Remembering A Legend

He was 86 years old…a life well-lived, no doubt. I regret that I never made the effort to meet him in person. I meant to, especially since Daddy died.

Because at Daddy’s memorial service an old family friend gave me a photo of Hank Aaron with my father, Bill Hughes (far right), and my friend’s father, Harry Murphy, (left), Hank Aaron, Clete Boyer and someone else. I don’t know which one is Clete Boyer and who the other man is, but it could be Bill Barthalomay, the president of the Braves at the time. I don’t know. If you do, please let me know.

But, that’s why I have regrets. I always intended to contact Mr. Aaron, somehow, and hoped to get his autograph on the photo. It didn’t happen.

But, I was on Facebook this weekend, although I’m not very often, and saw people commenting about watching on television when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record . I commented I was there. Some people thought that was really cool.

I still have my certificate, which I’m guessing they gave out when you came into Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but I can’t say as I remember. But I did write on the back of it, fourth inning, one man on, tied game, 3-3. Braves won 7-3 after Hammering Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record. The game was sold out with 53,775 people in attendance, according to my notes.

I was a senior in high school on that April 8, 1974, through with classes, but not having been through graduation yet. The family went…it was a frequent family outing. Jenny and I were talking about it earlier. We don’t remember if our older sisters were there or not. But, we were. And, best we recall, we were in the cheap seats.

By that time, Daddy was sometimes getting dugout level seats through his job at the Atlanta Journal. But, since the home run was highly anticipated, and Hank had sat out most of the previous three road games, we think we were in the cheap seats.

As I thought about Hammering Hank, and gathered my memorabilia, I thought about how much fun we had as a family going to Braves games. They were affordable and fun.

I have a lot of fond memories of Braves games with my Daddy at Turner Field, but my memories of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium are a little dim. Of course, we always parked in somebody’s yard, and daddy would pay the required price, and say if you’re here when I get back, there’ll be more. The car was always there…the attendant not.

So, the death of Hank Aaron brought up a lot of memories, and I started reading his autobiography written with Furman Bisher. It’s very interesting, but I’ve just started it. But, it shows, he is every bit the man that I idolize. The book tells of the struggle of black players to get into the big leagues and be accepted. Hank Aaron was a gentleman.

But, Mama has been dead 30+ years now, so my memories are dim. But, I know she enjoyed the games as much as anyone. And this autobiography I am reading has an inscription from my next oldest sister, Debby, to Mama. So obviously, Daddy was not the only Braves fan. (My grandmother was also a huge Braves fan.)

So, a great has passed from our midst. I’m glad I have the memories (however dim they may be), and am proud I was there!