Don't forget Hammerin' Hank | Napa Valley Register

Home » Opinion » Letters To The Editor

Don't forget Hammerin' Hank

Monday, July 30, 2007

Comment

As Barry Bonds strives to break baseball's career home run record and we debate whether or not he really deserves that record without at least a large asterisk, we should take time to pay tribute to the truly great baseball player -- and person -- whose record he is about to break.

With the exception of runs, home runs and slugging percentage, Hank Aaron's overall career performance far surpassed Barry Bonds'. Hank Aaron finished in the top four all-time in virtually every significant hitting category, and his RBI and total bases records may never be broken. He also won at least three Golden Glove awards. And by all accounts, he was quiet, humble, appreciative -- characteristics rarely found in famous athletes today. He played baseball because he loved baseball -- and it showed. Growing up in the Midwest, I had the privilege of seeing him play.

So when Barry Bonds finally breaks one of Hank Aaron's many records and the fireworks go off -- and the debate goes on -- let us take a moment to remember Hank Aaron, who became arguably the greatest player in baseball history with grace and humility.

James Verhey

Napa

3 comment(s)

Baseball Trivia Master wrote on Jul 30, 2007 12:41 PM:

" Do you really think that Hank Aaron didn't use steroids as well? Anabolic steroids have been in use since the 1930s, and athletes around the world have known about them since their discovery. It is now an issue because we can actually test for them, and the legal structure has shifted to make them more and more illegal. We've just finally been able to confirm what we suspected our athletes have been doing for decades! "

to trivia idiot wrote on Jul 30, 2007 1:40 PM:

" Hank Aaron's foot size didn't increase 3 sizes and his body didn't swell up to look like some weight lifting freak--so no--trivia master---Hank Aaron didn't use steroids-----Why do you have to tear down a great player to justify the cheating of Bonds "

to idiot below wrote on Jul 30, 2007 4:13 PM:

" Please present the evidence you personally have found that Bonds "cheated". "

Join the conversation

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Create an account

Comment Guidelines

The goal of the story comments section at NapaValleyRegister.com is to have an open, thought-provoking, civil community forum for all issues.

What gets your comment posted?

• Staying on topic

• Keeping your comment to 300 words or less

• Avoiding name-calling

• Addressing your comments to the message rather than the messenger

What gets your comment deleted?

• Personal attacks

• Derogatory remarks

• Name-calling of any sort

• Going off-topic

• Hate speech

• Racially-insensitive comments

• Implying guilt of a subject in a crime story before there is a court verdict

• Posting e-mail addresses

• Posting comments of a commercial nature

• POSTING WITH ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

• Linking multiple comments together with "to be continued..." to get around the 300 word limit.

The fine print

- Comments are either approved or denied. We do not edit comments.

- You are welcome to modify and resubmit a denied comment.

- Comments may take several hours to be posted.

- Comments posted are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NapaValleyRegister.com, its employees or its parent company.

- Do you have information on a story? Please go to our virtual newsroom to send us a news tip.

- If you feel a posted comment has violated our guidelines, please contact online@napanews.com or add a comment indicating you have an issue and our moderators will review the comment in question.

Search: