Sunday, December 30, 2007
Sports, "Hunt's Grunts"

The People’s Home Run Champ

SP’s Sports Personality of the Year

By Hunt Archbold

Selecting a person or man of the year has been a popular rite of passage for several publications throughout the years. For 2007, Time magazine tagged Russian President Vladimir Putin as its Person of the Year. Sports Illustrated singled out Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre as its Sportsman of the Year. Here at The Sunday Paper, we reached out to make Michael Vick our Person of the Year.

But while these are all solid choices, my Hunt’s Grunt’s Sports Personality of the Year would have to be Henry Louis Aaron. Sometimes honors are given for lifetime achievement, and with Hank Aaron, I might be doing such. But then again, as he has done so many times, Aaron again rose above unmitigated criticism in 2007 to demonstrate why he is a true American hero.

I’ll never forget the first time I met Aaron. It was here in Atlanta and it was Father’s Day at my school. I had a classmate who for a long time we knew only as Ceci Williams. But Ceci’s mother, local television personality Billye Williams, married Aaron in the offseason before he hit his record-breaking 715th home run. When the fourth grade year began, Ceci Williams had become Ceci Aaron, and since the class was seated alphabetically, suddenly Ceci and I were seated side by side. When Father’s Day rolled around, there was the home run king of all time, sitting directly beside me all morning long. You can imagine my excitement that day. I’ve interviewed Aaron a few times since, and as with our first encounter, he has been nothing short of kind and gracious whenever we’ve talked.

Of course in 2007, Aaron was unwittingly thrust into the national spotlight as Barry Bonds closed in on Aaron’s career home run mark, which he’d held for more than 33 years. When Aaron eclipsed Babe Ruth’s record on that 1974 April eve at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the first thing he uttered into the microphone was, “Thank God it’s over.’’ During those final three years of chasing the record, Aaron tried in earnest to downplay the pursuit, all the while enduring death threats and receiving thousands of racially charged hate letters. So it’s understandable that it was neither a special time for him nor a special place in his mind he enjoys revisiting.

When Aaron told the world this past summer that while he recognized Bonds’ achievements, he had no plans to be present when Bonds broke the record, he was vilified by many, most notably Mobile Press-Register columnist Paul Finebaum. Several years back, when I was covering SEC sports for a newspaper in Alabama, I appeared several times on Mr. Finebaum’s radio program. I always found him to be very much an egomaniac who would say or write anything to get his name in the news. So I wasn’t surprised last spring when, in Aaron’s hometown paper, Finebaum wrote:

“However, from this standpoint, as vile as he may appear at times, Bonds is showing no less class than Hammerin’ Hank, who just can’t let bygones be bygones. He continues to wear bitterness on his sleeve after all these years and will likely sulk all the way to the grave. I feel sorry for Hank Aaron. Really.”

Later, in a radio interview, Finebaum stated his assertion that Aaron is in MLB commissioner Bud Selig’s back pocket, calling him Selig’s “house boy, his cabana boy.” Yes, racism still exists, folks, and I hereby give the first Hunt’s Grunts Sports Hack of the Year Award to Paul Finebaum.

The fact of the matter is that Aaron didn’t want to be needlessly dragged into the conversation about Bonds and steroids. In his 1991 autobiography, “I Had a Hammer,” Aaron gave a glimpse into his views on cheating. “I had always taken a strong stand against anything that wasn’t within the spirit and rules of the game,” he wrote. “I believed in the integrity of the game as strongly as anybody.’’

Besides, at age 73, the idea of Aaron following Bonds around the country (Bonds did endure homer-less streaks of 19 and 15 days this year) seemed both taxing and time-consuming. This is a man who, since retiring from baseball, has been an eloquent ambassador of the sport, an outspoken leader on the issue of minority hiring in baseball, and a successful business figure in the community. He’s got things on his plate. When Bonds did eclipse Aaron on that August night, as soon as Bonds touched home plate, there was the now-former home run champ congratulating his successor in a taped message on the JumboTron.

“I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historical achievement,’’ Aaron said. “My hope today, as it was that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.’’

Raised poor in the segregated South, Aaron learned how to play baseball in a pecan grove. He grew to become one of the game’s greats. Now, as then, he represents a life that can be viewed as dignified, admirable and a model of class.

Happy times … and thanks, Hammer.