The word Icon doesn’t do Hank Aaron justice. https://twitter.com/complex/status/1352648603500765186
By The Numbers, Hank Aaron in 23 @MLB Seasons:
.305 BA
.928 OPS
755 HR
2,297 RBI (All Time MLB High)
3,771 Hits
143.1 WAR
22x All-Star
3 Gold Gloves
1957 NL MVP (Finished top 3 in MVP Voting 7 Times)
Aaron's MVP Season in 1957 (Age 23): .322, 44 HR, 132 RBI. Braves win the World Series over the Yankees (when beating NYY in the Series didn't happen)

Aaron's 1971 season (Age 37): .327, 47 HR, 118 RBI, 1.097 OPS!!!

Dude was a monster into his 40s.
Aaron in that 1957 WS: .393 (11-28), 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1.200 OPS in 7 game win over NYY. (Pitcher Lew Burdette won Series MVP)
My favorite thing about Aaron's career numbers: If he never hit a single HR, he still would've finished with 3,016 career hits. On average, he struck out 68 times per year and never had a year where he recorded 100 Ks.
He was as consistent a player as any sport has seen. From his rookie season all the way until his 20th, he was excellence personified. The ill thing is that Breaking Ruth's record was the cherry on top of the Sundae.
The arguments by our grandparents about Willie Mays/Hank Aaron had to be like the modern day Jordan/LeBron convo. 😂
Aaron's social significance is unquestioned. To think he broke a hallowed record, in a deep South city -- home to MLK -- at a time when racial tensions were still peaking and handled it with an inhuman amount of poise is iconic. Look up the letters that he got in 1973 & 1974.
I only got to see Hank Aaron play on tape, but to know what he meant to Black America -- both on the field and off -- is why this is tough today. He was RIP to the King.
We’ve lost a lot of Black Baseball Royalty in the last 6 months:

Bob Gibson
Joe Morgan
Dick Allen
Hank Aaron
You can follow @JayScottSmith.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:
Those who think consciousness raising & movement building are disconnected, or even a distraction from electoral politics have not paid attention to the history of social change.In this thread, we
Read more
The 2020s will be known as the Remote Work decadeA few predictions of what is likely to emerge[ a thread ] Third Space: Office and Working from Home will
Read more
1/29: Have you ever had a concept explained to you that helps frame complex issues you’ve been wrestling with and opens your eyes to new possibilities? A concept that I
Read more
By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.