[삶과 추억] Babe Ruth is a real home run king who surpasses black and white discrimination

The moment Aaron hit the historic No. 715 home run at Turnerfield in 1975. [AP=연합뉴스]

Hank Aaron, the legendary home run king of the American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB), has passed away. The Atlanta Braves club, where Aaron spent his entire career, announced on the 23rd that “he closed his eyes at the age of 87 at his Atlanta home.” The cause of death was not disclosed.

Aaron is one of the top star players in the major leagues. Debuting in 1954, he played 3,298 personal games until his retirement in 1976, hitting 30% and 5 ri, hitting 755 homers, 2297 RBIs, and 240 steals.

Aaron smiled at the press conference to achieve the most home run record in MLB. [AP=연합뉴스]

He surpassed Babe Ruth (714 homers) in 1974 and climbed to No. 1 in the major league personal career. In 2007, Barry Bonds scored 762 homers, taking the No. 1 spot in his career. Still, Aaron is the player that fans remember as’the real home run king’. Bonds’ wave of taking banned drugs soon became known.

Aaron is keeping the first place in his personal career in all-time RBIs. Also, during his 23rd season, he was selected as an All-Star 25 times. In the major leagues, from 1959 to 62, the All-Star game was held twice a season. His performance was also recognized in the Hall of Fame vote. In 1982, he was dedicated to the Hall of Fame with a high vote of 97.8%. MLB.com said, “The only player who was contributed with a higher vote than Aaron at the time was Ty Cobb (1936), who received 98.2% support.”

Aaron attended the last Turnerfield game in 2016 and threw the last ball. [AFP=연합뉴스]

Growing up in a poor environment, Aaron wrote a new history after his major league debut, despite being threatened by white supremacists.

US President Joe Biden tweeted, “Aran isn’t just turning the base to increase the number of home runs. He showed firsthand that breaking the wall of prejudice is of great help to the country’s development. He was an American hero.” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “Aran is a great player in the top spot in all categories. It was great on record, but his personality and integrity was even more.” Mike Trout (LA Angels), who hit 302 homers in his personal career, said, “Looking at Aaron, I thought,’I want to be a better person inside and outside the stadium.’ We have lost the legend today.” Softbank Hawks Chairman Oh Sadaharu, who holds the most home runs (868) in Japan’s professional baseball, commemorated that “Eren was a great gentleman and a mirror for MLB players.”

A conversation with Samsung owner Lee Kun-hee (left) during his visit to Korea in October 1982. [연합뉴스]

Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama, USA. For the eldest son of a poor African American family, baseball was a’cake of the picture’. Since childhood, he has made a living by picking cotton on the farm. Whenever I wanted to play baseball, I practiced with a baseball cap and a wooden stick as bats.

Aaron got a chance to play baseball in the neighborhood at the age of 15. Local semi-professional baseball team owner Ed Scott accidentally saw Aaron’s blow and invited him to join his team. It is the moment when a genius boy who has talent but never got a chance finally set foot in the real world of baseball. He moved from the Negro League, where only blacks were played, to the minors and back to the majors. As Aaron’s number of shots out of the fence increased, the barriers in front of black players collapsed one by one.

Aaron wore a uniform with’Sulham’ written on it during his visit to Korea. [연합뉴스]

It was a difficult road. Aaron, who had been winning in MLB, ended the 73rd season with a 713 home run in his career. White hero Babe Ruth’s MLB home run record was approached by one car. In the end, more than 930,000 letters came to Aaron. It was a blackmail letter from white supremacists. “Look at the black guy. This black beast, if you hit more home runs and beat the record of the great bass booth, I will kill you.”

He threatened not only Aaron, but also his family. MLB.com reported the situation at the time and said, “At Dougout, Aaron’s seat next to him was always empty. His colleagues were reluctant to sit next to him because he could be shot.” In fact, Aaron said, “I don’t know if it’s right for me to keep playing,” ahead of the 74 season. It was because he was worried about the safety of himself, his family, and his colleagues. But he eventually decided to resist unjust discrimination. As usual, he stood at the plate with a bat. On April 9 of that year, he finally hit his personal 715th home run in the opening game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Aaron, who hugged his mother in front of the home plate, said with tears. “God, thank you. Now it is over.”

Reporter Bae Youngeun [email protected]