Excerpts From "I Had A Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story"

This is a great read that I recommend to everyone. Here's what someone had to say about Hank Aaron and his status among the greats of the game:

Maybe we felt that way because guys like Hank and I didn't get the publicity we should have, due to the fact that we were playing in Milwaukee. Goddamn Winfield gets more publicity just arguing with Steinbrenner than we got our whole careers. Willie Mays, in my opinion, wasn't as good a player as Hank Aaron, but whenever Willie did something, the New York press and the skies lit up. I just felt that Hank was a touch better than Willie. Hank was a complete ballplayer. He never threw to the wrong base, never missed the cutoff man. Willie never hit the cutoff man. Christ, we had a standing rule with the Braves, keep running on Willie, because when he throws home you can go to second in a fox trot. Henry didnt steal bases like Willie, but goddamn, he could steal bases. He could run like hell, and he didn't even look like he was running. I'll be you in a footrace, Hank would have beaten Willie. But he didn't run like Willie. Willie was like Clemente -- when he ran it looked like he was coming apart at the seams. It was hard to eplain with Henry, but he could hit full speed in three steps and look like he wasn't even running. -- Eddie Mathews.