The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron (79 page)

68
I don’t care if the guy is yellow:
interview with Roger Kahn.

69
Willie’s Wallop Wins Windup:
The Sporting News
, November 16, 1955.

70
It was okay to be black in the South:
interview with Henry Aaron.

71
All Mays had over Henry:
interview with Johnny Logan.

72
Robby Has Reds Buzzing:
Chicago Defender
, March 21, 1956.

73
Jackie, what are you doing?:
interview with Roger Kahn.

74
Aaron Picked To Win:
Chicago Defender
, April 21, 1956.

75
Dodgers, Yanks Picked To Win:
ibid.

76
You didn’t even worry about Spahn:
interview with Gene Conley.

77
Are you prepared to say that Grimm:
The Sporting News
, June 27, 1956.

78
We would have been the powerhouse:
interview with Johnny Logan.

79
Burdette told me that there is no place:
New York Times
, September 12, 1956.

80
Braves Open With Cardinals:
Milwaukee Journal
, September 28, 1956.

81
What Happened To Braves?:
Milwaukee Journal
, October 1, 1956.

82
In 1956:
interview with Henry Aaron.

CHAPTER SIX: JACKIE

83
An outburst by Jackie Robinson:
New York Times
, November 2, 1956.

84
Dear Jackie and Rachel:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

85
Dear Jackie:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

86
And when Jackie wants to try extra hard:
New York Times
, December 17, 1956.

87
Thank you for your letter:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Jackie Robinson Collection.

88
Campy is quoted as saying:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

89
Had something in mind:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

90
Some pacifist black freak:
interview with Roger Kahn.

91
Southern Scribe Blames Jackie:
Los Angeles Times
, August 3, 1956.

92
If you’ll forgive a personal experience:
New York Times
, December 17, 1956.

CHAPTER SEVEN: SCRIPTURE

93
Braves’ Aaron Asks Pay Boost:
Chicago Tribune
, January 27, 1957.

94
I was making ten grand one year:
interview with Gene Conley.

95
I think back then we all realized:
interview with Henry Aaron.

96
The National League pennant has been a mirage:
Chicago Tribune
, January 19, 1957.

97
Bob Wolf always kept it to the game:
interview with Chuck Tanner.

98
Jolly Cholly:
interview with Gene Conley.

99
Whether I’m hitting good or not:
The Sporting News
, May 1, 1957.

100
I remember it probably better than anybody:
interview with Frank Torre.

101
You have to remember:
interview with Johnny Logan.

102
Ah, that was complete bullshit:
ibid.

103
You
had
to drink to hang out:
ibid.

104
I kept to myself:
interview with Henry Aaron.

105
He went through terrible times:
interview with Frank Torre.

106
He really was all business:
interview with Gene Conley.

107
You had to remember that integration:
interview with Henry Aaron.

108
Hank Aaron Ties Ruth Homer Mark:
Washington Post
, July 11, 1957.

109
The Wrist Hitter:
Time
, July 29, 1957.

110
I wouldn’t have taken that shit:
interview with Bill White.

111
We got along quite well:
interview with Furman Bisher.

112
Born To Play Ball:
The Saturday Evening Post
, August 25, 1956.

113
Braves’ Blazing Aaron Bids For Batting Title:
The Sporting News
, August 8, 1956.

114
I don’t know if there was a way to figure it:
interview with Chuck Tanner.

115
For Aaron stretched out his hand:
Time
, October 7, 1957.

CHAPTER EIGHT: BUSHVILLE

116
Fred, do you think your team will choke up:
Los Angeles Times
, October 1, 1957.

117
Before the thing even began:
interview with Johnny Logan.

118
They had to beat the White Sox:
interview with Greg Spahn.

119
Before the start of the 1957 World Series:
ibid.

120
We weren’t scared of the Yankees:
interview with Gene Conley.

121
When we went in 1957:
interview with Johnny Logan.

122
The Pennant Victory Ball:
Milwaukee Journal
, September 30, 1957.

123
You can’t help your club from the tub:
interview with Ralph Garr.

124
Aaron’s Swap: Crown For Pennant:
Milwaukee Journal
, September 29, 1957.

125
Henry didn’t volunteer what he thought about you:
interview with Felix Mantilla.

126
Braves Welcomed At Airport:
Milwaukee Journal
, October 4, 1957.

127
“
Well,” the Perfesser told his pitcher:
Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream
. Directed by Mike Tollin; produced by Mike Tollin and and Brian Robbins. Copyright 1995 TBS Productions, Inc.

128
Lary would spend three weeks:
Los Angeles Times
, December 16, 1957.

CHAPTER NINE: ALMOST

129
When you come close to winning:
Eddie Mathews,
Eddie Mathews and the National Pastime
(Milwaukee: Douglas American Sports Publications, 1994), p. 150.

130
The other ballplayers were completely stunned:
Mathews,
Eddie Mathews and the National Pastime
, p. 166.

131
Those guys, all they did was carry the balls to BP:
interview with Gene Conley.

132
looked his friend in the eye:
Henry Aaron, with Stan Baldwin and Jerry Jenkins,
Bad Henry
(Radnor, Pennsylvania: Chilton, 1974).

133
If he ever had one beer:
interview with Gregory Spahn.

134
That position in center:
New York Times
, March 12, 1958.

135
Braves Frolic In Clubhouse:
New York Times
, October 7, 1958.

136
Going into the eighth:
Washington Post
, October 10, 1958.

137
You didn’t want to swing it last October:
Washington Post
, March 10, 1959.

138
Braves Shade Dodgers:
Los Angeles Times
, May 6, 1959.

139
Sam Jones Guns For Hank Aaron:
Los Angeles Times
, May 21, 1959.

140
A disgracefully small crowd:
New York Times
, September 29, 1959.

141
The Coliseum was a football field:
interview with Frank Torre.

142
Every team has its “ifs” and “buts”:
Hank Aaron, with Lonnie Wheeler,
I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story
(New York: HarperCollins, 1992), p. 143.

CHAPTER TEN: RESPECT

143
You ache with the need:
Ralph Ellison,
Invisible Man
(New York: Random House, 1952), p. 4.

144
There was a reason:
Frank A. Aukofer,
City with a Chance: A Case History of Civil Rights Revolution
(Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2007), p. 219.

145
It’s nice to get attention and favors:
Roger Angell,
Once More Around the Park: A Baseball Reader
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1991), p. 150.

146
You always knew he was a serious man:
interview with Joe Torre.

147
Soon, a routine formed:
interview with Henry Aaron.

148
My mother was so mad:
interview with Ted Williams.

149
I remember it well:
interview with Henry Aaron.

150
a lone black fellow who played baseball:
interview with Howard Chinn.

151
Stump came away with a story:
Al Stump, “Hank Aaron: Public Image vs. Private Reality,”
Sport
, August 1964.

152
I know I did not make it easy:
interview with Henry Aaron.

153
Things are as bad:
James Baldwin,
The Fire Next Time
(New York: Dial, 1963), p. 59.

154
We’ve been waiting all this time:
Jackie Robinson,
Baseball Has Done It
. (1964; reprint, Brooklyn, New York: IG Publishing, 2005), p. 139.

155
I was sensitive to what they would face:
interview with Henry Aaron.

156
I’ve read some newspapermen saying:
Robinson,
Baseball Has Done It
, p. 134.

      
I never knew Jackie said that:
interview with Henry Aaron.

157
It never did any good:
interview with Henry Aaron.

158
People have been treating this man:
interview with Allan Tanenbaum.

159
It always bothered me:
interview with Bill White.

160
Henry Aaron is a nice man:
interview with Furman Bisher.

161
Pursuant to general agreement:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

162
Fred Lowey called:
ibid.

163
I think Fred Lowey:
ibid.

164
That was when the old man:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

165
My Dear Larry:
ibid.

166
Dear Dick:
ibid.

167
Dear Mr. O’Malley:
ibid.

168
“
Nobody,” Selig would say, hit more home runs:
interview with Bud Selig.