#4 - Hank Aaron Special - '62-'65

So far in this special series of Aaron, the Braves uniforms have not changed much.  The hats are consistent.  Hank has that gracious built-in smile...always.  His hair style stays the same, and he is predictibly clean shaven.  But one thing I notice is his face maturing from a young pup to a veteran ballplayer in his prime.

His list of accomplishments on the back of the card piece together just what kind of player he was.  In '56 and '59 he led the league in batting.  In '57 he led the league in homers.  In '57 and '60 he led the league in RBI's.  In '56, '57, '59, '60 and '61 he led the league in total bases.  The card contains an error in the '61 year, claiming he won TB's for the fourth time, when it was actually his fifth time.  In '57 and '58 he won a World Series and a pennant.  In '58 he won a gold glove.  In '63 he became a member of the 30/30 club.  But notice his '62 accomplishment: "Although Hank didn't lead the League in any one category..."  Uh, you mean Hank sucked in '62?  Yeah, really bad, at .323, 45 and 128!  So, Hank showed himself as a triple crown player who could also catch and run.  That's a great picture of an overall player.

I grew up 30 miles east of San Francisco and 20 miles east of Oakland.  Our famliy took one annual trip to a game in the 70's, usually in Oakland because it was so much closer and with less traffic.  But in '74, Hank's all-time record prompted us to take in our first family Giants game when the Braves came to town, hoping to see the Hammer hit.  We were disappointed as the homer king was given the day off.