ATLANTA – Brian Snitker stifled his tears as he remembered Hank Aaron’s affection for those who did not have his unparalleled talent on the baseball field.
During his post-game career, leading the Atlanta Braves farm system, Hammer tended to look beyond the unmissable prospects.
“He always wanted to move a player up and preferred not to be the so-called bonus babies,” said Snitker, who led the 2016 Braves and started in the shelter thanks to Aaron. “He wanted to take that guy to grind, the guy who went too far.”
Snitker was among those who spoke Tuesday at a memorial service honoring Aaron, who died last week of natural causes at the age of 86.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, Hall of Famer Chipper Jones and former Braves outfielder Marquis Grissom were among those who spoke at the ceremony in front of a small, socially distanced crowd – including Aaron’s widow, Billye and other family members. – on the hall directly behind the board at Truist Park.
The comments were presented in an exhibition known as Monument Garden, which prominently features a statue of Aaron delivering the cradle that produced 755 homers.
Others sent video tributes, including John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, baseball celebrities, teammate Aaron and current manager Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros, Freddie Freeman, MVP of the National League, and former brave Dale Murphy, who won the awards MVP back to back. in the 1980s.
The famous no. 44 of Aaron was painted in the latent grass of the central field. Braves president Terry McGuirk noted the unusually warm January weather – the temperature rose in the upper 60s – as a top sign honoring one of the game’s biggest icons.
Noting the 10 Baseball Hall of Famers who have died in the past year, Manfred said Aaron “belongs to Mount Rushmore of our sport. He stood – on and off the field – above all others.”
Most memories focused on Aaron’s humiliation and the impact he had after retiring as a player in 1976. Few spoke of him as the one who eclipsed Babe Ruth’s famous home record or the unprecedented race. , for two decades, of sustained excellence. which helped him establish a few other brands that still exist today.
Snitker remembered that he was an indescribable minor league player who received another blow when Aaron offered him his first leadership position in 1982 with Anderson Braves, a Sally Class A team.
“The reason I’m here today is because of Hank Aaron,” Snitker said, pausing to stay calm.
Snitker struggled in the obscurity of the minor leagues for most of his coaching and managerial career, before finally receiving the call to become Braves commander at the age of 60. Since then, he has led the team to three consecutive NL East titles, earning honors in the 2018 NL Manager of the Year.
“I will miss the days when he used to pass by, I would come to my office and I could sit and talk,” Snitker said. “I will miss the friend and mentor I had in my life.”
Jones recalled how Aaron pushed the Braves to select him with general election no. 1 in the 1990 amateur draft, when many considered pitcher Todd Van Poppel as the main leader.
“Hank was very important in becoming an Atlanta Brave,” Jones said. “The Braves decision-makers’ chamber was divided over who they were going to take with their first choice. As legendary scout Paul Snyder once told me, the vote came to Hank. He stopped, looked at everyone in the room, and said “You better shoot the Jones boy. I’ll never forget that. This comment must have had some weight.”
Van Poppel didn’t do much in the big leagues, finishing with a 40-52 record. Jones spent his entire career with the Braves and was inducted into Cooperstown in 2018.
“His balance, his smile, his spirit. They were all beautiful.”
Chipper Jones, third baseman of the Brave Hall of Fame
Jones said he once asked Aaron – who once played with dominating pitchers like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal – if he had ever been intimidated on the set.
“He said, ‘Chipper, I’m not afraid of anyone when I have a bat in my hand,'” Jones said, smiling.
According to former Braves baseman, Aaron could be summed up in one word.
Beautiful.
“His balance, his smile, his spirit,” Jones said. “They were all beautiful.”
A private funeral service for Aaron will be held on Wednesday. He will be buried in the historic South-View Cemetery, the city’s oldest black cemetery, where he will be buried with civil rights leaders such as John Lewis and Julian Bond.
The Braves intend to honor Aaron next season. McGuirk announced the first of these initiatives: a $ 1 million donation to establish the Henry Louis Aaron Fund, which will work to increase the participation of minorities among players, managers, coaches and front-office staff.
This was an issue that Aaron was very interested in throughout his life. He has often criticized the lack of black managers and CEOs in Major League Baseball. He was upset that fewer blacks were playing the game.
The donation of the Braves will be equivalent to $ 500,000 each from MLB and the players’ association.
Manfred emphasized a “strong desire to continue the good work he has done throughout his life, especially by encouraging the participation of minorities in baseball”.
Grissom said he will always remember the advice Aaron gave him during his college days at Florida A&M, when the team received an impromptu tour of Hammer’s Atlanta home on the way to a game in North Carolina.
“If you get the chance, do your best,” Grissom recalled, telling Aaron. “These words remain with me. They kindled a fire in me that is still burning today.”