en en en en en de en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en
Five days earlier, McLain had been traded from the Oakland Athletics — where he was stuck in Double-A Birmingham trying to recover from a shoulder injury — to the Atlanta Braves. Now, the 28-year-old former 30-game winner with the Detroit Tigers was back in the bigs and starting Game 2 of a doubleheader in front of 50,597 fans at Atlanta Stadium.
But first, McLain wanted to locate Hammerin' Hank, the Braves great who would finish a 23-year career four years later with a then-record 755 homers and 2,297 RBIs, a record which still stands.
Aaron, who gifted McLain a lasting memory, died Friday at 86.
“We are absolutely devastated by the passing of our beloved Hank," Terry McGuirk, Braves chairman, said in a released statement. "He was a beacon for our organization first as a player, then with player development, and always with our community efforts. His incredible talent and resolve helped him achieve the highest accomplishments, yet he never lost his humble nature. Henry Louis Aaron wasn’t just our icon, but one across Major League Baseball and around the world. His success on the diamond was matched only by his business accomplishments off the field and capped by his extraordinary philanthropic efforts."
McLain recounted his experience on Friday.
In search of Aaron that day in 1972, McLain checked the outfield during batting practice.
"Wait a minute, is that Aaron?" McLain asked his new teammates.
"Yeah," catcher Paul Casanova responded. "He does that almost every night."
"He hasn't learned how to catch a flyball yet?" McLain added.
"No, no," Casanova said, laughing. "He can catch it."
Aaron, despite his superstar status, always shagged baseballs for his teammates. His greatness, McLain explained, was not solely defined by his home runs. He battled racial injustice. He was humble to the core and a down-to-earth human being. Always willing to sign autographs, he respected the fans and rarely turned down a conversation. And to every manager's liking, he rarely asked for a day off.
But there was no doubt he could hit.
"He had so much ability when it came to hitting the baseball," McLain, now 76, told the Free Press. "When he hit the baseball, it sounded different than anybody else. It sounded like a shotgun jumping off that bat. He wasn't a very big guy, but he had the greatest hands I've ever seen for a hitter. You couldn't get a fastball by him inside if you put a gun to his head. I'm telling you, the guy was unbelievable."
Aaron secured two National League batting titles (1956, 1959) and earned the NL MVP in 1957 (with the Braves in Milwaukee) with 44 homers and 132 RBIs. He hit at least 30 home runs in a season 15 times and drove in at least 100 runs 11 times. He was crowned as a World Series champion in 1957 when the Braves defeated the New York Yankees in seven games.
He crushed his 715th home run — breaking Babe Ruth's record — on April 8, 1974.
"People knew how good he was," McLain said. "But he never got the respect that he deserved (during his playing career). Every home run he hit after 600, they should have been standing up at every ballpark around the league. There wasn't a person who ever played the game that could hit as well as he did. How did he hit all those home runs? I don't know.
"You could never jam Hank Aaron. If you go in there with a fastball, you're going to have to go find it. Because, normally, he hit them so far you couldn't even find them. That's how hard he hit them."
Before McLain made that first start for the Braves in 1972, he remembers looking up at the crowd and feeling overwhelmed. Already removed from his prime, the last time somebody gave him a standing ovation, he said, was his wife when he handed her his paycheck.
It ended up being the final season of McLain's 10-year career in the majors. He won 31 games with a 1.96 ERA for the Tigers in 1968, securing the World Series, American League Cy Young and MVP. He won the AL Cy Young the next year with the Tigers, too, boasting 24 wins and a 2.80 ERA.
Still, he will never forget his Braves debut in Atlanta, where his career collided with Aaron — teammates for the second half of the 1972 season. McLain lasted seven innings that night, allowing three runs, nine hits and no walks before the game was called due to rain in a 3-3 tie.
"I had so much adrenaline in me," McLain said. "I was in awe. There were three or four guys. Paul Casanova came up to me and said, 'Good luck, tonight. Go get them out. Don't worry about it.' The other guy who came up to me, his name was Mr. Aaron. I'll never forget it."
Aaron said, "I got your back. Don't worry. We got you."
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
Careers Staff Directory Accessibility Site Map Legals Our Ethical Principles Terms of Service Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy PolicyDo Not Sell My Info / Cookie Policy
Contact Us Support Local Business Advertise Your Business Advertising Terms and Conditions Licensing & Reprints Help Center Subscriber Guide My Account Give Feedback