On January 22, baseball great Henry Aaron died in his sleep at age 86. Aaron grew up in poverty amid the worst abuses of the segregated south, only to become the baseball player who smashed the hallowed home-run record of Babe Ruth. Hank Aaron wasn’t as loud as some other stars, on or off the field. He was a steady presence, a fixture in right field, a mainstay at the All-Star Game, and a terror at the plate. His path was often difficult, and his name is sometimes overlooked when rattling off the greatest to ever play the game.
In 1959, two years after winning the MVP, Aaron and his wife and children were baptized and received into St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the instruction of Fr. Michael Sablica, a priest who was vocal in his support of the civil rights movement and believed the Catholic Church could be a powerful tool for social justice. Hank Aaron described him as “more than just a religious friend of mine, he was a friend because he talked as if he was not a priest, he was just good people.”
Throughout his career, Aaron was known to keep a copy of Thomas à Kempis’ devotional classic The Imitation of Christ in his locker. Aaron said in his Hall of Fame induction speech, “The way to fame is like the way to heaven. Through much tribulation.”
– Andrew Petiprin, Word on Fire Institute
