Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America

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 2004 Booklist

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 runs-755-than any other ballplayer." The most fascinating and horrifying part of Stanton's account-sadly for baseball history-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. Agent, Philip Spitzer. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

When, after more than two decades of knocking baseballs over fences, "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron finally approached Babe Ruth's last "unbreakable" record -714 lifetime home runs-not all of baseball was cheering him on. In addition to enduringthe intensifying media scrutiny, the quiet, black slugger had his life threatened and race denigrated by scores of antifans in phone calls and letters. Stanton (The Final Season) captures the embittering and, finally, uplifting sides of Aaron's personal story from that record-breaking campaign that ended 30 years ago this April. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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. ((Reviewed April 1, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

When, after more than two decades of knocking baseballs over fences, "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron finally approached Babe Ruth's last "unbreakable" record -714 lifetime home runs-not all of baseball was cheering him on. In addition to enduringthe intensifying media scrutiny, the quiet, black slugger had his life threatened and race denigrated by scores of antifans in phone calls and letters. Stanton (The Final Season) captures the embittering and, finally, uplifting sides of Aaron's personal story from that record-breaking campaign that ended 30 years ago this April. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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 runs-755-than any other ballplayer." The most fascinating and horrifying part of Stanton's account-sadly for baseball history-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. Agent, Philip Spitzer. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.