Move over Babe, here comes Henry....A triumph of achievement despite forces against him....Whew!....what to say that hasn’t said.....alphabetically the first
player on the baseball register for 50 years until David Aardsma's debut 2008....untainted
and unquestioned home run king...said he never tried to hit a home run once at
the plate....755 over the fence hitting mistakes later, Hank held the crown as of April 1974 until Barry
Bond’s "better hitting through chemistry" credo came along.....Why are we not in hall yet Barry?....Strong ties
to Wisconsin and Milwaukee with bike trails, streets, and stadiums named after
him....signed out of the waning days of Negro League by the Boston Braves
franchise....started professional ball in Eau Clare WI 1952....took flight to the
majors 1954 after tearing up the SALLY league the year before...strong rookie debut
(.280 BA) but his 13 home runs did not tell of things to come...jumped to 27
and 26 dingers in the next seasons in addition to raising his batting by 40
point ....fully entrenched into consistent superstar status 1957 in what would nearly
become his status quo for the next 15 years....League leading 44 home runs, 132
RBIs...MVP....World Series hero as Bushville beat the Yankees....Followed the
Braves to Atlanta where he reprised 1957 season NL best 44 home run, 127
RBIs....around 1969 he and Willie Mays were mentioned as contenders to surpass
Babe Ruth’s home run mark....age caught up Mays but Hank hammered along with
44, 38, 47, and 34 in years 1969-72....National spot light 1973 as he was in
striking distance of 712....Received death threats....nevertheless hit 40 over
the fence to remain one short of tying the record....tied mark in Cincinnati
4/4....rested one game then went hitless in the other....Returned home to
Atlanta for most anticipated regular season game ever.....First at bat took a
Al Downing offering into the Braves’ bullpen...the rest of game was
immaterial....rest of the season for Hank was good but decidedly a letdown....age
had started to show...traded to Milwaukee for 1975 as a homecoming for the city....featured
highly in the Brewer’s promotion for the next two years doing part time DH
work....called it quits 1976....To this day, still the career RBI and total
bases leader..needless to say Hall of Fame....odd stat stole 190 bases in the
1960 to 1968...interesting fact despite incredible home run numbers in 60’s did
not hit the most for the decade...that honor went to Harmon Killebrew...Oh
Henry candy bar was not named after him but he put in there commercial...appropriate in action shot.
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