I always marvel at the fact that there were nine esteemed members of the media who didn’t think that Hank Aaron deserved to be in the Hall of Fame. Not on the first ballot, anyway. Let’s not rush to judgement here, let me have another year or two to really mull it over. Look at it from all angles.
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On the one hand… home runs.
On the other…
Yeah, this is a head scratcher.
i read somewhere this morning that if you took away all of Aaron’s homers, he’d still have more hits than Wade Boggs.
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Even minus the home runs, he’d still have over 3,000 hits. Even many die hard fans don’t realize Aaron is third on the all time hits list.
And don’t get me started on RBI…
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And he would have 3014 more hits than Jose Cabrera
From Wikipedia:
“The Howe Sports Bureau credits Aaron with a .366 batting average in 26 official Negro league games, with five home, 33 runs batted in (RBIs), 41 hits, and nine stolen bases.”
If they’re counting Negro League stats with Major League stats now, does that bring him to 760 homers, 2,330 runs batted in, and 3,812 hits?
No. Only Negro League stats thru 1948 will be considered “major league”. Aaron played for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1951.
In the category of “Useless But I’m a Sucker and I’ll Check Them Out Anyway” rankings, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe says Dusty is the 2nd best manager in baseball. He’s got Cora at #6 and Hinch at #10.
Dave Roberts tops his list.
Dave Roberts? The reincarnation of the Tank Commander Dave Roberts? What in the world?
I’m guessing this Pete Abraham has never seen a baseball game.
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His ranks are based on how easy their names are to spell.
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I’m kinda surprised Kevin Cash didn’t top his list.
Cash could start with a K!
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He makes it sound so easy.
My old high school coach used say “slow stride, quick turn. Swing easy, hit hard”.
The best advice Williams gives here, or ever gave, was swing at good pitches, pitches you can actually hit. Easier said than done, I know.
His book on hitting is fantastic.
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My dad gave me that book when I was a kid. First baseball book I ever had.
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I still have my copy…or I think I do.
ETA: yes, I do. Written 1970, published 1971, revised 1986. I have the 1971 version.
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I obviously had the 71 version also. Sadly, I no longer have it. Wish I’d have held on to it. Same with
my old baseball cards. Come to think of it, lots of things fit into that category.
I have all my baseball cards, but who knew they were going to be valuable? When a player was traded, I wrote that info on the card, and I played with them all the time.