"Hands down better than the players in major league baseball back then."
2020 is the year that rational thought suffered.
On the subject of the MLB, Inc. elevating Negro League stats to major league status:
MLB to include Negro leagues. Did Babe Ruth face Satchel Paige? Friday, December 18, 2020
So, what did Hank Aaron know about the Negro Leagues 1920-1948. Nothing as a player in those years. Aaron was born February 5, 1934. He was 14 in 1948. SABR bio on Hank Aaron:
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/hank-aaron/
One of the consequences of this self-coaching was that he developed a cross-handed batting style, a habit he kept until his early days in the professional ranks...
On November 20, 1951, despite his mother’s concerns about his not continuing on to college, Henry signed a $200/month contract with the Negro American League champion Indianapolis Clowns. Scout Bunny Downs had discovered Aaron playing with the Black Bears during an earlier exhibition, and once with Indianapolis Aaron flourished, helping guide the team to the 1952 Negro League World Series crown. In 26 games that year he posted a .366 batting average, hit five home runs, and stole nine bases. The series, and the season, allowed Aaron to showcase his range of skills not just for regional scouts, but for several major league organizations as well...
On June 14, 1952, Aaron signed with Braves scout Dewey Griggs, and reported to the Class C Eau Claire Bears. There the coaches helped him eliminate his cross-handed batting grip, and the results were staggering.
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How many guys do you know of who batted cross handed even in the low minor leagues? Apparently in Indianapolis Aaron's coaches were clowns.
1952 Eau Claire Bears, Northern League:
| Rk | Name | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hank Aaron | 18 | 87 | 345 | 116 | 19 | 4 | 9 | .336 | .493 | 170 |
Note all the stats missing in Aaron's first minor league season. I wonder what stats might be missing from the Negro Leagues.
Now a Dec. 16, 2020 Today show video on the subject, narrated by one of the hosts, Craig Melvin.
At the end Craig Melvin quotes Hank Aaron off camera from a previous interview about Negro Leagues players:
"Hands down better than the players in major league baseball back then."
"Wow" coos one of the three other Today show co-hosts. They all nod in agreement that MLB has done the right thing.
I'm guessing that the off camera quote is part of a TV interview Melvin did with Aaron that's referenced in one of my Astros cheating posts, video included. This before any of the social unrest incidents. The excerpts below indicate the lack of professional journalism of Craig Melvin and the degree to which an interviewer can extract what he wants from a subject.
Hank Aaron played with Bobby Thomson but wants Astros cheaters banned for life. Sunday, February 9, 2020
Who doesn't like Hank Aaron? He was a great player for two decades starting in 1954, just three years after the previously biggest sign stealing incident in baseball history. Even if Aaron didn't know as a young man, Aaron must have realized by this millennium that one of his rookie season veteran teammates was possibly the biggest beneficiary of the 1951 New York Giants stealing signs in a way that was against the rules.
But that story has been known at least since 2001 and there's no excuse for either Aaron or his recent interviewer to ignore the irony and possible hypocrisy. Did Aaron ever take a position about the Giants, including Bobby Thomson who played on the Milwaukee Braves with Aaron during Aaron's first three years in MLB? ...
The exchange between Aaron and NBC Today Show interviewer Craig Melvin was brief and both men shared a light hearted smug laugh. But they were laughing about giving Houston Astros a professional death sentence. That's neither a laughing matter nor a punishment that fits the "crime". Frankly, they both displayed an appalling and irresponsible ignorance.
Video
Melvin: "They didn't steal signs back in your day?"
Aaron: "They didn't steal them that way".
Smug laughter.
Melvin: "You think the punishment fit the crime?"
Aaron: "No I don't. I think, I think whoever did that should be out of baseball the rest of their life.”
They then went on to discuss Pete Rose.
No one expects the Today Show to do a good job on sports but this is so lame that both individuals are being called out...
Both Hank Aaron and his sloppy interviewer Craig Melvin knew about the famous Bobby Thomson home run. Maybe Melvin didn't know that Thomson had been Aaron's teammate just three years later but Aaron certainly did. Maybe Aaron didn't link the two "scandals" but he should have. Had Bobby Thomson received the professional death sentence that Aaron recommends for the Houston Astros, then Thomson does not get traded to the Braves and maybe Aaron doesn't win the one and only championship of his long illustrious career in 1957. On the other hand, maybe the Braves win the NL pennant in 1954 with Johnny Antonelli breaking out in his second season in the Braves starting rotation.
If Hank Aaron had first been asked about the 1951 Bobby Thomson pennant winning home run and the revelation that Thomson's Giants had been cheating by stealing opposing catcher's signs, then Aaron might have had a different perspective when asked about the 2017-2019 Houston Astros doing the same. No 1951 players were punished. None. Aaron should have been made aware of that.
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