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Hank Aaron Quotes

Henry Louis Aaron , nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank," is a retired American Major League Baseball right fielder who serves as the senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves. He played 21 seasons for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the National League and two seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League , from 1954 through 1976. Aaron held the MLB record for career home runs for 33 years, and he still holds several MLB offensive records. He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973, and is one of only two players to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least fifteen times. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth on its "100 Greatest Baseball Players" list.

Aaron was born and raised in and around Mobile, Alabama. Aaron had seven siblings, including Tommie Aaron, who later played in MLB with him. He appeared briefly in the Negro American League and in minor league baseball before starting his major league career. By his final MLB season, Aaron was the last Negro league baseball player on a major league roster.

Aaron played the vast majority of his MLB games in right field, though he appeared at several other infield and outfield positions. In his last two seasons, he was primarily a designated hitter. Aaron was an NL All-Star for 20 seasons and an AL All-Star for 1 season, from 1955 through 1975. Aaron holds the record for the most All-Star Game selections , and is tied with Willie Mays and Stan Musial for the most All-Star Games played . He was a Gold Glove winner for three seasons. In 1957, he was the NL Most Valuable Player when the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series. He won the NL Player of the Month award in May 1958 and June 1967. Aaron holds the MLB records for the most career runs batted in , extra base hits , and total bases . Aaron is also in the top five for career hits and runs . He is one of only four players to have at least seventeen seasons with 150 or more hits. Aaron is in second place in home runs and at-bats , and in third place in games played . At the time of his retirement, Aaron held most of the game's key career power hitting records.

Since his retirement, Aaron has held front office roles with the Atlanta Braves. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1999, MLB introduced the Hank Aaron Award to recognize the top offensive players in each league. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. He was named a 2010 Georgia Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society in recognition of accomplishments that reflect the ideals of Georgia's founders. Aaron resides near Atlanta. Wikipedia  

✵ 5. February 1934
Hank Aaron photo
Hank Aaron: 11   quotes 0   likes

Famous Hank Aaron Quotes

“It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. It took one afternoon on the golf course.”

Hank Aaron

Source: In response to Jack Nicklaus' query, "What kind of golfer are you?"; as quoted in "Aaron Has Career in Day" by the Associated Press, in The Atlanta Constitution (February 23, 1971)

Ref: en.wikiquote.org - Hank Aaron / Quotes

“When he was healthy, there was nobody better than Campanella as both a catcher and a hitter. But I played with Del Crandall a long time and he was a match for anybody defensively.”

Hank Aaron

As quoted in The Greatest Team of All Time, p. 3

“There wasn't any pitcher I felt I couldn't get a hit off.”

Hank Aaron

As quoted in The Greatest Team of All Time: As Selected by Baseball's Immortals, from Ty Cobb to Willie Mays (1994), compiled by Nicholas Acoccella and Donald Dewey, p. 3

“Hello, Stonefingers.”

Hank Aaron

Greeting his powerful but defensively challenged colleague, Dick Stuart (and thus coining Stu's new nickname in the process), on August 5, 1963, just prior to the annual Hall-of-Fame exhibition game; as quoted in "Stuart Ranks Next to Foxx" by Harold Kaese, in The Boston Globe (August 16, 1963)

“I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious.”

Hank Aaron

As quoted in the July 31, 1956 issue of The Milwaukee Journal; reproduced in Baseball's Greatest Quotations : An Illustrated Treasury of Baseball Quotations and Historical Lore https://books.google.com/books?id=468IU6sa2VYC&pg=PA2&dq=%22I+never+smile+when+I+have+a+bat+in+my+hands%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi74bmMysjVAhWoz4MKHfK7AmsQ6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q=%22I%20never%20smile%20when%20I%20have%20a%20bat%20in%20my%20hands%22&f=false (2009) by Paul Dickson, p. 2
Context: I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.

“Didn't come up here to read. Came up here to hit.”

Hank Aaron

Response to Yogi Berra, who told him to turn his bat around so he could see the trademark during the 1957 World Series, as quoted in Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes (2000) by Clifton Fadiman and André Bernard

Hank Aaron Quotes

“Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80 percent of being a successful hitter. The other 20 percent is just execution. The mental aspects of hitting were especially important to me. I was strictly a guess hitter, which meant I had to have a thorough knowledge of every pitcher I came up against and develop a strategy for hitting him. My method was to identify the pitches a certain pitcher had and eliminate all but one or two and then wait for them. One advantage I had was quick wrists. Another advantage—and one that all good hitters have—was my eyesight. Sometimes I could read the pitcher's grip on the ball before he ever released it and be able to tell what pitch he was throwing. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.”

Hank Aaron

From I Had a Hammer (1990) by Aaron, with Lonnie Wheeler; as reproduced in Hank Aaron https://books.google.com/books?id=tcPC-qgM8McC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22Guessing+what+the+pitcher+is+going+to+throw+is+80+percent+of+being+a+successful+hitter.+The+other+20+percent+is+just+execution.%22&source=bl&ots=QZ81enT7WV&sig=NL9G0fGgcTJGfc6oVOYvuzBV2sI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQu9DFxcjVAhUEwYMKHdamDmsQ6AEIOzAE#v=onepage&q=%22Guessing%20what%20the%20pitcher%20is%20going%20to%20throw%20is%2080%20percent%20of%20being%20a%20successful%20hitter.%20The%20other%2020%20percent%20is%20just%20execution.%22&f=false (2007) by Jamie Poolos, p. 48

Knowledge , Waiting , Reading , Success

“I'm not trying to make anyone forget the Babe; but only to remember Hank Aaron.”

Hank Aaron

When asked how he felt breaking Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs, as quoted in "I Just Want People to Remember Hank Aaron" by Tom Saladino (AP), in The Mexia Daily News (July 27, 1974)

Forgetting

“He was my favorite hitter. He could do almost anything he wanted to do at bat. He was a scientific hitter. I've seen him deliberately go for the home run late in a game and get it. Even if it meant pulling an outside pitch, he'd pull because he'd made up his mind to do it. Another thing I liked about him was the power he generated when he hit the ball between the infielders. This is a sure sign of a great hitter.”

Hank Aaron

On Stan Musial, as quoted in "The Scoreboard: Braves' Aaron Among Best of Bargains" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w8IbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n08EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7161%2C5971222 by Les Biederman, in The Pittsburgh Press (August 30, 1967)

Home , Game

“I like those lefties, but when you're hitting, all pitchers look alike. I don't care too much who's throwing or what he throws. When my timing is off, I have trouble; when it ain't, I don't.”

Hank Aaron

As quoted in "Aaron Turns Bad Pitches Into Base-Hits" by Cleon Walfoort, in The Sporting News (June 26, 1957)

Time

“The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most with the home runs he hit. So as long as there's a chance that maybe I can hammer out a little justice now and then, or a little opportunity here and there, I intend to do as I always have — keep swinging.”

Hank Aaron

Source: I Had a Hammer : The Hank Aaron Story (1990), Ch. 1

Way , Home , Chance , Justice

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