Ryno Report: Hank Aaron’s story should inspire Heyward

On April 8, 1974, the Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron hit a home run.

It was the 715^th time Aaron would circle the bases in his illustrious career.

Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s sacred record and became baseball’s home run king.

Nearly 36 years to the day, On April 5, 2010, the Atlanta Braves Jason Heyward hit a home run.

It was the 1^st time Heyward left the yard in his young major league career.

Heyward broke onto the big league scene with a bang and became baseball’s future.

The future. It’s a heavy burden to carry. Heyward is expected to be the face of baseball when the stars like teammate Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, and eventually Albert Pujols hang it up. He’s only 20 years old. And he’s already supposed to carry the torch for the great ones as the light flickers on this generation. The burden includes becoming that legend that everyone will remember forever. It includes rising to that pantheon of greatness. And it involves brightening the game as it continues to crawl from the dark ages of steroid abuse. When Heyward is at his peak, steroids and cheating will hopefully be buried by the new generation.

But that’s not the only torch Heyward has been given. Besides the future of the game, he has been given the responsibility to inspire the black community to pick up the bat and ball again. The future beyond him is depending on him. At 20 years old, baseball is putting all its marbles in him.

Not even a week into his career, Jason Heyward is expected to be far more than a baseball player. He is expected to transcend the game and became a national icon.

He is supposed to inspire the African American youth to ask for a baseball mitt instead of a basketball. To wear an Atlanta Braves hat rather than a Cleveland Cavaliers headband. To wear a pair of spikes rather than sneakers. To play catch with a hardball rather than throw around the pigskin.

Baseball has tried to promote the game to the young black community through RBI baseball. Joe Morgan has been heavily involved with the program. The Boys and Girls Clubs of America have joined baseball’s campaign for diversity. Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, two black stars of today, were both featured in national commercials to spark interest. ESPN Outside the Lines went in depth on the issue in the past few years. It will still be an uphill battle for the MLB’s African American community to grow.

In 2007, the percentage of African American players was at an all-time low of 8.2 percent. The number rose to 10.2 percent in 2008 – still a very low number. It is a sad story considering the rich history of African Americans in baseball.

Jackie Robinson. Satchel Paige. Roy Campanella. Elston Howard. Willie Mays. Willie McCovey. Frank Robinson. Reggie Jackson. Bob Gibson. Hank Aaron.

The list could go on forever. And that doesn’t even take into account the great players of the Negro Leagues. While blacks were shut out from the “big show” until Robinson broke the color barrier, they formed their own legacy and history with the Negro Leagues. The level of competition was just as good as the big leagues.

Josh Gibson. “Cool Papa” Bell. Smokey Joe Williams. Pop Lloyd. Willie Wells. Newt Allen. Hilton Smith. Wild Bill Wright. Buck O’Neil.

Robinson, Mays, and Aaron also graced the fields of the Negro Leagues before becoming Major League Baseball legends. They each left lasting legacies on the game.

Aaron’s story is a special one in baseball lore. The moment on April 8 was just one of his many contributions to the game. Aaron was much more than the home run king.

He inspired a generation to pick up the bat and ball and head to the nearest park to enjoy a day of baseball. The young kids dreamed they were Gibson and Aaron battling it out in Fulton County Stadium.

Somewhere along the way, though, the sandlots became vacant and silent. The sound of chatter from the infield was replaced with cries for fouls on the playground macadam.

But Hank Aaron remained a powerful voice in the African American community. He made the rounds during the civil rights movement, trying to inspire a new generation to rise above racism. He was involved with the NAACP to make African Americans lives better. Then, Aaron, along with his wife, founded the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation to help children develop their potential. His interest in the future is still alive and well in 2010.

The future of baseball is Jason Heyward. And Aaron is interested.

"“You don’t know how excited I was, and not only me,” Aaron said. “I was talking to (civil rights pioneer and former Atlanta mayor) Andrew Young about the same thing, and he wants me to bring him out there to meet Heyward. It’s beginning to move through the black area. People are getting excited.”Aaron, 76, says the buzz makes him feel good.”He can certainly bring the excitement back, not only for Atlanta but also for African-American players,” Aaron said. “We do need to have many, many more Jason Heywards.”He said Heyward can “mean an awful lot to what ails baseball.”"

Perhaps even more exciting than Heyward’s potential to make a difference is the fact that he is already involved. Heyward is part of the Atlanta Braves program that goes into Atlanta’s inner-city middle and high schools to promote earning baseball scholarships to college. Slowly, Heyward is working to build a future for African Americans in baseball.

As he does that, he continues to work to live up to expectations on the field, too. It is no easy task, but he appears well equipped to handle it. It will be a learning process for Heyward, who has already run into some obstacles in this first week.

But for every 0 for 4, Heyward will hit many more bombs like he did Monday. With every trip around the bases, he gives hope to the future.

It is a burden to be the future.

But Heyward welcomes the challenge. It is much lighter than the one Aaron carried that night in 1976. As Aaron rounded the bases, he had to worry for his life – he received countless death threats and insults as racism blinded the nation.

Heyward looks to open the eyes of a generation to the beauty and pride that comes with being a ballplayer.

It comes with the challenge to: “Be Great” every day.

Hank Aaron was certainly a model of greatness in his career.

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