- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: William Morrow (Mar 18 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060579765
- ISBN-13: 978-0060579760
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.7 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 426 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#1,719,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( W ) > Williams, Hank
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In April 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's longstanding record for homers, which Aaron had days earlier tied on his first swing of the '74 baseball season. Stanton, whose The Final Season won the Casey Award for best baseball book of 2001, gives a solid account of Aaron's career and the tumultuous year preceding his historic run. This is a fitting celebration in advance of the upcoming 30th anniversary of the event, as well as a solid tribute to the man who "played in more games, got more at-bats, knocked in more runs, collected more total bases, recorded more extra-base hits, and hit more home runsâ€"755â€"than any other ballplayer." The most fascinating and horrifying part of Stanton's accountâ€"sadly for baseball historyâ€"is the extent to which Aaron's historic run was marred by constant hate mail and death threats from so-called fans angry that a black man would soon be breaking a white man's record. Stanton effectively uses ballpark attendance records to show that, while Aaron was selling out stadiums across the country, his own Atlanta Braves ballpark was "two-thirds empty" on the day that he hit home run 700, and that 10,000 seats were unsold before the day he broke the record, while 35 million to 40 million people watched or listened to the game worldwide. Stanton shows how Aaron came to understand that "the home run record carried significance beyond baseball," and how he effectively used the media attention to consciously continue the legacy of Jackie Robinson and strongly argue for the increased role of African-Americans in major league baseball management.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Stanton covers the time from the funeral of Jackie Robinson in 1972 to the spring of 1974, when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run and passed Babe Ruth's record. His prose is awash in that sentimental, old-fashioned baseball reporting style as he connects Aaron to Ruth; to Robinson, who was one of Aaron's heroes; to Willie Mays, nearly Aaron's contemporary and the other great black player during his era; and to other black players of the time, including Dusty Baker. Stanton is at pains to describe the viciousness of the hate mail Aaron was subjected to as he challenged Ruth, the threats to his family, and the lack of support the Atlanta Braves got at home. But he also writes about the groundswell of support that grew for Aaron and the fan ecstasy that accompanied him at the end and beyond. It's a sobering tale, but a hero's story. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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They came in silence and in somber suits. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
They came in silence and in somber suits. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Quest For Baseball Immortality And Human Equality,
By
This review is from: Hank Aaron And The Home Run That Changed America (Hardcover)
The subtitle of this book, "The Home Run That Changed America," may seem a bit lofty to those born too soon to remember this record-breaking blow. But in these pages, Tom Stanton does a fine job of interweaving the story of Henry Aaron's chase of baseball's most hallowed record with the tale of the impact of that pursuit on the larger society. Stanton's love for the game shines through in this narrative, as does his sense of shame for those elements of the public who greeted Aaron's achievement not with praise, but scorn and hatred.The narrative begins in the fall of 1972 with Aaron among those in attendance at the funeral of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in modern baseball. The bulk of the book tells the story of the 1973 season, which saw Aaron surpass Willie Mays for second place on the career home run list and finally fall one short of Ruth's magic total of 714. Over the course of that season Aaron had to endure the ravages of age (he was thirty-nine), a steadily intensifying media circus, and most disheartening of all, a vocal stream of hatred and abuse, most (if not all) of it racially motivated. The retrospective distance of three decades makes it clear that if anyone was prepared to endure this great strain, it was Henry Aaron. While other players in bigger media markets like Mays and Mickey Mantle had captured the public's imagination with flashier performances, Aaron had been toiling away in Milwaukee and Atlanta, steadily building up career totals that would place him in the first rank of baseball's Hall of Fame...and humanity's as well. Aaron came back for the 1974 season determined to put the quest for the record behind him as quickly as possible. This couldn't come without controversy, either. Atlanta officials found themselves embroiled in conflict with then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn when they threatened to hold Aaron out of the opening three games at Cincinnati so he could achieve the record at home. Under pressure from Kuhn, the Braves played Aaron in Cincinnati, where he tied the record. Fittingly, though, he saved the blast that put him alone in the baseball universe for the home fans. Appropriately, this is where Stanton's narrative ends. There's a brief afterword on what's happened to Aaron and the other key players (including a young acolyte of Aaron's, Dusty Baker) in the decades since. But the heart of the story is in that year and a half recounted in these pages....when, as Stanton puts it, Aaron placed an exclamation mark on Jackie Robinson's great achievement and helped further erode the barriers standing in the way of full equality for all Americans.--William C. Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hank Aaron's Legacy,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hank Aaron And The Home Run That Changed America (Hardcover)
I have really enjoyed reading this book by Tom Stanton. He really shows how passionate Hank Aaron was to not only play baseball, but prove that whites and blacks were equal. No matter how many people told him he wouldn't make it, or said that because he was black he had no chance, he kept striving towards his goals. Aaron really didn't get much credit in his early years of playing. It was only when he started threatening Babe Ruth's home run record. I had always thaught that he was a recognized player. Hank Aaron has been a hero for anybody who has been turned down wanting to acheive a goal, and many other people. He has been one for me.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book about Mr.Brave,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hank Aaron And The Home Run That Changed America (Hardcover)
One of the best books I've ever read in any genre. A great book about the greatest Brave and the best player of all time. Hank Aaron wasn't just a homerun hitter he was a great all around player. He was great in the field, had an awesome arm, could hit for average, and obviously hit for power. I would love to see Mr.Stanton write a book on Warren Spahn next, could be another classic. I highly recommend this book for not only Braves fans or Hank Aaron fans but baseball fans and fans of the human spirit.
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