I sat in the stands at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium many years ago when Hank Aaron had 699 home runs. It was July 21, 1973 and in the third inning against the Phillies, he hit home run #700.

I would love to have been there for # 714 or 715 but that was not to be. I didn't know, at that time, what kind of pressure he was feeling. I had no idea about the number of death threats he received each week by mail. When I later learned of the terrible assaults against his humanity, I often felt the wrongness of it all. I usually felt it in my stomach.

Today the news has come that Henry Louis Aaron has died at the age of 86 years old. Thank you, Hank, for choosing to become a really good man.