Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron was everything a ballplayer and a person should be. In the MLB record books, Aaron ranks second all time in home runs (755), third in hits (3,771) and games played ( 3,298), fourth in runs scored (2,174), first in total bases (6,856), first in extra-base hits (1,477), first in RBIs (2,297), fourth in intentional walks (293) and fifth in WAR for position players (143.1). Winner of the 1957 NL MVP and World Series, 2 batting titles, 3 gold gloves, and 25 all-star game nominations Hank truly embodied greatness on the diamond. Quite simply put, Henry Louis Aaron is the best baseball player to ever grace the Major Leagues. 

However Hank's greatness and legacy lies in the fact that although he was the best ballplayer to play the game, he was somehow an even better person. Hank's page on the MLB Hall of Fame website features a quote from Georgia Congressman Andrew Young that reads, “Through his long career, Hank Aaron has been a model of humility, dignity, and quiet competence. He did not seek the adoration that is accorded to other national athletic heroes, yet he has now earned it.”

Playing in Georgia in the 1960's and 1970's Hank was no stranger to the hate and racism that was so prominent in the south at this time. Despite his greatness on the field Aaron was not an exception to this. When the Braves announced their move from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966 Hank said in an interview, "“I have lived in the South, and I don’t want to live there again. We can go anywhere in Milwaukee. I don’t know what would happen in Atlanta.” His worries were legitimate, as Hank was a black star on the first MLB team in the south, during the height of the civil rights movement. This was uncharted waters, and Hank handled it with grace, dignity, and class. In 1972 the US Postal Service reported that Hank Aaron had received more mail than any non-political figure in the nation, most of which was filled with racist rhetoric and threats. Yet Hank never waivered. Even on April 8, 1974, the night of his record breaking home run, Aaron said, "My kids had to live like they were in prison because of kidnap threats, and I had to live like a pig in a slaughter camp. I had to duck. I had to go out the back door of the ballparks."

In his life, on and off the field, Hammerin' Hank Aaron defined greatness. With his heartbreaking passing in 2021, we at CSMN and Call to the Bullpen call on Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball to properly honor him and his legacy. Like Jackie Robinson, a plaque in the Hall of Fame is not enough. Henry Aaron was a trailblazer and should be honored as such. He was the best to ever play between the white chalk lines and should be honored as such. We are calling on Major League Baseball to retire Hank's iconic #44 across the entire league, and to redesign the MLB logo to feature Hank Aaron, as he truly was representative of everything the game of baseball should be.