Hank Aaron's Quotes & Sayings

But this is the point I want to make: When you talk about steroids and
you talk about what it means to the game, the three greatest home run
hitters of all time-Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, right? When
they were 39 years old, how many home runs do you think they averaged?
The three greatest home run hitters of all time averaged 18 home runs
at age 39. Now, how many home runs did Barry Bonds hit when he was 39?
He hit 73! — Carlton Fisk

I was being thrown to the wolves. Even though I did something great, nobody wanted to be a part of it. I was so isolated. I couldn't share it. For many years, even after Jackie Robinson, baseball was so segregated, really. You just didn't expect us to have a chance to do anything. Baseball was meant for the lily-white. — Hank Aaron

I would like people not to think in terms of the 755 home runs I hit but think in terms of what I've accomplished off the field and some of the things I stood for. — Hank Aaron

Once the record was mine, I had to use it like a Louisville Slugger. I believed, and still do, that there was a reason why I was chosen to break the record. I feel it's my task to carry on where Jackie Robinson left off, and I only know of one way to go about it. It's the only way I've ever had of dealing with things like fastballs and bigotry
keep swinging at them. — Hank Aaron

I never thought we'd ever have a black president. President Obama has done such a tremendous job ... He just has been unable to get what he needs to be moved at the level it should be moved. — Hank Aaron

The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting. — Hank Aaron

Last year, I was sort of a kid and I was a little scared, I ain't scared any more. — Hank Aaron

I don't want people to forget Babe Ruth. I just want them to remember Henry Aaron. — Hank Aaron

I need to depend on Someone who is bigger, stronger and wiser than I am. I don't do it on my own. God is my strength. He gave me a good body and some talent and the freedom to develop it. He helps me when things go wrong. He forgives me when I fall on my face. He lights the way. — Hank Aaron

I had many, many, many death threats. I couldn't open letters for a long time, because they all had to be opened by either the FBI or somebody. I couldn't open letters. I had to be escorted. In fact, just recently I went to a funeral, Calvin Wardlaw, who was the detective
the policeman
with me for two years, passed away just recently. He and I got to be bosom buddies really, but that was the hardest part. I wasn't able to enjoy
you know. — Hank Aaron

I can't recall a day this year or last when I did not hear the name of Babe Ruth. — Hank Aaron

Its a real honor to be included among the list of finalists, when you see the names that are there, ... Some of the guys who won the Hank Aaron Award in the past are thought of as some of the best players in the history of the game, so just to be included with those guys is really gratifying. — Mark Teixeira

Failure is part of success. — Hank Aaron

I've written enough books with real celebrities, such as Walter Payton and Hank Aaron and Billy Graham, to know that fame looks good only to people who don't have it. — Jerry B. Jenkins

I thought my chances to make the Braves were better and that they were being fairer to me, paying me more money to play in a lower classification ... Besides, the Giants spelled my name "Arron" on their telegram. — Hank Aaron

Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80% of being a successful hitter. The other 20% is just execution. — Hank Aaron

You can only milk a cow so long, then you're left holding the pail. — Hank Aaron

I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you're inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something you've never seen before. If they do, I'm still looking for it. — Hank Aaron

I think about how a guy mentally prepared himself to do battle, to go out and face the pitcher. I think so many hitters do not know how to get themselves prepared to play or hit against a pitcher. You have to mentally be prepared to hit against all pitchers. — Hank Aaron

More than anyone else, Hank Aaron made me wish I wasn't a manager. — Walt Alston

I don't feel right unless I have a sport to play or at least a way to work up a sweat. — Hank Aaron

The triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Home runs win a lot of games, but I never understood why fans are so obsessed with them. — Hank Aaron

I used to love to come to the ballpark. Now I hate it. Every day becomes a little tougher because of all this. Writers, tape recorders, microphones, cameras, questions and more questions. Roger Maris lost his hair the season he hit sixty-one. I still have all my hair, but when it's over, I'm going home to Mobile and fish for a long time. — Hank Aaron

I never doubted my ability, but ... — Hank Aaron

In baseball, there is something electrifying about the big leagues. I had read so much about (Stan) Musial, (Ted) Williams and (Jackie) Robinson. I had put those guys on a pedestal. They were something special. I really thought they put their pants on different, rather than one leg at a time. — Hank Aaron

There wasn't much white people would allow us to do in those days. You could be a schoolteacher or an athlete to get away from the manual labor and servant-type jobs, but there wasn't much else they were going to allow you [to] do. — Hank Aaron

Whatever we do, make sure we clean up baseball. — Hank Aaron

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. — Hank Aaron

You've got to remember, the older you get the slower you get. I've seen a lot of players get old ... if I can have a good season in 1972 and come back with another good one, well, that's different. I might not quit. But two bad ones back to back and staying home would be written on the wall. — Hank Aaron

I'm mad at Hank Aaron for deciding to play one more season. I threw him his last home run and thought I'd be remembered forever. Now, I'll have to throw him another. — Bill Lee

Baseball needs me because it needs somebody to stir the pot, and I need it because it's my life. It's the means I have to make a little difference in the world. — Hank Aaron

Five hundred smacks? On the Yankees? When the Braves've got Spahn and Burdette? Not to mention Hank Aaron and Steady Eddie Mathews? — Stephen King

What you do with your life and how you do it is not only a reflection on you, but on your family and all of those institutions that have helped to make you who you are. — Hank Aaron

There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. — Hank Aaron

I had just turned 20, and Jackie told me the only way to be successful at anything was to go out and do it. He said baseball was a game you played every day, not once a week. — Hank Aaron

Trying to sneak a fastball past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster. — Joe Adcock

I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face. — Hank Aaron

If I knew exactly what I know now and had it to do over, I'd be a switch hitter. No telling what I could have done. — Hank Aaron

You may not think you're going to make it. You may want to quit. But if you keep your eye on the ball, you can
accomplish anything. — Hank Aaron

Does Pete (Rose) hustle? Before the All-Star game he came into the clubhouse and took off his shoes and they ran another mile without him. — Hank Aaron

There is no logical reason why girls shouldn't play baseball. It's not all that tough. — Hank Aaron

The first thing baseball wants to do is make you a superstar and then say that you owe baseball something. I don't owe baseball anything. Baseball owes me. — Hank Aaron

To this day, whenever I'm in Milwaukee, which is often, I'm reminded that the people there still haven't gotten over the Braves leaving ... If it helps, they should know the players haven't either. — Hank Aaron

I've taken a lot of crap from a lot of people. Probably more than anybody in the history of this sport. I know Hank (Aaron) and Jackie (Robinson) took a good deal of crap, but I guarantee it wasn't for six years. I just keep thinking: How much am I supposed to take? — John Rocker

Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest. It pisses me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He's playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit. The first thing Hank Aaron had to worry about is: Am I going to survive this at-bat because I'm black. — Goose Gossage

People I look to: again, Hank Aaron, man you challenged the status quo and the records of the game. Monumental feats in an era where people didn't like that. — Dave Winfield

You got to play a hundred and fifty games a year, so pick your spots. You can miss two games a month; so pick the days you're gonna be hurt, or you're gonna rest or you're gonna have a drink or two. The rest of the time, be on that field. — Hank Aaron

Looking at the ball going over the fence isn't going to help. — Hank Aaron

I am very proud to be an American. This country has so much potential, I'd just like to see things better, or whatever, and I think it will be. — Hank Aaron

Finally learning his baseball history, on the topic of Hank Aaron and his home run record — Alfonso Soriano

Baseball is a lot like the ivy-covered wall of Wrigley Field
it gives off a great appearance, but when you run into it, you discover the bricks underneath. At times, it seems that we're dealing with a group of men who aren't much different than others we've all run into over the years, except they wear neckties instead of robes and hoods. — Hank Aaron

I think what separates a superstar from the average ballplayer is that he concentrates just a little bit longer. — Hank Aaron

By any reasonable standard (i.e. he didn't cheat), Aaron is one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history - and there shouldn't even be a debate about who is baseball's true all-time home run champion (again, no cheating). — Tucker Elliot

Willie Mays could throw better, and Hank Aaron could hit more home runs. But I've got enthusiasm. I've got desire. I've got hustle. Those are God-given talents, too. — Pete Rose

I played with Willie Mays and against Hank Aaron. They were tremendous players, but they were no Josh Gibson. — Monte Irvin

I'm hoping someday that some kid, black or white, will hit more home runs than myself. Whoever it is, I'd be pulling for him. — Hank Aaron

I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them. — Hank Aaron

Failure is a part of success. — Hank Aaron

I don't know where Hank Aaron will break Ruth's record but I can tell you one thing - ten years from the day he hits it three million people will say they were there. — Eddie Mathews

It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. It took one afternoon on the golf course. — Hank Aaron

There's only one way to break the color line. Be good. I mean, play good. Play so good that they can't remember what color you were before the season started. — Hank Aaron

Can I smoke now without someone taking my picture? — Hank Aaron

I'm sure glad this isn't my home ball park. — Hank Aaron

The thing I like about baseball is that it's one-on-one. You stand up there alone, and if you make a mistake, it's your mistake. If you hit a home run, it's your home run. — Hank Aaron

You know what the hardest thing is? What nobody wants to understand
is me. People want their memories of me to be my memories of me. But you know what? They're not. — Hank Aaron

Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he's treated. We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country. — Hank Aaron

I've tried a lot of things in the off-season, but the only thing I really know is baseball. — Hank Aaron

I never thought home runs were all that exciting. I still think the triple is the most exciting thing in baseball. To me, a triple is like a guy taking the ball on his 1-yard line and running 99 yards for a touchdown. — Hank Aaron

The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most with the home runs he hit. So as long as there's a chance that maybe I can hammer out a little justice now and then, or a little opportunity here and there, I intend to do as I always have
keep swinging. — Hank Aaron

I don't see pitches down the middle anymore - not even in batting practice. — Hank Aaron

I came to the Braves on business, and I intended to see that business was good as long as I could. — Hank Aaron

In playing ball, and in life, a person occasionally gets the opportunity to do something great. When that time comes, only two things matter: being prepared to seize the moment and having the courage to take your best swing. — Hank Aaron

Consistency is what counts; you have to be able to do things over and over again. — Hank Aaron

Maybe the day will come when I can sit back and be content ... But until that day comes, I intend to stay in the batter's box - I don't let the big guys push me out of there anymore - and keep hammering away. — Hank Aaron

Making the majors is not as hard as staying there, staying interested day after day. It's like being married. The hardest part is to stay married. — Hank Aaron

There's no question that O.J. Simpson had been a substitute white man in America. He had gained honorary white status. He was not viewed by many white Americans as black. He was not seen as the African American athlete who was rebellious: Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron ... He was accepted in golf clubs that were very tony. — Michael Eric Dyson

Didn't come up here to read. Came up here to hit. — Hank Aaron

[My father] didn't make much money, and I tell a lot of people, you know, I was a vegetarian before people knew what a vegetarian was. That's all I ate was vegetables. — Hank Aaron

Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it. — Hank Aaron

You visualize [pitches]. You see it in your head; you think it ... I used to play every pitcher in my mind before I went to the ballpark. I started getting ready for ever game the moment I woke up. — Hank Aaron

On the field, blacks have been able to be super giants. But, once our playing days are over, this is the end of it and we go back to the back of the bus again. — Hank Aaron