fourth annotation

Aaron , Henry. I had a hammer. 1 st. New York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers,, c1991..

My fourth annotation is a book called I had a Hammer. this is the most helpful annotation i have. it is a long a very helpful book. This book is his autobiography and so it tells me the important things about his life from his point of view and other people in his life. Some information from the book:

This starts with Hank Aaron's childhood. Hank Aaron was named after his grandfather. Hank Aaron grew up in Mobile, and Tulminsville, Alabama. How grew up in a house without lights or windows but it did have a kerosene lamp and their bathroom was an outhouse. He has seven brothers and sisters and they did not eat much but they did eat what they grew in the family garden. His father Herbert Aaron had a job at the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding and his father also owned a bar called the Black Cat Inn and it was the only black bar. His brother Herbert Junior also worked at the bar and so did one of his sisters. His mother never had a babysitter and bragged about it even though she had so many children. His mother Estella Aaron wanted him to go to college. His brother Tommie also became a major league baseball player. Hank used to play baseball with kids in his neighborhood and when he did not play with neighborhood children he played by himself hitting a bottle cap with a stick. Hank mowed a few lawns but his mind was always on baseball. His mother cleaned some houses foe two dollars. One of his childhood friends was Cornelius Giles.His sister Gloria and brother James went to college. His oldest sister ran the tavern with his father. His brother Alfred died at the age of 2 of pneumonia.His brother Tommie became a major league baseball player.

The book also talks about the rest of his life. His mother thought he should be a football player because people got to go to college on football scholarships. Hank tried out for his high school football team but he quit. In his childhood he was a boyscout.As a teenager him and his friends played softball.when he was little him and his friends played baseball at Carver Park.He skipped school sometimes and one time for 40 days in a row.In 1948 he went to hear Jackie Robinson speak. His mother was not happy when In 1951 he played for the Black Bears. The Black Bears paid him 10 dollars a game but paid him on Mondays. His mother said he could not play in away games. Herbert Aaron feared for his life when white workers rioted for two days because black welders had been promoted in their stead. The situation was so frightening that guards were hired to escort black workers to and from work. He went to Dodgers tryouts once but did not make because he was too small. When he signed with the Indianapolis clowns he was paid 200 dollars a month. The braves would pay him 350 dollars a month and the clowns would get 2,500 and a additional 7,500 if the Braves kept him for 30 days.

Something Hank Aaron said in his book about why he broke the record: I learned a lot as a ballplayer. Among other things I learned that if you manage to make a name for yourself and if you're black, believe me, it has to be a big name, then people will start listening to what you have to say. Believe me, there were times during the chase when I was so angry and tired and sick of it all that I wished i could get on a plane and go somewhere they never heard of Babe Ruth. I wanted to do it for Jackie and my people and myself and for everybody who ever called me a nigger.

Why he got the nickname Hammerin Hank: People said i pounded the ball as if my bat was a hammer, and they called me Hammerin Hank.

Some local historians believed that if Martin Luther King Jr had chosen to make his mark in Mobile instead of Montgomery he might not have survived until 1968.

Played on braves class A minor league team in the Sally League. Other African Americans on his team were his friends Horace and Felix. won the pennant and had a seven game win streak. Him and the other black players had to stay on the bus when they were on the road and white players stayed at hotels or ate at restaurants. broke the color barrier in Jacksonville when he played second base but was bad at double plays. hank Aaron was chosen to play in an all star game but because of Jim crow laws he could not and he did not even attend and he regets it. Lost championship to
Columbia and named MVP. after wining the MVP award he asked Barbara to marry him. In 1953 him and Felix went to the Puerto Rico League and played on the Carauas team. When you hit a home run there you get a carton of Chesterfield Cigarettes the strongest cigarettes in the world.His first child Gaile was born in Puerto Rico. In 1954 he joined the Major League and they thought he was just a lazy kid just off the cotton field. His locker spelled Arron. In 1955 he won MVP and got paid 17,000 and in 1956 he was on a 25 game hit streak and won the batting title. In 1957 he won the pennant, the world series, and before the next season his son Henry Junior was born and nine months later twins Lary were born and he won the golden glove.

he said he would rather go to Atlanta in 1954 than when the Braves moved there 12 years later. Milwaukee did not want the Braves to move to Atlanta so they sued but lost. The players did not want the team to move either. Hank Aaron and teammate Eddie Mathews hold the record for most career home runs by two teammates with 863 beating Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig's record of 793. Eddie says that the record is his proudest accomplishment.

One year when hank and Willie Mays went to a clothing store and Willie pulled out a couple of hundreds and white people called the police. When the police arrived Willie said he was Willie Mays and the police left because it was OK to be Willie Mays.

When the team moved to Atlanta hank played with his brother Tommie who hit the first home run in Atlanta. Atlanta was the highest city in the majors. Hank stole the first base in Atlanta. In 1966 in a game against the Phillies pitcher Bo Belinsky hank hit his career 400 home run. In Atlanta Hank was worried about his wife and kids going to the ballpark and hearing him get called names. The team pitcher Tony Cloninger hit 2 grand slams in one game against the Giants. Hank finished the season with 44 home runs. In august of 1968 in a game against the Giants Hank hit his 500 home run. In 1969 Hank finished the season with 44 home runs. The team lost the pennant to the Dodgers in 1956,1959 and in 1969 lost the playoffs to the Mets. In 1970 Hank had a career total of 3,000 and he hit the first home run to land in the leftfield upperdeck in Atlanta stadium and he started the home run chase. In 1971 Hank got divorced because Barbara did not like his lifestyle and of other things and hit his 600 home run. In 1972 he made 600,000 in contract and started receiving hate mail about him breaking the record.

1n 1972 hank got number 700 against the Phillies. A man named E M Bailey made a statue of Hank in his front yard because it brought tears to his eyes to think of all that Hank had gone through, and black people through, to reach the point where a man like Hank could break a record like Babe Ruth's. in 1973 Hank was remarried to a girl named Billye. In 1974 Hank went on TV shows such as Dinah Shore, Merv Gerffin, Hollywood Squares, and others. In 1974 Hank Aaron Day was made and Hank received things such as a Cadillac. In 1974 Hank got home run number 715 and he received 20,000 telegrams.

Hank Aaron thought that even though the record was broken, baseball had no change but the name at the top of the home run list.

In 1975 Hank was traded to Milwaukee and he played there for two years but since he was old he did not play well. In July of 1976 Hank ended his baseball career of 23 seasons and holding lots of records. In 1977 Hank became an executive for the Braves.

In 1990 Hank became the vice president of the Braves.