/news/2021/01/22/recalling-the-late-henry-aarons-friendship-with-benjamin-mays/ Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:12:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 /news/2021/01/22/recalling-the-late-henry-aarons-friendship-with-benjamin-mays/#comment-263390 Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:12:00 +0000 /news/?p=138058#comment-263390 To me, Hank Aaron is the real deal “Home Run King”. I remember seeing him play at Fenway when I was a kid. It was the year (1973) he was closing in and expected to surpass Babe Ruth’s long held record. From the child perspective, he did not look the bulked up part, which made it even more appealing. Boston fans are notoriously rude, but there was also a definite racist tone with some of the yelling. A full bore fist fight broke out in the stands near us, and my parents shielded us as best they could. The way my parents spoke to us of the obvious societal conflicts related to racial tensions enhanced the admiration of Hank Aaron’s accomplishment. If memory serves me correctly, he was intentionally walked in that game, and I was disappointed. I can’t even image what it took for him to make his wake in the world in his lifetime. Heroic!

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