[kailes2872]

And I think 2 WS and 1 WS win early in his career and then only one other playoff appearance in Atlanta late hurt him as well - especially when that was the only way people were seeing many players - especially players outside of NY/LA, etc.

I was born in 72 and took a shine to Aaron very early on in life. When I was in elementary school, the library had 3-4 Aaron books. I read them and I memorized his statistics. I remember reading about the two sandwiches that he left Mobile with on his way to playing for the Indianapolis Clowns.

When I watch the replay of 715, I can only imagine the fear when the two guys rushed the diamond to round second base with him. Yet, throughout his career, he continued to show grace and forgiveness when I would have harbored anger and resentment.

I count my '54 Aaron as my favorite card in my collection. I have an autographed picture of him hitting 715 on my wall - the former SI cover. I have an autographed picture of Hank and Willie that I bought when I was in cooperstown with the boys in 2012. I have autographed baseballs of Hank and Willie that sits on a shelf below the picture.

I remember thinking about how crazy it must have been in '73 when he finished the season one home run short. This would have been one season after Clemente finished with exactly 3000 hits and then perished in the offseason.

I guess that is a long-winded way of saying that I never saw Hank play. I was only 4 when he retired and don't remember ever watching him. I read about him, wrote to him when I was a kid (and he sent back and autographed picture), and studied his career. Without question, he was my favorite player over all active players in the early '80's and he remains my favorite today.