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I Had a Hammer
Henry (Hank) Aaron,
with Lonnie Wheeler
Throughout his
illustrious career, Hank Aaron was never one to
say very much. I Had a
Hammer breaks that silence
with quiet dignity, strength of character, and
pride--qualities synonymous with American
legend."--Ted Turner
"Henry's got guts.
He'll say what he feels. All young kids have got
to be made to know what guys like Henry and
Jackie and I endured. It's important to make the
readers believe that these things happened to us,
and were it not for Jackie and Henry and all of
us, they might still be going on. We paid a heavy
debt. Damn it, we've got to tell the truth the
way it was."--Don Newcombe
"The most
outspoken advocate of integration in baseball,
Hank Aaron, was the first major-league player to
dispassionately and honestly deal with the
subject where Jackie Robinson left off."
--Robert E. Johnson, associate publisher, JET
magazine.
Henry Aaron left his
mark on the world by breaking Babe ruth's record
for home runs. But the world has also left its
mark on him.
"Hammering
Hank" Aaron's story is one that tells us
much about baseball, naturally, but also about
our times. His unique, poignant life has made him
a symbol for much of the social history of
twentieth-century America.
Raised during the
Depression in the Deep South enclave of Mobile,
Alabama, Aaron broke into professional baseball
as a cross-handed slugger and shortstop for the
Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American league.
A year later, he and a few others had the
unforgettable mission of integrating the South
Atlantic League. A year after that, he was a
timid rookie leftfielder for the Milwaukee
Braves, for whom he became a World Series hero in
1957 as well as the Most Valuable Player of the
National League.
Aaron found himself
back in the south when the Braves moved to
Atlanta in 1965. Nine years later, in the heat of
hatred and convtroversy, he hit his 715th home
run to break Ruth's record--a feat that was
recently voted the greatest moment in baseball
history. That year, Aaron received over 900,000
pieces of mail, many of them vicious and racially
charged.
In a career that may be
the most consistent baseball has ever seen, Aaron
also set all-time records for total bases and
RBI's. He ended his playing days by spending two
nostalgic seasons back in Milwaukee with the
Brewers, then embarked on a new career as an
executive with the Atlanta Braves. He was for a
long time the highest-ranking black in baseball.
In this position, Aaron has become an unofficial
spokesman in racial matters pertaining to the
national pastime.
Because of the depth
and pertinence of Aaron's dramatic experiences, I
Had a Hammer is more than a
baseball autobiography. Henry Aaron's candor and
insights have produced a revealing book about his
extraordinary life and times.
Buy the book below.
 
I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story
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