I have been a baseball fan since childhood – mainly because of my grandparents who became Braves fans when the team moved to Atlanta in 1966.
This past week, two of my childhood baseball heroes passed away – Hank Aaron and Don Sutton.
My dad and Hank Aarwere both in Mobile a few weeks apart and a few miles apart in 1934.
They both had dreams as they left their home town in 1952 – dad headed to college and Aaron started his professional baseball career.
The year I was born in Mobile, Aaron won the batting title (.328) and led the league in other categories including hits, total bases and doubles.
I still have the sports page from when “Hammering Hank” broke the home run record on April 8, 1974 when hit Al Downing’s pitch over the left field fence.
Aaron homered 30 or more times in a record 15 seasons, and hit at least 20 in 20 consecutive years.
He finished with 755 home runs and that stat stood until Barry Bonds finished his career with 762 homers.
Aaron is still the game’s all-time leader in RBIs (2,297) and total bases (6,856).
He ranks third in career hits (3,771).
The outfielder won three Gold Gloves as well as the National League batting title in 1956 and 1959, the 1957 NL MVP award and the 1970 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for character.
He was the first player in MLB history to reach 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. He was third in MVP voting six different times.
Aaron, a 25-time All-Star, played in MLB from 1954-76 almost entirely with the Braves organization — first in Milwaukee and then in Atlanta.
In 1957, he led the organization to its first World Series title since 1914. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
He appeared briefly in the Negro American League and in minor league baseball before starting his major league career.
By his final MLB season, Aaron was the last Negro league baseball player on a major league roster.
Every time I return to visit family, I pass by Hank Aaron Stadium the home of the Mobile BayBears, a minor-league professional team in the Southern League from 1997 to 2019.
When the ballpark opened, Aaron’s number 44 was retired by the BayBears and he threw out the first pitch with his parents, siblings, and extended family in attendance.
When I was a little kid, we moved to Pensacola, Florida – the home of Don Sutton.
Sutton, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander who won over 300 games in his Hall of Fame career died last week at the age of 75.
Sutton’s career began and ended with the Dodgers, with whom he spent 16 of his 23 seasons –spanning from 1966 to 1980 and returning for a final tour in 1988.
He was a four-time All-Star with a career 324-256 mark and a 3.26 ERA.
His 324 wins rank 14th in major league history.
Sutton also pitched for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
In the last several months, other baseball Hall of Famers to die since last April includes pitchers, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Whitey Ford and Phil Niekro, as well as Lou Brock, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan and Lasorda.
It is sad to see these legends pass away but I am thankful for the memories they left all of us as baseball fans.
Tom Dodge is the Sports Editor of the Eunice News.