{"id":467,"date":"2021-01-23T04:54:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T04:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/?p=467"},"modified":"2021-01-24T04:11:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T04:11:57","slug":"the-legacy-of-hank-aaron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/2021\/01\/23\/the-legacy-of-hank-aaron\/","title":{"rendered":"The legacy of Hank Aaron"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2021\/01\/hank-aaron.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2021\/01\/hank-aaron.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2021\/01\/hank-aaron-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2021\/01\/hank-aaron-768x513.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption>Photo of Hank Aaron&#8217;s jersey hanging in the Braves locker room. (Courtesy of MLB\/Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>MLB legend Hank Aaron was found dead in his home this morning in Atlanta, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron, 86, was one of the greatest players to ever set foot on a baseball diamond, and he dominated the sport for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most talented hitters to ever live, he posted some of the most ludicrous numbers over his 23 season career, spanning from 1954 to 1976. He spent every year with the Milwaukee\/Atlanta Braves (they relocated in 1966), with the exception of the last two in which he spent playing for the Milwaukee Brewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His 25 career all-star appearances are the most in MLB history, and it&#8217;s a number that may never be topped again. Aaron also was a one time MVP recipient as he a won in 1957, and also won his lone World Series ring that same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron was known as the all-time home run king for awhile. In fact, he held the all-time record for a staggering 34 years, dating from 1974 and lasting until 2008 when Barry Bonds surpassed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s a look at when he broke the previous record of 714 home runs held by Babe Ruth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vin Scully calls Hank Aaron&#039;s historic 715th home run\" width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QjqYThEVoSQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982, which was his first year of eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Aaron was one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the planet, his journey throughout his career made it even more inspiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron was subject to extreme forms of racism during his career, but served as an inspiration for the rest of eternity. He symbolized what it meant to have courage and overcome adversity when the world wants to see you down, or even dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He opened up about his experience receiving countless pieces of hate mail due to his skin colour in a 2010 interview with MLB Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I got millions and millions of pieces of mail from people that were resentful simply because of the fact of who I was,&#8221; said Aaron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But he has also stated that he endured the troubles in order to create a trailblazing path for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;You realized that they were not right, but by the same token you felt like you had to do them to make things better for someone else who was coming behind you,&#8221; said Aaron in that same interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aaron was the first Black American to hold a senior management role in an MLB front office, and also founded the Chasing the Dream Foundation, which supports underprivileged youth with financial situations and mentoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The only man I idolized more than myself,&#8221; said the late Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That type of praise coming from someone like Ali is beyond powerful, and highlights the legacy of an incredible inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rest in peace, Hank Aaron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.slices.co\/stories\/-MRgZucUI6xIoWKCsftC\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MLB legend Hank Aaron was found dead in his home this morning in Atlanta, Georgia. Aaron, 86, was one of the greatest players to ever set foot on a baseball diamond, and he dominated the sport for decades. One of the most talented hitters to ever live, he posted some of the most ludicrous numbers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":370,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}