Quotes from Hank Aaron

Once the record was mine, I had to use it like a Louisville Slugger. I believed, and still do, that there was a reason why I was chosen to break the record. I feel it's my task to carry on where Jackie Robinson left off, and I only know of one way to go about it. It's the only way I've ever had of dealing with things like fastballs and bigotry -- keep swinging at them.

There wasn't much white people would allow us to do in those days. You could be a schoolteacher or an athlete to get away from the manual labor and servant-type jobs, but there wasn't much else they were going to allow you [to] do.

Look around the stadium. There's not one memento of what I did. There's nothing about what I did in this stadium, but they've got a statue of Ty Cobb sliding into a base.

I got a thrill out of the home run that won the pennant, and when I hit No. 500, and I thought this would mean something extra special to me ... I felt good all day long, until Rose tied the game. Losing just took the edge off of it. It's just another home run.

No matter what happens the rest of my life, I don't think I'll ever hit another home run. So wherever people want to rank me is fine.

You've got to remember, the older you get the slower you get. I've seen a lot of players get old ... if I can have a good season in 1972 and come back with another good one, well, that's different. I might not quit. But two bad ones back to back and staying home would be written on the wall.

I think [Colin Kaepernick] is getting a raw deal. I've been watching pro ball a long time, and if you look at all the quarterbacks in the league right now. I think you have to say he is 1-2-3-4 ... I don't think anybody can do the things he can do. I just wish somebody would open up and give him a chance to do this thing and say hey, he's entitled to whatever he did, and let's forget about it. Let's get on with it.

I thought my chances to make the Braves were better and that they were being fairer to me, paying me more money to play in a lower classification ... Besides, the Giants spelled my name "Arron" on their telegram.

I had many, many, many death threats. I couldn't open letters for a long time, because they all had to be opened by either the FBI or somebody. I couldn't open letters. I had to be escorted. In fact, just recently I went to a funeral, Calvin Wardlaw, who was the detective -- the policeman -- with me for two years, passed away just recently. He and I got to be bosom buddies really, but that was the hardest part. I wasn't able to enjoy -- you know.

To this day, whenever I'm in Milwaukee, which is often, I'm reminded that the people there still haven't gotten over the Braves leaving ... If it helps, they should know the players haven't either.

It used to be the players were here (lowering his arm) and owners were here (raising his arm). Now, it's the other way. There's so much money.

We were losers. We were baseball players. [Baseball executives] were businessmen. When you went into talk about a contract, they always had the upper hand. No matter if you hit 350 or 250, you were going to get what they wanted you to have.

Some people resented the fact I was trying to break a white man's record. For a year and a half, I had to stay in another hotel (away from the team) and ate at the hotel in my room.... There were people who wanted to do me harm.

I played sometimes about as dull as you can play it. I did things the right way, you know. I think I modeled my playing ability after one of the all time greats, Joe DiMaggio. You always found Joe, when he played, you know, he always threw to the right base. He ran, he caught the ball. He did all the right things. He was an idol of mine in the outfield. He played the game the way it was supposed to be played.

I'm hoping someday that some kid, black or white, will hit more home runs than myself. Whoever it is, I'd be pulling for him.

I don't feel right unless I have a sport to play or at least a way to work up a sweat.

Failure is a part of success.

The thing I like about baseball is that it's one-on-one. You stand up there alone, and if you make a mistake, it's your mistake. If you hit a home run, it's your home run.

It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. It took one afternoon on the golf course.

I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.

I don't feel right unless I have a sport to play .

The day I become content is the day I cease to be anything more than a man who hit home runs.

The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most with the home runs he hit,

I cracked one over a row a trailers that bordered the outfield fence- hit it so hard that Ted Williams came running out from the clubhouse wanting to know who it was that could a bat sound that way when it struck a baseball.