I came into possession of this "Hammering Hank" in the mid-1970's. I made a trade for it. I remember thinking that someday the homerun record would probably be broken by somebody else just like Hankl AAron broke the Babes and of course we all know that last season it was broken. However, I don't think I ever dreamed it would ever happen like it did. People go on and on about the steroids probably with good reason. But, for me it is what baseball itself did. First of all they pulled the walls in, shrunk the strike zone, then when you compare an old major league baseball to a baseball made today you can tell that todays ball is made to fly and go farther. I remember when Hank was working on breaking Babes record pitchers would try to take his head off and Hank had this way of bending his legs to get out of the way. Now when you check these guys out (home run hitters) they hardly ever get pushed back off the plate. In the late 1960's when the pitchers got the upperhand they lowered the pitchers mound. When everybody was pounding homeruns over the fence and Major League Baseball didn't seem to care. Now, we have congress sticking their noses into baseball and congress can't solve any problems right now! Oh well, I am just griping and complaining. Hats Off to the "Hammering Hank!"
5 comments:
Aaron will always be the Homerun King to me. For alot of the reasons you mentioned, with changes in ball and field and play. And the steroid issue. A simple test for me is looking at Aarons rookie card compared to his later years, then look at Bonds rookie card compared to later years. Bonds grew immensely.
Aaron is the man.
I will always think of Aaron as my home run king, until someone passes him legitimately.
Thanks for the replies guys! I had a bad day at work yesterday then I came home and listened to congress questioning Clemens, it was just to much for me to take. Not that I condone steroid usage, its just more than I could take listening to them when congress don't know a thing about baseball.
I wonder how someone like Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale would react to today's hitter crowding the plate. also, in PNC Park in PIttsburgh it says it is 307ft down the line in left, but my buddy who works for them says it is 293ft. I blame Bud Selig for all of baseball's wrongs afterall would you allow a used car salesman to run your business??
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