TRIBUTES POUR FOR BASEBALL HOME RUN KING HANK AARON, 86

Reactions to Hank Aaron’s death from former presidents to fellow Hall of Famers to everyone who knew him followed a theme: how the one-time home run king handled the racism he faced on the way to passing Babe Ruth’s hallowed record nearly 50 years ago. Aaron died in his sleep at 86.

“A child of the Jim Crow South, Hank quit high school to join the Negro League, playing shortstop for $200 a month before earning a spot in Major League Baseball,” former President Barack Obama said.

“Humble and hardworking, Hank was often overlooked until he started chasing Babe Ruth’s home run record, at which point he began receiving death threats and racist letters — letters he would reread decades later to remind himself ‘not to be surprised or hurt.’ Those letters changed Hank, but they didn’t stop him,” he said, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Aaron broke Ruth’s record with his 715th home run for the Atlanta Braves in 1974 in former President Jimmy Carter’s native Georgia.

“A breaker of records and racial barriers, his remarkable legacy will continue to inspire countless athletes and admirers for generations to come,” Carter said.

Former President George W. Bush was managing partner of the Texas Rangers before becoming governor in his home state and spending eight years in the White House. Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the country’s highest civilian honor — to Aaron in 2002.

“The former Home Run King wasn’t handed his throne,” Bush said. “He grew up poor and faced racism as he worked to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Hank never let the hatred he faced consume him.”

Former Commissioner Bud Selig reminisced of a recent visit to Washington with Aaron, whose final two seasons were with the Selig-owned Milwaukee Brewers. “Not long ago, he and I were walking the streets of Washington, D.C, together and talking about how we’ve been the best of friends for more than 60 years,” Selig said.

“Then Hank said, ‘Who would have ever thought all those years ago that a Black kid from Mobile, Alabama, would break Babe Ruth’s home run record and a Jewish kid from Milwaukee would become the commissioner of baseball?’”

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