I'm sorry, but this one has to get a post of it's own... RIP Hank Aaron.

As I said in the ever-increasing number of "Daily Coronavirus Era" posts, we just lost Hank Aaron about 7 Pacific this morning.

I don't think any examination of "Hammering Hank" will be complete without his proudest moment -- and a proudest moment for far more than just him...

First off, let's all be reminded of Vin Scully's words that night:

"What a marvelous moment for baseball.

 What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia.

 What a marvelous moment for the country and the world.

 A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking the

   record of an all time baseball idol.

 And it is a great moment for all of us, but particularly for Henry Aaron,

 who was met at home plate not only by every member of the Braves, but by his 

   father and mother."

Anyone who knows the story knows of the racist hate mail and death threats and everything that White America sent Hank Aaron over the course of the 1973-74 offseason.  He actually received a memento from the Postal Service, when the outpouring opposing the racism caused him to receive a million pieces of mail -- more in 1973 than anyone except politicians, according to Wikipedia.

It is with that backdrop that I recall two men, in particular.

Two men who committed an illegal act that evening, Cliff Courtenay (now a doctor) and Britt Gaston -- then college students -- ran onto the field and congratulated Aaron.

They got a night in jail for it, and were probably fined and barred for a time from attending MLB games.

Though those penalties were certainly proper, let us not forget one thing:

In the face of all the racism and pain Aaron suffered, especially in the last months and weeks before passing Ruth, two White college students -- without realizing it (Courtenay would say they were "pulled by the gravity" of the event and did not completely realize the politics of the affair, according to a 2010 Valdosta Daily Times article on the moment archived here) -- chose, instead, to also reject the racism and pain and honor that Black man in the Deep South for breaking the record of an all-time baseball idol.

Rightly, Courtenay and Gaston remain friends (and Aaron remained friends with them both).

And now "Hammerin' Hank" is gone.

Perhaps the best visage of his impact on the game, especially with the continuing controversies of the steroided home-run "phony kings of baseball" (and I can say that, I used to be a fan of one of them while homeless in San Francisco for a time!), is from Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today:

pic.twitter.com/VUnPVbu14w

— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) January 22, 2021

For him, perhaps more than most, his RIP SHOULD be Rest In Power.  You have done your work here, Hank.  Thank you.