'Quiet confidence': Former teammate Tom House recalls Hank Aaron as a player and person
Predictable, authentic, consistent and the standard-bearer for excellence.
That best describes the Henry Aaron that his teammates saw and knew on a daily basis during his legendary Major League career. Those words apply both to Aaron, the most feared player in the game during that time, and Aaron the person then and in the years to come.
He lived his life and went about his craft with the same unwavering business-like approach, humility and strength.
âQuiet confidence is how I remembered him,â former Braves teammate Tom House said of the Hall of Fame home run hitter, who died on Friday at the age of 86.
Aaron never let his fame or anyone else's status impact how he carried himself or how he treated them.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
âHenry in the clubhouse and Henry as a teammate, you would never know that he was the superstar that he was,â House told USA TODAY Sports in a telephone interview Friday night. âHe was the most normal guy. Never noisy, always with a smile on his face. He would play Clubs and Hearts with the low-end guys like myself and Buzz Capra just like he would play Hearts and Spades with (future Hall of Famer) Phil Niekro and (All-Star) Ron Reed. He was comfortable to be around on the bench in competition. ... You really never even realized he was on the team until the end of the game when you realized he had three hits and a home run and threw somebody out at third base. He put up numbers in probably the most quiet and inauspicious way of any superstar Iâve ever been around.â
House holds the distinction of being the person who caught Aaronâs 715th home run, which broke Babe Ruthâs 40-year-old record on April 8, 1974, four games into the season. Aaron sent the blast to centerfield, and into the bullpen and right to House, then a young relief pitcher for the Braves at the time.
House â now 73 and a renowned coach for pitchers and quarterbacks â chuckles and says, âHereâs the good news: That was the highlight of my Major League pitching career. And the bad news is, that was the highlight of my Major League pitching career. It got me in the Hall of Fame, it gave me a little notoriety. ⊠It got me a little profile I wouldâve never achieved had I never been in the bullpen at that time.â
Reflecting on the record-breaking night, House recalled, âThere was joy by everybody because we were all saying to ourselves, âIt couldnât happen to a nicer guy. But there was also a statement made, âThis is what happens when you give your best every stinkinâ day and be authentic.â If you look back at the media coverage, he didnât play the media game. He answered questions simply, and pretty much let his performance do the talking for him. Thatâs the best way I can describe what he was doing.â
House still remembers the buzz leading up to Aaronâs historic night, and how Aaron handled the pressure.
Aaron had ended the previous season with 713 career home runs, and as the Braves opened the season in Cincinnati, the anticipation reached a fever pitch â for everyone but Aaron, that is.
âIt was just Henry Aaron being Henry Aaron,â House said. âI remember in Cincinnati when he opened up there, kind of being this pushing him, âWhat if you hit the tying home run Friday? Are you going to play Saturday or Sunday? What happens this? What happens that?â And he was like, âLook, Iâm here to play baseball. Iâm going to play baseball, and what happens, happens.â Unflappable. He may have been really nervous inside or frustrated, or whatever. He never showed us as teammates.â
House had met Aaron years before after signing with Atlanta as a minor leaguer in 1967.
Aaron by that time was a 13-time All-Star. But you wouldnât have known by the way he carried himself.
âIâd been to Major League spring trainings, but I hadnât made the Big League roster until my third year and I was fortunate enough to be one of the left-handers that Henry liked to hit off to get extra work in,â House said. âI would meet him in those circumstances just as a minor-leaguer coming up and helping a big-leaguer work on whatever theyâre working on when theyâre swinging the bat. And he was always friendly, always said thanks."
Aaron was meticulous and precise in his approach, in even the smallest details.
âI can remember watching him going through the clubhouse,â House said. âOne thing that sticks in my head was he would get his dozen bats from Louisville Slugger every spring training, and Bill Acree was our clubhouse man, and theyâd go in and weigh Henryâs bats to make sure they were what Henry ordered. He would go through and of the 12 bats he got in, he would have three or four keepers, three or four that he would put away and three or four that he wouldnât care about. And I remember one day, I said, âBilly, what is he doing?â âWell he can pick and feel.â I said, âYou mean to tell me he can pick a quarter of an ounce by the feel?â And Billy said, âLook at this.â Henry was able to feel which bat was the best for him.
âAnd I donât know if this has ever been written,â House continued, âbut Henry Aaron very seldom broke a bat. I canât remember in my tenure being around him and seeing him break a bat. I do remember in the bat bag, when you look at other hitterâs bat, the ball marks would be all over the bat. But Henryâs bat, the ball marks were all within an inch of the sweet spot. So, those were some of the things I remember as an observer. I wasnât really a big participant in the social scene. Henry Aaron was authentic, and you were comfortable being around him if you were Max Leon in the bullpen or Rowland Office in the outfield.â
Aaron also carried himself with a quiet strength amidst a steady barrage of racism, House said. But Aaron preferred not to draw any attention to the persecution he suffered.
âIt was a lot of bad stuff going on, but I never saw it,â House recalled. âI knew a little bit about it because a couple of my buddies, Dusty Baker and Ralph Garr, Henry kind of took them under his wing as a mentor, and so, when I was palling around with them, I heard about death threats, and they hired a bodyguard for him. I figured out you could draw some conclusions and thereâs got to be something going on if they hire him a body guard. I think Henry was the first superstar that started having to come into the hotel in a different entrance from the team and being in the hotel under another name. That was the first time I had heard about it in the baseball environment. Small things. He never complained, he never pointed fingers. Just quiet, confident Henry showing up every day, doing his job, putting up numbers and then going home and starting over the next day.â
House counted himself fortunate to be considered one of Aaronâs friends well beyond their playing careers. And he always admired the humility Aaron displayed, and the way he readily showed his appreciation for the game and the people that baseball placed in his path whether directly or indirectly.
âHe stayed in the game. I know he did public speaking and appearances for the Braves and he showed up to a lot of Hall of Fame stuff,â House said. âBut on a personal note, every 10 years, they would get together for a celebration of 715 and it was always, like, I still have a watch that he gave a bunch of us. Thatâs one of my prized possessions. The last time we were together, and I canât remember what year it was, but he brought anybody that could make it of the 1974 roster into Atlanta and they had fans from Atlanta and the number of home runs and spread them all over the stadium, so that was the kind of thing he gave back to the community and shared with us teammates and ex-teammates. I had his cell phone number and business number. In retrospect, I probably shouldâve called more than I did, but I didnât want to impose, but any time I had a request, âWould you think about talking to one of the kids Iâm working with, or one of the superstars Iâm working with to share what you thought about it?â He would always say yes. He never said no.
âThe best way I could say it,â House concluded. âHenry was predictable, authentic and consistent.â
Follow USA TODAY Sportsâ Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones and listen to the Football Jones podcast on iTunes.