Hammering Hank; How the Media Made Henry Aaron

by Mark Stewart and Mike Kennedy

• ISBN13: 9781592289301
• ISBN10: 1592289304
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2006-04-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

On April 8, 1999, at Turner Field in Atlanta, Major League Baseball celebrated the 25th anniversary of Henry Aaron's 715th home run, which propelled him past Babe Ruth to the top of the game's all-time home run list. Those expecting to recapture the spark of that long-ago moment may have felt a letdown. The ceremony, while touching and heartfelt, was a made-for-television event that featured stock-footage clips of Aaron and a few neatly crafted tomes recited in Aaron's honor. In retrospect, there may have been no tribute more fitting, for the Aaron with whom we have become comfortable is, after all, a creation of the media. On that evening in 1999 baseball again got a fleeting look at the home run king, acknowledging the cheers, his eyes moist. Fans added this image to everything they know of him and what little they know of him. His is a portrait 50 years in the making which, in truth, is no more than a highly detailed caricature, exquisitely embellished yet somehow still lacking in substance. More than a "sports bio" of a baseball icon, Hammering Hank is a fascinating account of how the media shaped Henry Aaron, baseball's most prolific home-run hitter. It is, first and foremost, the story of a baseball life. But it also is a look at a life affected more than most by events outside of baseball. Long before Aaron became part of the national landscape, he was a reflection of it. And try as he might to shut out the world around him, the forces of that world--with all their complexities and indignities and randomness--were always very much a part of him.

Author Biography

Mark Stewart has authored more than one hundred nonfiction books, including Rush to Judgment (Lyons, 2004). A graduate of Duke University and cocreator of the popular sports information Web site www.jockbio.com, Stewart is a principal in the sports publishing firm, Black Book Publishing.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	xiii
From `Bama to the Bigs	1	(38)
The Quiet Man	39	(48)
Playing catch-Up	87	(26)
Good Vibrations for Bad Henry	113	(28)
Fear and Loathing in Atlanta	141	(26)
Nowhere to Hide	167	(10)
Gentleman Al, Cincinnati Jack, and the Curious World of Commissioner Kuhn	177	(14)
715	191	(24)
Long Live the King	215	(8)
Epilogue	223	(6)
Bibliography	229	(10)
Index	239