ATLANTA – Brian Snitker stifled tears as he remembered Hank Aaron’s affection for those who lacked his unparalleled talent on the baseball field.
During his post-player career, running the Atlanta Braves farm system, Hammer had a tendency to look beyond unmissable prospects.
“He always wanted to elevate a player and would prefer it not to be so-called bonus babies,” said Snitker, who has been running Braves since 2016 and made his debut on the bench thanks to Aaron. “He wanted to get that guy from the grinder, the guy who was doing well.”
Snitker was among those who spoke at a memorial service on Tuesday in honor of Aaron, who died last week of natural causes at the age of 86.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, Hall of Fame Chipper Jones and former Braves player Marquis Grissom were among those who spoke at the ceremony, which was held in front of a small socially distant crowd – including Aaron ‘s widow, Billye and others family members – in the lobby directly behind the base sign in Truist Park.
The comments were made in an exhibition known as Jardim do Monumento, which prominently features a statue of Aaron delivering the swing that produced 755 homers.
Others sent video tributes, including Baseball Hall of Fame members John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, Aaron’s former teammate and current Houston Astros coach, Dusty Baker, National League MVP Freddie Freeman and former – great Braves Dale Murphy, who won consecutive MVP awards in the 1980s.
Aaron’s famous 44 was painted on the dormant grass of the central field. Braves President Terry McGuirk observed January’s exceptionally warm weather – the temperature rose to over 60 degrees – as a sign of honor to one of the game’s greatest icons.
Observing the 10 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who died last year, Manfred said that Aaron “belongs to Mount Rushmore in our sport. He was – on and off the field – above all others.”
Most of the memories focused on Aaron’s humility and the impact he made after retiring as a player in 1976. Few talked about him breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, or the unprecedented race of two decades of sustained excellence. which helped him to establish several other brands that still exist today.
Snitker remembers being an indefinable secondary league player who had a chance at another vocation when Aaron offered him his first managerial job in 1982 with Anderson Braves, a Class A Sally League team.
“The reason I’m here today is because of Hank Aaron,” said Snitker, pausing to maintain his composure.
Snitker struggled in the obscurity of the secondary league for most of his coaching and managerial career before finally receiving the call to become the captain of the Braves at age 60. Since then, he has guided the team to three consecutive NL East titles, earning NL Manager of the Year honors in 2018.
“I will miss the times when he stopped, stopped by my office and we could just sit and talk,” said Snitker. “I will miss the friend and mentor I have had in my life.”
Jones recalled how Aaron pressured the Braves to select him as the No. 1 overall choice in the 1990 amateur draft, when many considered pitcher Todd Van Poppel to be the main candidate.
“Hank was very important for me to become an Atlanta Brave,” said Jones. “Braves ‘decision-makers’ room was divided over who they would choose with their first choice. As legendary scout Paul Snyder once told me, Hank came to the vote. He paused, looked at everyone in the room and he said: ‘You’d better choose that Jones boy.’ I’ll never forget that. That comment must have had some weight. “
Van Poppel did not do much in the big leagues, ending with a 40-52 record. Jones spent his entire career with the Braves and was introduced to Cooperstown in 2018.
“Your swing, your smile, your spirit. They were all beautiful.”
Chipper Jones, third baseman of the Braves Hall of Fame
Jones said he once asked Aaron – who played at one time with dominant pitchers like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal – if he ever felt intimidated on the plate.
“He said, ‘Chipper, I’m not afraid of anyone when I have a club in my hand,'” said Jones, smiling.
According to former Braves third baseman, Aaron can be summed up in one word.
Pretty.
“Your swing, your smile, your spirit,” said Jones. “They were all beautiful.”
A private funeral for Aaron will be held on Wednesday. He will be buried at the historic South-View Cemetery, the city’s oldest black cemetery, where he will be buried alongside civil rights leaders like John Lewis and Julian Bond.
The Braves plan to honor Aaron during the next season. McGuirk announced the first of these initiatives: a $ 1 million grant to establish the Henry Louis Aaron Fund, which will work to increase minority participation among players, managers, coaches and frontline personnel.
This was an issue that Aaron had a strong interest in throughout his life. He used to criticize the lack of black managers and general managers in the Major League Baseball. He feared that fewer blacks were playing the game.
The Braves donation will be equaled by $ 500,000 each from the MLB and the players’ association.
Manfred pointed to a “strong desire to continue with the good work he has done throughout his life, especially with encouraging minority participation in baseball”.
Grissom said he will always remember the advice Aaron gave him during his college days at Florida A&M, when the team took an impromptu tour of Hammer’s home in Atlanta en route to a game in North Carolina.
“If you get the chance, do your best,” Grissom recalls what Aaron said. “Those words stayed with me. They lit a fire in me that is still burning today.”