TW Hit List - Hank Aaron
"Henry Aaron is simply smarter than all the pitchers. He deceives pitchers. One of his secrets is his slow manner, he puts pitchers to sleep." - Ernie Johnson
Hank Aaron is baseball’s undisputed “Home Run King”, at least for a couple more months. Williams calls Aaron a classic mistake hitter. “When he got a pitch to hit, he missed it less often than anybody else.” And he got a lot of pitches to hit. Aaron played for twenty-three seasons and has the most games played and at-bats of anyone on the Hit List. But longevity should not be used against someone. He made it count. He managed to maintain a .305 batting average and career .932 OPS over 12,000 at-bats. In addition to his record 755 home runs, he remains the Major League career leader in extra-base hits (1,477), RBIs (2,297) and total bases (6,856). He's tied with Babe Ruth for fourth in runs scored (2,174) and is third in hits (3,771). He hit 20 or more home runs for 20 consecutive seasons from 1955-74. Aaron had eight seasons with 40 or more homers, including a career-high 47 in 1971. He had 63 multi-homer games and 16 grand slams. What is more, Aaron was not simply a home run hitter. He hit .300 or better 14 times, averaged just 63 strikeouts a season, stole 240 bases in his career and won three Gold Gloves in the outfield.
Obviously, Aaron was a monster in the batter’s box. Apparently, he was nearly the opposite outside of it. He has been blamed for lacking charisma and being too colorless and predictable. It is for these reasons that many say he has not received the attention he’s due. I don’t get it. I’ve heard as much about him as anyone else. This game is supported by the fans, and they may show their affection for whom they will. Williams implies that nobody is likely to break his mark of 755 career home runs. Even without Barry Bonds lurking in the foreground, it’s hard to understand this sentiment. The game cycles and records are made to be broken. As it is, we see that Williams was way off. But this is to say nothing against Aaron. He has surely cemented his spot as one of the great all-time hitters.
"I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them."
Hank Aaron is baseball’s undisputed “Home Run King”, at least for a couple more months. Williams calls Aaron a classic mistake hitter. “When he got a pitch to hit, he missed it less often than anybody else.” And he got a lot of pitches to hit. Aaron played for twenty-three seasons and has the most games played and at-bats of anyone on the Hit List. But longevity should not be used against someone. He made it count. He managed to maintain a .305 batting average and career .932 OPS over 12,000 at-bats. In addition to his record 755 home runs, he remains the Major League career leader in extra-base hits (1,477), RBIs (2,297) and total bases (6,856). He's tied with Babe Ruth for fourth in runs scored (2,174) and is third in hits (3,771). He hit 20 or more home runs for 20 consecutive seasons from 1955-74. Aaron had eight seasons with 40 or more homers, including a career-high 47 in 1971. He had 63 multi-homer games and 16 grand slams. What is more, Aaron was not simply a home run hitter. He hit .300 or better 14 times, averaged just 63 strikeouts a season, stole 240 bases in his career and won three Gold Gloves in the outfield.
Obviously, Aaron was a monster in the batter’s box. Apparently, he was nearly the opposite outside of it. He has been blamed for lacking charisma and being too colorless and predictable. It is for these reasons that many say he has not received the attention he’s due. I don’t get it. I’ve heard as much about him as anyone else. This game is supported by the fans, and they may show their affection for whom they will. Williams implies that nobody is likely to break his mark of 755 career home runs. Even without Barry Bonds lurking in the foreground, it’s hard to understand this sentiment. The game cycles and records are made to be broken. As it is, we see that Williams was way off. But this is to say nothing against Aaron. He has surely cemented his spot as one of the great all-time hitters.
"I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them."
posted by Anaheim RaiderHater @ 4:19 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I certainly hope Barry breaks his leg or retires one homer shy of Aaron. For such a man as Barry, if one could call him a man, to surpass this class act of a ballplayer's record, would be a real shame.
Post a Comment
<< Home