Today is a sad day in Major League Baseball. Today the sport, no, the world has lost one of its best. Henry Aaron, the all time home run leader until Barry Bonds passed him, has passed away. A lot of people smarter, older, and better with words are going to put those talents to work to eulogize Mr. Aaron, but I can only write up about him what I know. As a 7 year old just learning about baseball I remeber asking my oldest brother who was the all time leader in all categories: wins as a pitcher, strikeouts, hits, stolen bases and so on. My brother starting listing names of all time greats. The Nolan Ryan's, the Ricky Henderson's, and then as he stuttered to remember who led in home runs he finally snapped his fingers and said Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves. I looked around trying to get information about Mr. Aaron and found a bunch of interviews from him and he spoke about all he went through getting to the most popular record in baseball. As I've grown older and started reading into the history of the sport I continued to learn about how important Mr. Aaron was.
Not only did he hit the most home runs in baseball, but he did it looking like a regular man not this huge out of this world athlete who regular people couldn't even strive to be like. I never had the honor to meet Hank Aaron in person, but from all accounts he was a level of humble that most athletes should strive have. Hank Aaron's presence was felt all over the game of baseball and with his actions during the racial strifes of the time he played he was one of the faces that people could look to when looking for peace. It's no lie that I am an Atlanta Braves' fan and I'm pretty sure I can say that Henry Louis Aaron was a big reason why.
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