What They're Saying About Hank
"Hank Aaron is a litmus test for what racism is in America."
--Singer/Civil Rights Activist Harry Belafonte
"Once, he came up to hit, and I told him he had the label the wrong
way on the bat. You gotta turn it around so you can read it. And he said,
"I didn't come up to read. I came up to hit."
--Catcher Yogi Berra, recalling the 1957 World Series
"For me, he was probably the best hitter, the toughest hitter for me
to get out that I ever faced. There were so many good hitters, with Mays,
Clemente, Robinson. But for me, I'd have to pick Henry as the toughest
one."
--Former Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Sandy Koufax
"A sports reporter once wrote, 'Hank Aaron does everything Willie Mays
does, but his hat doesn't fall off.'"
--Former Braves Pitcher Ernie Johnson
"He's a natural-born ballplayer. God done sent me something."
--Indianapolis Clowns Manager Buster Haywood
"So much of America identified with baseball, and they saw these black
men playing with the best. These young men helped pave the way, and I think
baseball made a great contribution toward ending segregation."
--U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)
"It is sports and racially integrated sports teams that brought about
the changes that I think have saved the South. And I would not have ever
been considered seriously as a Presidential candidate had that not been
done before I ran for office."
--Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
"A man sitting directly behind me kept calling Aaron a nigger. I got
up and went to the concession stand. I got a hamburger and loaded it up
with mustard and ketchup. And when he said it again, I put it in his face.
Then he was escorted out of the park."
--Aaron's ex-wife, Barbara Aaron
"There are three things you can't give a nigger: a black eye, a fat
lip and a job."
--A sample of the hate mail sent to Hank Aaron
"There's one sound that's really significant in your life as a pitcher,
that makes you wake up in the middle of the night, and that's the sound
of a bat when it hits a home run."
--Former Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Al Downing
"I don't think Hank's home run record will ever be broken. There's
no way."
--Former Atlanta Braves Outfielder David Justice
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