. Barley said, athletes should not be role models, parents should, but people of high accomplishment can still be admired and their methods and style should be inspiring, perhaps copied.

Much more of a complete ballplayer than most home run sluggers, Aaron had it all, including a great arm from rightfield, and was a surprisingly effective base stealer. I always felt a bit cheated after learning that the Braves abandoned Boston either his rookie year or the year before within a year of my birth. I really would have loved watching he and Eddie Matthews in the middle of the order, and the fabulous Warren Spahn as well, in person...oh well.

I'll never understand the deep need today's world has for finding dirt on "heroes", I'm sure Henry said some or all of that stuff, I wasn't there. But I liken this to hating an artist's music or denying that an acress is beautiful because of their political beliefs...why care about that? Enjoy the talents and gifts on display while you can.

To quote the noted cigar philosopher TW..."I'll save my outrage for something else".

I grew up in GA and my memories, as Jet's may, run back to the old Atlanta Crackers and the arrival of the Braves when I was eleven or twelve. Hank was the best of the era in my mind. The completeness of his game.... he could delicately place a single as easily as a homerun dependent on the situation,but Frank covered all tha t pretty well. What no one mentioned is how he was vilified in Atlanta during the run toward Babes record, horrible stuff, pretty much any racist word, sound or expectoration... and do you recall him dignifying ANY of that. I can readily understand his feelings today. No problem.

He's probabaly just getting senile..

It just bugged me on all day's, Hank Aaron day at the Ted, and the anniversary of 714, one of my few childhood heros, he compared all white republicans to the KKKK. Including people who painted his likeness on a Boeing 757, and the entire managerial staff of the Braves, and, myself included, etc., etc., etc. . . . Gee thanks, Hank.

Now, mind you, back then, I was 11 years old, and I remember all of that happening. Sure, there was "some" anger about his breaking the record, but everyone I knew, and I do mean everyone, was excited for him. The thing was, he ended the previous season at 713, and ALL winter long, that's all everyone was talking about. It was a huge deal in the Atlanta area. I'm sure he got some nasty letters, as people had 6 months to fester, but anyone I knew, and I did know some very biased people in my youth, as I was raised around a *lot* of elderly Great Uncles and Aunts who were born around 1900, etc., but they were rooting for him. They gave the guy who caught the ball, 714 Silver Dollars.

There was an incredible buzz in Atlanta come that April, and people were thrilled about the record being broken. My Dad was at the game he hit 715.

Speaking of the Atlanta Crackers, my Grandfather played in the Southern Cotton Mill League of the 30's - 50's, and they used to play the Crackers all the time.

Al Downing threw it, Tom House caught it.

Jet, I always get your Southern slant and I always like reading of your perspectives on historical relations and I am mildly jealous of your pride in all of that...wish I could track my own direct blood more than 3 or 4 generations...but sometimes we hafta consider the other perspective.

This guy played and lived with class, elegance, and silent dignity for decades. Finally, at an advanced age, spouted ugly insulting stuff by spraying years of pent up venom that covered many innocents too. But what struck me in your post #13 was ..."some" anger and "some nasty letters... I'd bet you'd completely change your view of the times if you were an adult at the time privy to the reality of what he received in the mail, on the phone, etc. And likely for many years it trickled in with regularity, that could be called "some" before it exploded when the Big Event was on the radar screen.

Had to be some of the vilest, disgusting, filthy, threatening prose ever composed. I still loved the player.

Frank. Duly noted.

I met him a few years ago & it was one of the biggest thrills I ever had. To hear his comments in opening day last year made my heart sink

I had some very similar thoughts at that time to the words you just conveyed.

Hey, no reason that great ballplayers can't be cynical bastards.

had to be disappointing.

Anyone who stereotypes is a fool.

I see what you did there.

Because we're both almost a genius.