Hank Aaron is getting vile racist hate mail in retaliation for pointing out that racism still exists

249 Comments

This is both ironic and pathetic. Last week, as we celebrated the anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, Aaron recounted the hate mail and threats he received back in the 70s as he approached the milestone. In doing so, he noted that racism isn’t dead. It’s just changed and has become more insidious.

Some people got mad at that. So mad that they decided to send racist hate mail to Aaron. From Bob Nightengale at USA Today:

Sheer racism, exposed in vile letters directed to Hall of Fame great Hank Aaron, have poured into the Atlanta Braves offices this past week.

Yes, it was like 1974 all over again, the year he broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record, with letters laced with the most hateful epithet known to African Americans.

“Hank Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur)” a man named Edward says in an e-mail to the Braves front office and obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

Edward invokes the epithet five times in four sentences, closing with, “My old man instilled in my mind from a young age, the only good (racial slur) is a dead (racial slur).”

OK, dude. We see your point. Apologies. There is no racism anymore. Hank Aaron was wrong to even suggest it.

Good lord.

Anthony Rendon fan interaction video looked into by MLB

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
0 Comments

OAKLAND, Calif. – Major League Baseball is looking into a video circulating on social media that appears to show Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon grab a fan by the shirt through the bleacher guardrails after Thursday night’s game in Oakland, a league spokesperson said Friday.

Rendon looks to have grabbed the fan’s shirt near his chest through the bars of the railing and exchanged words with him before appearing to take a swipe at the bill of the man’s ballcap and walking into the tunnel.

Angels spokesman Adam Chodzko says the team has no comment. The Angels do not play Friday, but the club expects Rendon to address the video Saturday in the clubhouse before the game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland.

The video shows the fan, dressed in A’s colors, approach the railing as Rendon turns toward him from the tunnel walkway below. Rendon then appears to grab the man’s shirt and ask him what he just said, accusing the fan of calling him a derogatory term before swiping at his ballcap.

The A’s won the game 2-1.