Posts tagged HankAaron at FanHouse

This is interesting (and completely random), but Hank Aaron is upset that Bobby Cox likes to take all the credit for drafting Chipper Jones with the first overall pick in 1990. How upset? So much so that he apparently called Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution out the blue to set the record straight:

"I was listening to something [last week] on television where Bobby was talking about how, when Chipper came to the team, he took him aside to tell him what we did to get him here, and I was stunned, really," said Aaron, before recalling a conversation he had with Braves officials in 1990 when they owned the No. 1 pick before that June draft. By the time of the draft, Aaron had been promoted to senior vice president.

Said Aaron, with a sigh, "I told Bobby. I told them all, and I told them, 'Y'all better go and get Chipper Jones.' "

At the time, Cox served as GM in addition to manager, and Aaron served as farm director before being promoted to senior vice president. As Aaron tells it, Cox was dead set on taking Todd Van Poppel until Aaron spoke with Van Poppel's father and discovered he'd be difficult to sign.

Former home run king Hank Aaron was pegged to give the commencement address at Concordia University Saturday; what would he say? It's still only a few months after Barry Bonds broke his all-time home run record and then vanished (against Bonds' will) into the night. Would Aaron discuss it? Or leave it alone?

Turns out, he was willing to talk, and willing to speak his peace his with reporters beforehand:

"I still," Henry Aaron was saying, "consider myself the home-run king."

Oh, snap! That's more than Aaron has ever said on the matter, either positively or negatively. He then goes on to kinda back off that statement, talking about how Bonds was an incredible player, that he hopes the ordeal is over soon so Bonds can get on with his life, and so forth. Then, in his actual commencement, Aaron went with this:

"This is advice from an old man who has been a lot of places, seen a lot of things," said Aaron, who casts a regal appearance at 74. "Be careful before you make choices. Avoid shortcuts. They are quick fixes and unrewarding."

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No word on whether Bonds was wearing a Concordia U cap and gown, but he might as well have been. That was a commencement speech to an audience of one. Which is kind of like an army of one, but with way more steroids and way less self-respect.

These latest words from Aaron are a lot different from the taped message after Bonds hit No. 756.

For U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, actions speak louder than words, I guess. Prior to his sentencing on Monday, Michael Vick, from the inside of a jail cell, wrote the judge a five-page letter asking for leniency:

"Your Honor, I am not the bad person or the beast I've been made out to be. I have been talked about and ridiculed on a day to day basis by people who really don't know Michael Vick the human being," Vick wrote.

"This has been painful because my son watches the news and can understand what's going on with his father," he wrote, adding that his daughter asked him on a regular basis when he would be home to play games with her, "but I have no answer."

Ron Mexico sure sounds contrite when you read his words, but given Hudson's history of not cutting soon-to-be inmates any slack on their sentences, this can't come as a surprise. In addition to Vick's plea, Hudson also received letters from Hank Aaron and George Foreman (no word on if the letter came attached to the new S525). Hey, maybe all the last-second support persuaded Hudson to only make it a 23-month sentence.

Vick also wrote that he takes "full responsibility" for his actions, and is "ashamed" that his "actions hurt animals and allowed animals to be hurt and killed." Well, in taking full responsibility, Mr. Mexico will have to spend nearly two years in the can. It's awful to think that he'll be away from his three kids for that long, but nobody forced him to kill those puppies.

So it's happening: the PGA Tour is going through with its drug-testing plan, and apparently, commissioner Tim Finchem takes substance abuse very seriously. Unlike baseball, which overlooked the steroids problems for years, the PGA plans to nip it in the bud, levying stiff penalties even though I have a hard time believing anybody on Tour is juicin'.

Finchem said the tour can test players without notice anytime and anywhere, and testing at a PGA Tour event can occur before or after practice or competition. There was no limit to how many times a year a player can be tested. It was not clear if there would be any mandatory testing or players, such as the winner of a tournament.

Penalties could include ineligibility for up to one year for the first violation; up to five years for the second violation; up to a lifetime ban for multiple violations; and fines up to $500,000.

Jeebus. Imagine how happy Hank Aaron would be right now if MLB had similar rules in place in the 1990s. I'll be shocked if anybody of consequence tests positive on the PGA Tour, but if I had to guess, I'll go with Brad Faxon. Have you seen that guy? He looks like the Hulk. Freaky, really.

This Sadaharu Oh dude has always seemed mythic in nature to me. Hitting 868 home runs over 22 seasons -- even with smaller stadiums and lesser competition in Japan -- is rather remarkable, let alone somewhat hard to fathom. (Watching footage of the guy only perpetuates these feelings. Although, I guess Hank Aaron doesn't really "look" like a home run hitter compared to today's sluggers.)

Anyways, Oh seems to be a pretty big fan of Alex Rodriguez. So much so he think A-Rod's got a shot at launching 1,000 home runs by the time it's all said and done.

"I think the 868 record will be broken," Oh said Monday. "Nobody in Japan is close, but I think Alex Rodriguez could do it, he has the ability to hit 1,000."

Not to take anything away from A-Rod -- because I do enjoy his game -- but there's no way he's hitting 1,000 home runs. He'd have to average about 48 homers a year for the next ten years to get to 1,000. I just don't see it. At this point, Oh's record is perhaps equally as daunting and reaching Barry Bonds' record certainly isn't a given. But hey, we can all get behind Oh's enthusiasm about this, no?

While Barry Bonds marched his way to Hank Aaron's hallowed home run mark this summer -- that seems like forever ago, by the way -- Aaron didn't follow. There were no in-game shots to the man sitting a few rows back of the Giants' dugout. No in-game interviews either.

Aaron remained rather silent about the whole thing and for the most part avoided the large steroid elephant in the room.

Well, turns out that was one of the main factors he decided to lay back in the cut.

Speaking before Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night, the former home run king said he avoided ballparks last summer because he didn't want to deal with daily questions about Bonds.

"I was chasing the record, it was all about a man of color," Aaron said. "Now when Barry was chasing the record, it was all about steroids and I really didn't want to be involved in that. I didn't think I needed to."

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"I'm sure Barry thinks that it's wonderful. It didn't bother me because I stayed out of the limelight," Aaron said. "I just refused to get involved in it. It wasn't because I had any animosity toward Barry breaking the record. I said all along, I'll say it again, records are made to be broken and that's it. Somebody can come along and perhaps break that record."

It's funny the infatuation we have with sports records. When Barry Bonds was approaching Hank Aaron's hallowed mark of 756, every at-bat was featured on live cut-ins. Now? It's like most of us have already forgotten Bonds exists and that every home run he hits from here on out is a brand new record.

Heck, even Major League Baseball has quit caring -- they're no longer using special balls to authenticate it's the actual hunk of rawhide and twine that Bonds knocked out of the park. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

MLB temporarily stopped putting marked balls in play for every Bonds at-bat. He swings at the ordinary ones, just like everyone else, and one of them he blasted over the wall in left-center in the first inning, a two-run shot off a 99-mph fastball thrown by Ubaldo Jimenez, the 449th pitcher to serve up a Bonds homer.

MLB, perhaps expecting many more homers from the left fielder, is expected to resume in the near future the practice of marking all balls for his at-bats.

It's a calculated risk that probably makes sense for baseball, but as a fan in the stands I'd feel a little jilted. Imagine catching a ball now and not being able to sell it -- especially if Bonds ended up suffering some kind of fluke career-ending injury. Granted, it's not like there's exactly a strong market for Bonds' related memorabilia right now -- the auction for his 756th home run ball has currently stalled at a modest $177,156 -- but it certainly has to be worth something, right?

(via Ben Maller)

As Barry Bonds was breaking his all-time home run record, Hank Aaron went out of his way to avoid coming right out and saying what he thinks of Bonds. So it's a bit of a surprise that Aaron yesterday went out of his way to stick up for Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

Aaron, who is on the Falcons' board of directors, called Vick "a very good guy" and seemed to blame Vick's problems on the "bad apples" he associates with:

"Your association is what brings on a lot of these things,'' Aaron, who played nine Major League Baseball seasons with the Atlanta Braves, told reporters today in Atlanta. "You can be as good as you want to be, but if you associate yourself with bad apples, you're eventually going to be bad yourself.''

Aaron's opinion that Vick's problems were brought about by "bad apples" around him is a common one, but there's really no evidence to support the idea that Vick is in any sense a better person than his three co-defendants. It's hard to picture how anyone could examine the evidence of what those four guys did together and not conclude that Vick is just as much a bad apple as his three former buddies.

And it's even harder to picture how anyone could examine the evidence and conclude that Vick is "a very good guy." Vick spent seven years bankrolling a criminal enterprise, blamed his family when he got caught, and only showed remorse when he thought remorse could lessen his prison sentence. Hank Aaron is a very good guy. But he's very wrong here.


Also on FanHouse:
Wilbon: 'I'd Like to See Vick Locked in a Cage With Those Pit Bulls'
No Prison Time at All for Michael Vick?
Vick Could Owe Millions to Falcons, Nike
Connection Between Michael Vick and DMX?
Michael Vick Will Turn Prosecution Witness in Exchange for Light Sentence

Not in real life, mind you, although that would be pretty cool. No, we'll just have to settle for this YouTube parody (which contains some colorful locker room language which may be NSFW):

International Pastime will look at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

This news is, quite frankly, saddening. When I need my baseball fix in November and December, where will I turn? Unfortunately, it won't be to the Puerto Rican Winter Ball League -- their upcoming season has been canceled.

The Puerto Rican winter baseball league, where the likes of Roberto Clemente, Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez once starred, canceled its upcoming season Thursday because of financial problems.

The league was supposed to start its 70th season in three months. Instead, it suspended operations and planned to spend the next year trying to reorganize.
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Puerto Rico's league runs from October through January. This year's season was expected to feature Yadier Molina and his brother, Jose.

The league has a storied past, with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Reggie Jackson all playing in Puerto Rico.

Well, the bright side is that it's only one season and it has a chance to be back in '08-'09. I'm just wondering why none of the Puerto Rican players have stepped up to revive the league. Sigh. If only Juan-Gone had signed on the dotted line ... the league might have been able to live on.