It is with great sadness that I note the death of Henry Aaron, more commonly known as Hank Aaron, who sat among the small circle of the greatest players in baseball:

One of the sport’s great stars despite playing for the small-market Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves throughout a major league career that spanned from 1954 to 1976, Aaron still holds major league records for RBIs (2,297), total bases (6,856) and extra-base hits (1,477), and he ranks among MLB’s best in hits (3,771, third all time), games played (3,298, third) and runs scored (2,174, fourth).

ESPN.com

My thoughts go out to his family, friends, and the entire baseball community.

Aaron’s finish kick impressed me most about his career. From 1969 to 1973, his seasonal age 35-39 seasons, Aaron led the majors in home runs. It wasn’t even close, as he beat out Willie Stargell 203-185. At an age where most hitters are fading away, Aaron remained elite.

I did see him play at Shea Stadium in the early 1970s. He played first base and didn’t get the ball out of the infield. Still, I was extremely happy to have seen one of the great sluggers in person. At that point, it was becoming clear that either Aaron or Willie Mays would challenge the home run record of Babe Ruth. Aaron provided the finishing kick to put him over the top.

He hit all those home runs without being a huge man. Baseball Reference lists him at six feet, 180 pounds. He did manage to generate a lot of power:

He uses a different swing that what we are used to seeing today. He leans his upper body into the ball, and he likes the ball up. Some of his home runs remind a bit of the senior Vlad Guerrero. You can see that more in this highlight reel:

Aaron produced great hitting stats in general, walking more than he struck out, leading him to collect over 3000 hits in addition to his 755 home runs.

Rest in peace, Hammerin’ Hank!