Atlanta Braves Leaving Fulton County: The Hammer
By Dan Horton
Atlanta Braves: The Day Baseball in the South Stood Tall and Carried a Big Stick
If you have never read the book, The Hank Aaron Story: I Had A Hammer, you need to, and you need to do it ASAP!
The day was April 8th, 1974. That day, Atlanta was the heart of America’s pastime, and Hank Aaron was the pulse.
It technically wasn’t Atlanta Fulton County Stadium then. It was known only as Atlanta Stadium. Nonetheless, it still is a cherished moment in not only the stadium and county’s history, but it’s etched forever in the halls of Cooperstown.
I was in Cooperstown for the Induction Ceremony of Bobby Cox, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine. If you don’t mind, I’d like to share some of the photos from that fantastic trip to baseball’s Mecca; Cooperstown, NY.
Hank Aaron is a man who went through unthinkable tribulations as he chased the Babe. The recipient of death threats and promises of ill will and harm to his family were only part of the story. What Jackie Robinson started by enduring to get the color-barrier broken, Hank Aaron finalized it. Aaron was more than a baseball player this day. He was a symbol for America at a time when America needed it most.
The image that is featured with this story, the one so iconic you can’t help but recognize it, signified an even bigger barrier being broken. What was so poignant about Aaron’s feat and the image, is that it transcends. It embodies not only what America should be, but what man kind can be. For a few short minutes, on that perfect Atlanta spring night, the world only saw in baseball, not black and white.
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The moment was so much bigger than just another home run to everyone, except to the man who hit it, to Aaron, it was just another home run. It enthralled a nation; a world. And you know what else, he did it without “help”, no PED’s needed. America found a hero in the most unlikeliest of places, from the most unlikeliness of people, and it couldn’t have found a better person to bear the torch moving forward.
So here’s to you, Mr. Henry Aaron, the True Home Run King.