tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post2745436189831212558..comments2024-03-11T16:39:12.344-05:00Comments on Once A Knight ...: Hank's home run No. 715 ... I was thereNico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-76967998212265682402021-01-22T21:17:04.948-06:002021-01-22T21:17:04.948-06:00From Frank Bright: This from a review in The Guard...From Frank Bright: This from a review in The Guardian of The Tyranny of Merit ... <br />In the closing section of his book, Sandel recalls the story of Henry Aaron, the black baseball player who grew up in the segregated south and broke Babe Ruth’s record for career home runs in 1974. Aaron’s biographer wrote that hitting a baseball “represented the first meritocracy in Henry’s life.” It’s the wrong lesson to draw, says Sandel. “The moral of Henry Aaron’s story is not that we should love meritocracy but that we should despise a system of racial injustice that can only be escaped by hitting home runs.”<br />Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-48979527768124313372021-01-22T21:13:38.741-06:002021-01-22T21:13:38.741-06:00From Bill Gibson: Thank you for this enthusiastic ...From Bill Gibson: Thank you for this enthusiastic replay of a great moment in baseball/sports history. You and the recall of those times are a great inspiration to me just when I need it. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was to play baseball (it was actually softball through junior high) and rub neatsfoot oil into my Rawlings glove. Our games were organized, played, and called by the kids. (The participation of competing and controlling parents and other adults has ruined the game for kids in my opinion.) The only thing I remember from those years is blazing Bob Feller. As an adult, l did note and enjoy Don Larsen’s perfect game on radio as I drove home from teaching HS in Peaster, Texas. I noted Hank Aaron’s great accomplishment but was intensely involved in other matters. <br />Thank you from a youngster who lives in an old man’s body.Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-69084897726362985822021-01-22T21:10:47.574-06:002021-01-22T21:10:47.574-06:00From Ed English: I became a Braves fan in 1963 for...From Ed English: I became a Braves fan in 1963 for sort of a weird reason: I picked up a sports page, saw the baseball standings and recognized every city in the standings except Milwaukee. I started reading box scores every day and Aaron became my favorite player because he got lots of HRs and the cool name ... hey, Moses' brother.<br />At mid-season, the Braves finally appeared on the game of the week, and that’s when I found out he was black, not that it mattered. <br />At any rate, what are the odds of blindly picking a team, then blindly picking a player who becomes the greatest non-steroid-aided hitter of all time.<br />In 1980, Jacksonville was supposed to host the Southern League all-stars vs the Braves. The Times-Union sent me to Atlanta to do advance work and I did a big feature on Aaron while I was up. That interview was the closest I ever came to being Chris Farley in an interview.Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-30786787981635869582014-04-14T13:36:55.371-05:002014-04-14T13:36:55.371-05:00From Chuck Baker: Just saw this quote from Dick Po...From Chuck Baker: Just saw this quote from Dick Pound -- a Montreal attorney and former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency -- and it resonated after your blog about seeing Aaron set the record. The quote: "Barry Bonds has a number. Henry Aaron has a record."Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-10118655544287001332014-04-09T12:42:26.029-05:002014-04-09T12:42:26.029-05:00From Tim Looney: Pretty cool that you were there, ...From Tim Looney: Pretty cool that you were there, Nico. I have to admit, though, that I did not consider Aaron the greatest HR hiiter just because he broke Ruth's record. He was a great player, no doubt. But he wasn't even the best HR hitter on his own team (Eddie Mathews was). And he is not even in the top 30 in career HR per AB stats. The fact that he played at a high level for so long was certainly a feat, however.Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-3491666390220812442014-04-07T23:42:54.905-05:002014-04-07T23:42:54.905-05:00From Leo Van Thyn: Lucky you. I watched it on TV.From Leo Van Thyn: Lucky you. I watched it on TV.Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-58587919535421719122014-04-07T23:42:21.247-05:002014-04-07T23:42:21.247-05:00From Louis DeLuca: You are my hero -- wish I could...From Louis DeLuca: You are my hero -- wish I could have been there, but I was going to high school. Aaron was my boyhood hero, and I was locked into this situation.Nico Van Thynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com