Henry Aaron and His Managers

Lucky in having supportive minor-league managers who recognized his talents and boosted his confidence, Henry Aaron struggled to attain the same sort of rapport with his managers in Milwaukee and Atlanta, too many of whom failed to respect his humanity due to his skin color and his stardom by moving or threatening to move this historically gifted player around the diamond.

Bill Adair: 1952 Eau Claire Bears

• Pre-Aaron: 239-124 (.658)
• With Aaron: 72-53 (.576)
• Post-Aaron: 1225-1127 (.521)1

Hank Aaron played only two seasons in the minors and benefited from having two supportive managers who focused more on his production at the plate than adhere to stereotypes stemming from the color of his skin. “The kid looks lazy but he isn’t,” Bill Adair told the Braves. “He may not be a major league shortstop but as a hitter he has everything.”2

Bill Adair and Aaron both came from Alabama. “Aaron wrote twenty years later that ‘a guy couldn’t have asked to break in under a better manager than Bill Adair. … I think because he was a southerner he was even a little more understanding of the little black kid he had playing beside him.’”3

Ben Geraghty: 1953 Jacksonville Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 550-542 (.504)
• With Aaron: 93-44 (.679)
• Post-Aaron: 837-657 (.560)

Making the jump from Class C to Class A ball, Aaron also increased his appreciation for his manager, who readily promoted his young player’s skills. After their time in Jacksonville had concluded, Ben Geraghty characterized Aaron as “a bad ball hitter who hits ’em no matter where they come. … If Henry has a strike zone … it’s from the top of his head to his ankles. In a year or so, he’s going to make the fans forget all about Jackie Robinson, and I’m not exaggerating.”4

Observers of Aaron often cited his wrists as the source of his remarkable power. Geraghty may have first made this observation even before Aaron debuted for the Braves. “He has the greatest pair of wrists I’ve ever seen on a young ball player,” Geraghty said.5

Unlike Adair, who came from the same state as Aaron, Geraghty hailed from a much different background, but one that did not prevent the two men from getting along well. Opined a sportswriter, “Geraghty, a wiry, beer-guzzling Irishman from New Jersey … was a brilliant handler of athletes. Aaron still says, ‘Ben was the best manager I’ve ever played for.’”6

Charlie Grimm: 1954-1956 Milwaukee Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 1680-1367 (.551)
• With Aaron: 198-156 (.559)
• Post-Aaron: 6-11 (.353)

With a jolly personality, Charlie Grimm should have ably filled the role of an ideal first major-league manager for a promising young player. Near the end of Aaron’s rookie season, Milwaukee general manager John Quinn observed, “Grimm has the knack of giving young fellows confidence, as he showed with [Johnny] Logan and [Eddie] Mathews in particular, and Aaron this year.”7

Instead, Grimm perpetuated the myth of Black ballplayers being lazy by derisively mocking the young player’s running style, calling Aaron “Snowshoes.” According to Aaron biographer Howard Bryant, “Henry did not care much for Grimm. Aaron believed it was Grimm who was responsible for much of the hazing he took from his teammates and the press. … Henry believed that Grimm should not have encouraged the creation of a minstrel character. … Henry had a guy calling him ‘Snowshoes’ to the press.”8

Grimm did recognize Aaron’s prowess with the bat. In Aaron’s second spring training, Grimm batted him second because, as he insisted, “I want Aaron to get up to bat as often as possible,”9 a common tactic in the twenty-first century but unusual in 1955. (In the regular season, Aaron started 17 games batting second and most commonly batted cleanup.)

Fred Haney: 1956-1959 Milwaukee Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 1090-1221 (.472)
• With Aaron: 340-228 (.599)
• Post-Aaron: n/a

Aaron and the Braves peaked as a team under Fred Haney, winning one World Series, losing another, and then falling just short of a third consecutive fall classic appearance by dropping two straight games to the Dodgers in a playoff in 1959 after the teams had identical records during the regular season.

Echoing Geraghty, Haney touted a physical attribute of Aaron, praising him for having “plenty of power and a pair of wonderful wrists, and you can’t ‘play’ him because he hits to all fields. Hank’s picking up fast defensively, too.”10

After winning the NL MVP Award in 1957, Aaron expressed his appreciation to Haney, saying, “He didn’t give me a ‘take’ sign all season. A lot of times I swung at a [3-and-0] pitch on my own.”11

Chuck Dressen: 1960-1961 Milwaukee Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 1020-973 (.512)
• With Aaron: 159-124 (.562)
• Post-Aaron: 312-251 (.554)

Chuck Dressen messed with success and talked about transferring Aaron from right field to other positions, including second base, ideas that Aaron disdained. Aaron wanted to try to steal more bases on his own initiative. Aaron had a mixed relationship with Dressen, disliking the manager’s defensive maneuvering but appreciating the freedom he gave Aaron to augment his offensive game.

The two talked in the winter of 1960. Dressen recounted, “I told him I had a few things on my mind, but that I would wait until spring training and tell him then. The second base idea was one of those things.”12

Aaron did not think much of the position switch. “He cited the danger of injury that exists at second base and made no bones about the fact that this was the main reason he preferred to avoid the keystone,” a sportswriter observed. “‘I don’t want to go back there,’ Aaron said, ‘but if he tells me to, I’ll go there. I’ll do the best I can.’”13

Aaron ended up playing only two games at second base in 1960, his first appearances at the keystone sack since 1955. But Dressen continued to pursue the idea, this time moving his slugger to center. “Asked about his avowed objections to playing center field, Aaron said, ‘I still don’t like it, but if [Dressen] says so, there’s no choice.’”14 In 1961 Aaron for the first time in his career had more appearances in center field (83) than in right field (78).

On baserunning, Dressen declared, “Aaron came to me and asked me how I felt about running. I said I play a running game, and he said he wanted to run. They never let him before. He’ll be running this year and making use of the things God gave him.”15 Dressen’s approach differed dramatically from that of his predecessor, according to Aaron, who asserted, “Haney was scared to let me run.”16

Birdie Tebbetts: 1961-1962 Milwaukee Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 454-429 (.514)
• With Aaron: 98-89 (.524)
• Post-Aaron: 315-286 (.524)

In Birdie Tebbetts, Aaron had for the first time an individual who neither appreciated his talents nor cared to understand the precarious position that Aaron occupied as a prominent Black man in a racist society. Years before managing Aaron, Tebbetts took a surprisingly tepid view of Aaron’s prowess: “What he has to learn is which bad balls can be hit and which ones he can’t afford to swing at,” Tebbetts said.17

As general manager of the Braves, a role he held before managing the squad, Tebbetts oversaw where the team stayed in spring training. Black players faced blatant discrimination in their accommodations in Florida. Aaron observed, “Sometimes the place is so crowded they have two guys sleeping in the hall. … You wake up in the morning and rush for the bathroom, and if you’re the last one, all the hot water is gone.” Tebbetts had said that the housing had been carefully selected. Aaron commented, “Carefully selected? From what?”18

Bobby Bragan: 1963-1965 Milwaukee Braves, 1966 Atlanta Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 798-732 (.522)
• With Aaron: 310-287 (.519)
• Post-Aaron: n/a

Unlike Dressen, Bobby Bragan smartly realized that moving Aaron around the diamond alienated his best player: “Why experiment with Aaron in other fields when he’s the best right fielder in the business?” Bragan said. “He doesn’t like to play center and we should be happy to keep him in right, where he prefers to be.”19

Bragan’s opinion of Aaron’s talents contrasted sharply with those of Tebbetts: “Henry doesn’t put on a show. He just goes out and hits the ball 430 feet and comes in and shakes hands. He costs us $25 a day in batting-practice balls.”20

Aaron appreciated Bragan’s willingness to let him branch out as a basestealer. “I’d have to call 1963 my most successful season,” he said. “Bobby let me steal bases (31) and that made me a complete ball player.”21

Billy Hitchcock: 1966-1967 Atlanta Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 322-311 (.509)
• With Aaron: 110-100 (.524)
• Post-Aaron: n/a

Even though the Braves under Billy Hitchcock had a marginally better record than the team under Bragan, “I didn’t like it when Bobby Bragan was fired midway through that [1966] season [and] replaced by Billy Hitchcock,” wrote Aaron in his autobiography.22

Reprising Dressen, Hitchcock talked about moving Aaron to center: “This is no experiment. Any move we make this time of season is strictly to help the ball club. … [W]hen I talked to Hank about it, he was perfectly willing.”23 In fact, the switch did indeed represent an experiment; Aaron played just five games in center in 1966 and 11 in 1967. Hitchcock’s successors did not attempt to follow suit with an aging Aaron, who after 1967 never again played the most demanding outfield position.

For the first time after Hitchcock’s departure, Aaron publicly unloaded on his manager. An Atlanta sportswriter described it this way: “The Braves had just played their final game of the season and Hank Aaron decided to get something off his chest. ‘I never went through a season like this,’ he said. ‘The morale on this club was very low. Some of the guys gave up two months ago. … I don’t want to sound as if I’m criticizing my teammates.’”24

Ken Silvestri: 1967 Atlanta Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 190-180 (.514)25
• With Aaron: 0-3 (.000)
• Post-Aaron: n/a

Having mostly interacted with Aaron as a coach rather than a manager, Ken Silvestri, who played in 33 games for the Yankees over three years, compared the slugger to two of the icons of New York baseball, saying, “Joe [DiMaggio], [Willie] Mays, Aaron … there are only a half-dozen or so like them to come along in a lifetime. You don’t find many who can hit for average or power, run and throw and field like DiMaggio.”26

Lum Harris: 1968-1972 Atlanta Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 168-175 (.490)27
• With Aaron: 379-373 (.504)
• Post-Aaron: n/a

As the baseball world began to realize that Aaron had a meaningful chance to break one of the sport’s most hallowed records, he for the rest of his career would have managers who treated him like a legend. He enjoyed performing for Lum Harris. “He’s a great guy to play for,” said Aaron, “the best I’ve played for in a long time. He treats you like a professional. Morale on the club is good. We are playing as a team and not as individuals.”28

Harris returned the respect in both the present and future tenses. As Aaron explained, “He approached me last Saturday … and told me he wanted me to be captain. It is a big thrill, something I’ve always dreamed about.”29

Harris recognized Aaron as a well-rounded person rather than just a meatheaded athlete, saying, “Aaron is capable of doing anything he sets his mind to. … He’s got a great knowledge of baseball and the temperament that a job like general manager would take.”30

Eddie Mathews: 1972-1974 Atlanta Braves

• Pre-Aaron: n/a
• With Aaron: 149-161 (.481)
• Post-Aaron: n/a

Aaron spent most of the final four seasons of his career playing for two former teammates. Fellow slugger Mathews, who hit 512 career home runs, first took on this potentially awkward position. The writer of a book on Aaron noted, “Though their personalities contrasted – Mathews was a drinker, rowdier, more temperamental than Aaron – they got along well and appreciated one another.”31

Their differences notwithstanding, Aaron looked forward to the new turn in their relationship. “I played with Eddie 12 or 14 years, and I’m sure he will be the same type manager he was as player – aggressive,” said Aaron. “I expect there will be more discipline, which is one of the most important things you can have.”32

Mathews had to decide when to play Aaron as the superstar approached Babe Ruth’s historic mark. In the imbroglio over whether Aaron should play road games or sit out and try to break the homer record at home, Mathews, contended columnist Art Spander, “decided winning wasn’t the only thing. Paid attendance at home was. … ‘Hank gave the people in Cincinnati a thrill,’ said Mathews, ‘now I want him to give a thrill to the fans in Atlanta. They should have a chance to see him hit it.’”33 Aaron did indeed break Ruth’s record in Atlanta.

Clyde King: 1974 Atlanta Braves

• Pre-Aaron: 109-95 (.534)
• With Aaron: 38-25 (.603)
• Post-Aaron: 87-109 (.444)

After breaking Ruth’s mark and slowing down considerably as a force on the field, Aaron understandably shifted his focus toward baseball life after the end of his playing career. “Aaron said on national television, during the All-Star Game, he would accept the [managerial] job if offered. It caused something of a stir at the time, but [Clyde] King said he has talked with Aaron and ‘[E]verything is beautiful.’”34

Del Crandall: 1975 Milwaukee Brewers

• Pre-Aaron: 497-500 (.498)
• With Aaron: 67-94 (.416)
• Post-Aaron: 835-662 (.558)

The innovation of the designated hitter allowed Aaron to return to Milwaukee for two final campaigns. Former teammate Del Crandall lauded Aaron, asserting, “Henry Aaron is not only going to make his contributions on the field, but also just being in the clubhouse. He’s going to make a difference in the way our players view their jobs.”35 Actually, the Brewers regressed with Aaron on the team. After a franchise-best .469 winning percentage in 1974, the team struggled with Aaron on the club in both 1975 (.420) and 1976 (.410).

The talk of Aaron’s next move gained momentum. After Milwaukee cashiered Crandall, a Milwaukee sportswriter noted that Aaron said he “can’t rule out” succeeding him, adding that he was “sorry to see Del go,” but “I’ve been in this game a long time and I have certain ideas about how a ball club should be run. I can’t rule out becoming a manager.”36

Aaron never did become manager, which seems like a blessing given his feelings toward the modern-day version of the role: “To be a manager these days, you have to be just like an airline hostess. … A professional babysitter. You have to be trained to deal with those kinds of problems.”37

Harvey Kuenn: 1975 Milwaukee Brewers

• Pre-Aaron: n/a
• With Aaron: 1-0 (1.000)
• Post-Aaron: 159-118 (.574)

Like Silvestri, Harvey Kuenn interacted with Aaron much more as a coach than a player. Aaron appeared to appreciate working with another accomplished hitter. After a slow start in 1975, Aaron asked Kuenn, then the Brewers’ batting coach, for advice. Kuenn “made a suggestion and it may have helped.’”38

Alex Grammas: 1976 Milwaukee Brewers

• Pre-Aaron: 55-90 (.379)
• With Aaron: 66-95 (.410)
• Post-Aaron: 67-95 (.414)

Managing an all-time great at the tail end of his career would challenge the most accomplished of managers; Alex Grammas’s record indicates that he fell far short of that standard. Aaron suffered a knee injury on August 3, 1976, that limited his playing time. “As of now, I can’t use him as a designated hitter because he can’t run,” said Grammas. “I could only put him in there in the latter stages of the game to get us a hit or a sacrifice fly.”39

Tied with Ruth for the most runs scored in his career, Aaron singled in his last plate appearance before leaving the game for a pinch-runner, which left him disappointed. Shockingly, his skipper claimed he was unaware about the chance to attain a final milestone: “I didn’t know that. I just wanted him to go out with a base hit. Nobody told me about [the tie with Ruth]. He’s had so many records.”40

Totals:

• With Aaron: 2080-1832 (.532)
• Without Aaron: 11,015-10,055 (.523)

Having played with all-time greats like Warren Spahn and Mathews, but winning only one World Series over the course of his long career, Aaron never had the manager he wanted for long. Just months before breaking Ruth’s record, Aaron observed, “My idea of a great manager … is Walter Alston. I’ve seen some terrible Dodger teams that he has managed into the thick of a pennant race.”41 With a career that paralleled Aaron’s in length, Alston managed the Dodgers to four World Series titles.

Opined sportswriter Sam Lacy, “Bobby Bragan, Billy Hitchcock, Ken Silvestri, Luman Harris and [Eddie] Mathews – all of whom, except Silvestri and Mathews, were warmed-over choices, and failures.”42

The 16 men who managed Aaron managed more than 21,000 games before and after his career. Of the course of a 162-game season, these managers won an average of 86 games with Aaron and 85 without him.43

MARK S. STERNMAN’s first favorite baseball player was Félix Millán, Hank Aaron’s teammate with the Braves from 1966 to 1972. Sternman, who became a fan of the Yankees after the Mets released Millán, previously wrote about Aaron in two Games Project stories, namely, October 8, 1958: Yankees score two in 10th to send the World Series to Game Seven, and October 9, 1958: Yankees rally late to beat Braves in Game Seven of the World Series.

 

NOTES

1 Since Baseball Reference does not have wins and losses for the 1956 Valdosta Tigers, the post-Aaron record excludes this team.

2 “Babe Ruth Was No Idol of Hank Aaron,” Louisville Defender, April 18, 1974: B13.

3 Bill James, The Baseball Book 1990 (New York: Villard Books, 1990), 174.

4 “Braves’ Rookie Aaron Has Cap-to-Ankle Strike Zone,” The Sporting News, April 28, 1954: 33.

5 Marion E. Jackson, “Sports of the World,” Atlanta Daily World, August 21, 1953: 7.

6 Hubert Mizell, “Aaron at 19: Shy, Clumsy Sally League Rookie,” St. Petersburg Times, reprinted in The Sporting News, April 20, 1974: 34.

7 Joe King, “Clouting ’Em … With Joe King,” The Sporting News, September 8, 1954: 12.

8 Howard Bryant, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron (New York: Pantheon Books, 2010), 106-107.

9 Red Thisted, “Cholly Strums Pennant Mambo on His Banjo for Frisky Braves,” The Sporting News, March 30, 1955: 21.

10 Bob Wolf, “Robinson’s ‘Playboy’ Jab Jolts Braves,” The Sporting News, January 23, 1957: 4.

11 “Aaron Surprised Aaron, Figured Red as Choice,” The Sporting News, November 27, 1957: 47.

12 Bob Wolf, “Dressen Has Ace Up Sleeve – Chuck Rates Aaron Keystoner,” The Sporting News, January 27, 1960: 12.

13 Bob Wolf, “Keystone Hot Injury Spot, Aaron Reminds Dressen,” The Sporting News, February 17, 1960: 13.

14 Bob Wolf, “Chuck Halts Garden Tests; Aaron Gets Call in Center,” The Sporting News, May 3, 1961: 8.

15 Bob Wolf, “Braves’ Speed Will Win Flag – Dressen,” The Sporting News, March 23, 1960: 2.

16 Bob Wolf, “Friendly Fred, Chipper Chuck Fling Verbal Bombs and Barbs,” The Sporting News, May 11, 1960: 16.

17 Cleon Walfoort, “Aaron Turns Bad Pitches Into Base-Hits,” The Sporting News, June 26, 1957: 7.

18 Bob Wolf, “Aaron, Covington and Bruton Blast Housing Squeeze,” The Sporting News, February 15, 1961: 13.

19 Bob Wolf, “Brash Bobby Hopes to Bridge Two Wide Gaps in Picket Line,” The Sporting News, November 3, 1962: 8.

20 Mickey Herskowitz, “Skippers Sounded Off at Colts’ Round Table,” The Sporting News, November 9, 1963: 21.

21 Bob Wolf, “‘N.L. Race Will Be Free-for-All,’ Bing Tells Braves’ Fans,” The Sporting News, February 1, 1964: 9.

22 Henry Aaron with Lonnie Wheeler, I Had A Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991), 187.

23 “Aaron Moves to Center in Tepee Picket Switch,” The Sporting News, August 26, 1967: 29.

24 Wayne Minshew, “Aaron Blasts Mates: ‘Some Guys Gave Up,’” The Sporting News, October 21, 1967: 15.

25 Since Baseball Reference has wins and losses for neither the 1956 St. Petersburg Saints nor the 1957 Alexandria Aces, the pre-Aaron record excludes these teams.

26 Wayne Minshew, “Aaron A-Bombs Give Hinto to A-1 Year for Atlanta,” The Sporting News, May 6, 1967: 17.

27 Since Baseball Reference does not have wins and losses for the 1959 Florida International League Orioles, the pre-Aaron record excludes this team.

28 Wayne Minshew, “Pilot Harris Hypos Braves’ Morale,” The Sporting News, July 20, 1968: 10.

29 “Hank 1-0 in Openers as New Team Captain,” The Sporting News, April 19, 1969: 18.

30 “Hank Aaron Looks at Ruth’s Record, to Retire in 2 Years,” New Pittsburgh Courier, October 2, 1971: 13.

31 Tom Stanton, Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America (New York: William Morrow, 2004), 27.

32 Wayne Minshew, “Mathews Applies Acid Test to Braves,” The Sporting News, August 26, 1972: 13.

33 Art Spander, “A Sticky Situation,” The Sporting News, April 20, 1974: 23.

34 Wayne Minshew, “King Talks About Miracles as Braves’ New Chieftain,” The Sporting News, August 10, 1974: 12. The Sporting News nastily ran an editorial entitled “Calm Down, Henry” against what the paper saw as Aaron’s equivocating about whether he really wanted the managerial position, snidely highlighting “Henry’s vanity” and concluding that “we’d like to see the return of the even-tempered Aaron.” The Sporting News, August 17, 1974: 14.

35 Lou Chapman, “Brewers’ Fans Salute Returning Aaron,” The Sporting News, February 15, 1975: 35.

36 Lou Chapman, “Crandall Given Brewer Ax; Aaron Called ‘a Candidate,’” The Sporting News, October 11, 1975: 20. Milwaukee asked Aaron to manage the team, but he declined. Lou Chapman, “Hank Turned Down Offer to Manage Brewers,” The Sporting News, November 1, 1975: 20.

37 Lou Chapman, “Brewers Oust Del Crandall for Failure to Crack Whip,” The Sporting News, October 18, 1975: 27.

38 Lou Chapman, “Aaron Annoyed by ‘Washed-Up’ Tag,” The Sporting News, May 3, 1975: 16.

39 Lou Chapman, “Knee Injury May End Aaron’s Career,” The Sporting News, September 4, 1976: 34.

40 Lou Chapman, “Aaron Ends Illustrious Career With One Regret,” The Sporting News, October 23, 1976: 34.

41 Dave Newhouse, “Handball, Karate, Roadwork Keep Aaron Busy,” The Sporting News, January 5, 1974: 31.

42 Sam Lacy, “Aaron Didn’t Want to Manage, But …,” Baltimore Afro-American, August 3, 1974: 9.

43 By contrast, the 11 men who managed Willie Mays won an average of 89 games with Mays and 80 without him per the winning percentages calculated in Mark S. Sternman, “Willie Mays and His Managers,” Willie Mays: Five Tools (Phoenix, Arizona: SABR, 2023), https://sabr.org/journal/article/willie-mays-and-his-managers/ (accessed April 8, 2024).