Hey Joe, 'Tude-Gary started the thread, not Bulldog-Gary!
I grew up watching Hank Aaron hit homer after homer after homer at Atlanta/Fulton County Stadium. Y'know - the legit kind. Not the chemically enhanced sort that a certain Bay Area bomber gets undue credit for (uh-oh, here we go . . .). Hammerin' Hank was my idol when I was a kid, not just for the way he played the game, but for the way he gracefully handled all the hate and negativism as he got closer and closer to Ruth's record.
The first time I saw him play in person he hit two club-level shots and single-handedly beat the Pirates (Willie Stargell and the Murderer's Row). I would have given anything to be at the park the night he stroked # 715 against Al Downing and the Dodgers (yep, Joe - Al Downing is forever on my Christmas card list!) - but I was listening on the radio.
I got to meet Hank for the first time about 20 years ago at a business luncheon. I was (1) shocked at how big his wrists and hands were for his size, and (2) amazed at the strength of his grip at his age. I've had the privilege of shaking his hand several more times over the succeeding years, and I swear he could still put one over the fence at Turner Field today even in his mid-70s.
