Thoughts on this poll

[Rusty27]

Well said Bil.My thought was all the other big name NL stars at that time as well.And I'm thinking the Braves weren't very good many of those years so that didn't help.

[Gunnerman]

Well the Braves did win pennants in 1957 and 1958 as the Milwaukee Braves and won the series in 1957. They also won the 1969 NL West Division only to lose out to the Miracle Mets in the NLCS.

[Rusty27]

He put up MVP numbers in 57 but not so much the other 2 years

[EliSmoke]

Originally Posted by BaldBil

Aaron was always quiet and understated and played in a small market. Most of the attention went to Willie Mays in the NL and Mantle in the AL. Up until 1971 or so no even knew Aaron had a shot at Ruth. Mays was the man until then and he got old very suddenly. He was also competing with in the NL with Musial, Matthews, & s. Snlder in the 50's then McCovey, Cepeda, Brock and others in the 60's.

His MO was consistency. The others had the real monster season. Henry just went about his business and put up the numbers. You could compare him to Manny Ramirez these days. Manny is overshadowed by Bonds, Arod and the like but when all is said and done his numbers will be up there with the best.

Excellent point on the Aaron situation. He was always overshadowed by all the other big name stars.

As for A-Rod. I have a feeling that the next year or two will really tell the tale of if he has a chance or not.

If he decides to stay with the yankees where he will normally have people hitting before and or after him that are real threats he will still keep being pitched to.

Now lets say he leaves NY to go to a lesser team for more money, KC for example, they don't have anyone to hit behind or before him that would really cause a threat when he gets walked. So he might stop seeing good pitches. Not saying that he would stop getting HRs but you could see that his #s decline because of that.

We will have to see...

[BaldBil]

The Braves had some good teams in the mid 50's and then again in the late 60's and early 70's.

One of the things with Hank's HR total is that he only hit 29 the year before they moved into Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. His first year there he hit 32. Most figured this was the start of his decline as a HR hitter, but he hit 44 the next year and then had a good run of HR seasons that put him past Ruth.

Those who worshipped Ruth credited the stadium with his late career success because it was 1,000 feet above sea level and had short porches down the lines. They of course discounted the fact that Ruth had the advantage of a short porch in right his entire career.

[Rusty27]

Originally Posted by BaldBil

The Braves had some good teams in the mid 50's and then again in the late 60's and early 70's.

One of the things with Hank's HR total is that he only hit 29 the year before they moved into Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. His first year there he hit 32. Most figured this was the start of his decline as a HR hitter, but he hit 44 the next year and then had a good run of HR seasons that put him past Ruth.

After 1958, 1969 was the only year the braves reached 90 wins.
Whoa,I remember FCS has a launching pad.One year 3 braves hit 40 or more HR's

[Gunnerman]

Hank Aaron, Davey Johnson and I can't remember who the third guy was, oh and they had that incredibly politically incorrect mascot Chief Knock-a-homa who did a war dance on the mound prior to each Braves game. He lived in a teepee behind the outfield wall.

[Rusty27]

Darrell Evans I think

[Gunnerman]

I think you may be correct

[BaldBil]

Yes it was Darrel Evans. The Atlanta park was in fact called "The Launching Pad".

[Rusty27]

Here's a picture of the Evans family

[BaldBil]

Which one is Dwight?

[Rusty27]

let's see,there's JJ,Michael,James,Florida,Thelma,Willona.........uh oh
ummmmmm....Darrel was on a road trip and had that white skin disese like Micheal Jackson.....yeah that's it

[Rusty27]

Darrell was kind of like that Oliver kid they brought into the Brady Bunch the last year of the show.