When MLB Called Barry Bonds "The Kind of Character Personified by Hank Aaron"
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by DNL
MLB.com announced that voting was open for the 2007 Hank Aaron Award, an award which "stands for offensive greatness and the kind of character personified on and off the field by Aaron." Bud Selig himself explains the award, but I'll add a bit of bold for emphasis:
- "I am honored to present this award each year," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "Hank and I have been friends for nearly 50 years ... and in my opinion, he was the greatest hitter of our generation. When we named this award after Hank -- and, obviously, as I said, there's a longstanding friendship -- it was not only that his career statistics were so magnificent; he broke Babe Ruth's record -- that's the obvious part of it. But I have to say ... for all the years I've watched [Aaron], he's been a magnificent human being off the field. And that's the great part of this honor."
The award was created in 1999; a year after Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa injected their way into the record books. Since then, the award has been given to out eight times. Uber-mensches such as Carlos Delgado, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter have won the award.
But so has Barry Bonds. Thrice, in fact; in 2001, 2002, and 2004.
Well done, Mr. Selig. Well done.
