The sad news continues this week for the Atlanta Braves as it was announced that Hank Aaron has passed away at the age of 86.
I’m still trying to come to grips with the fact that Hank Aaron is gone. He’s been such an instrumental part of the Atlanta Braves for so long.
And, of course, we also lost Don Sutton earlier this week.
But as I’m writing this it’s hard not shedding tears all over the keyboard. I got a text from a friend with the news and couldn’t believe it.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) January 22, 2021
And then I think about the fact that I never even saw the man play, but yet he had enough of an impact on my life that his death brings me to tears.
That just speaks to not only who he was as a ballplayer, where he is one of the best to ever play the game, but he was just a great human being.
We’ll have more articles written about his success on the ballfield where he played 23 seasons — 21 as part of the Atlanta Braves organization — ending in a Hall of Fame career.
But right now I just want to focus on the man.
He’s been one of the best ambassadors not just of the Braves over the years, but for all of baseball.
Whenever Hank Aaron stepped into a room everyone was in awe of him.
I think back to the Ted Williams moment in the 1999 All-Star game and how he was bigger than the game in that moment.
That’s how it felt whenever Hank Aaron stepped onto the field before a Braves game to throw out the first pitch, or just to wave to the crowd — you knew you were in the presence of greatness.
I just loved hearing him talk and the wisdom that he had. One of my favorite memories recently was when he was on Sunday Night Baseball.
Normally I mute that broadcast, but not when Hank Aaron is talking. I was glued on every word that he said during that broadcast — and really any time he talked.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1117588144675627009?s=20
And then there was the moment with Freddie Freeman after the Braves first baseman won the Hank Aaron award after the 2020 season. You can just see the level of respect that everyone has for Hank and how genuine that love is.
That right there, to me, says it all about Hank Aaron. And Freddie Freeman is cut from that same cloth as a person who is just as great off the field as he is on it the field.
We’ll have more on the site looking back at the career of Hank Aaron, but right now I just want to remember the great human being that he was and let his family know we’re praying for them during this difficult time.