Hank Aaron being celebrated after hitting career home run number 715 on April 8, 1974
It was 44 years ago today, April 8, 1974, that Hank Aaron, wearing number 44 for the Atlanta Braves, broke the seemingly unbreakable home run record of Babe Ruth with his 715th career home run.
In the decades since, the home run in baseball has lost some of its individual luster as juiced balls, juiced bats and juiced people (not to mention shrunken ballparks) have made the home run a much more common occurrence than in past generations.
However, that “cheapening” of the home run has in some ways elevated the realization of just how amazing it was for Aaron to amass more than 700 home runs despite playing much of his career during a time when baseball wasn’t geared to make it easier to hit home runs.
Few players have displayed the long-term consistency of greatness that Aaron compiled during his career. From 1955 through 1973 (19 years), he finished in the top 17 in the National League MVP voting every year, including 13 times in the top 10 and winning the award in 1957.
He led the National League in home runs four times and blasted 40 or more home runs in a season eight times. He hit a career-high 47 at the age of 37 in 1971 and two years later hit 40 home runs in just 120 games.
While his total of 755 career home runs has technically been passed, Aaron is still recognized by many as the Home Run King. His 2,297 career RBIs and 6,856 total bases are still the highest totals in Major League history. Not to mention, he finished his career with 3,771 career hits and a .305 career batting average.
In celebration of the 44th anniversary of his record-setting home run, check out videos of that blast as well as Aaron’s career.
Running a successful coaching business can be rewarding. However, it can also be difficult. There are many things that you will have to do in order to ensure that your coaching business is a success.
Partner up
You may be working for yourself, but that does not mean that you have to work by yourself. You can work with other people who have a coaching business. You should try to work with people who are in the same industry as you. Partnering up with other coaches will help you develop more ideas that will make your business a success.
Build Credibility
People want to be lectured by people who are reliable and experienced. That is why building your credibility is one of the most important things that you can do as a coach. You can complete training courses in your industry. You can also earn certifications, or even just showcase your proficiency with career skills like player evaluation. There are many PEM Application Tools and similar resources available today to help with that. It can also be helpful to read books about your industry.
Your current and previous clients can also help you establish credibility. Ask your clients to leave you positive reviews on your website. You can also ask them to refer your family members and friends to your coaching business. Read the rest of this entry →
As any sports fan can attest, you do not choose the teams you support; you grow up with them. They are either the teams your dad loved as a kid or the one that captured your heart at a young age. Supporting a team is a very emotional experience, and anyone who can pick and choose their sports team as each season passes are not true fans. That being said, supporting more than just one team can help keep the whole season exciting, rather than just the games your team is playing.
Getting caught up in the thrill of the sport is the key goal of every sports fan, which is why, though you have your absolute favorite that you will cheer on no matter what, following these tips will help you stay excited throughout the season:
Knowing the History
Though this isn’t necessary to enjoy any sport, it can make things so much more pressing when it comes to records or up-and-coming talent. It can also help you appreciate the sport and how far athletes have come. You can find this information in a variety of ways, and the one that is perfect for you will depend on your preferences. You can watch movies, or documentaries, you can read articles on the history of sports, or books, or listen to podcasts. There are so many sports fans out there willing to share their knowledge with you that all it takes is a quick search to find the right medium for you.
What you will learn about the game goes so much more beyond who created it, but about the famous figures in its history and their records. The inspiring stories that generations before you followed with vigor. This can be key, especially if you are currently following the career of an up-and-coming sports start. You can measure his accomplishments with those who came before him. If you think that a consecutive number of hat tricks is exciting, imagine how thrilled you would be to learn that you were watching a new world record be made on your television? Read the rest of this entry →
For any baseball player, there are two important aspects which one should not ignore are body explosive power and body strength. The shoulder integrity is vital for baseball batters and pitchers. Therefore, baseball workout includes building muscles, adding arm strength and gaining speed. In case, if audience finds out that the pitcher is adding speed to the fastball, then they consider that the player is doing only upper body workouts. Whereas, building strength in arms needs more than just upper body workouts.
The most important aspect is mobility as well as stability in shoulders along with hips. Pitching is transferring the power from your legs to your upper body part of your arms. Therefore, to reduce the chances of injuries, one has to work hard not only on shoulders, arms and back but also on hamstrings, legs and hips.
Speed of pitching is directly proportional to arm speed not on the isolated muscle’s strength. It means focusing on pillar strength will increase the rotational power. Thus, the focus is on doing stability exercises of shoulder, strength work of lower body and propulsive exercises.
Exercises 1: Stride Stretch
This one will help the baseball athletes in giving more mobility and flexibility during playing baseball in their shoulders and rotator cuffs. In simpler terms, it is stretching of front as well as back of your hips. Never ignore the importance of mobility in hip as the mobility in hip is equally important to mobility in shoulders for pitchers. In the absence of proper mobility, then the pitchers will do only those actions which their body will allow them to move. It will decrease their leg drive, ultimately reducing the power and strength. Read the rest of this entry →
Ken Krahenbuhl was part of one of the most unusual trades in baseball history.
Ah, the sporting trade – it conjures images of wholesome children in the sun-kissed days of yesteryear trading their baseball cards, or high school teams negotiating over the star soccer players, piles of sweaters at the ready as makeshift goalposts. Of course, in the world of professional sports, trading players is deadly serious, involving multi million dollar transactions.
At least, you might reasonably think so, but there have been some truly surreal sporting trades over the years.
Fighting over the best and betting on the outcomes
Whether it is draft picks in the NFL or European soccer stars in the transfer window, professional sports team love to negotiate with each other. Sometimes those negotiations can get intense – perhaps this is why, with the rise in online betting, the topic of who will complete what deal is becoming as popular a wager as the games themselves. The UK casino sites at TheCasinoDB.com are no strangers to sports betting, and if you take a look when January comes around and the transfer window opens, they will all be discussing the odds of potential trades.
Usually the who and the where are the focus of the average sporting trade, but sometimes it is the “for what,” as the following examples demonstrate.
The Pitcher and the Catfish
Poor Ken Krahenbuhl. First, the Pacific Suns traded him to the Greenville Bluesmen without even having the good grace to tell him about it, but regardless, he went out and pitched a perfect game in his very first outing for his new team. Yet despite his achievements against the odds, he has gone down in history as the man who was traded in exchange for 10lb of catfish.
Bussey Martin
Tom Martin was a journeyman NHL winger who served time with the Winnipeg Jets, the Hartford Whalers and the Minnesota North Stars in a seven-year career that was solid but unremarkable. However, before turning pro, he had the singular experience of being traded by the Seattle Breakers to the Victoria Cougars in exchange for a new team bus. As you might guess, there is more to the story than meets the eye, but the nickname Bussey lived with him for his entire career. Read the rest of this entry →
Steve Spurrier was the original starting quarterback when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers began their stretch of 26 consecutive defeats.
For the 0-12 Browns, it is all something of a case of deja-vu. This time last year, they were in exactly the same position, and it was only a Christmas Eve win that saved them from a 0-16 season. That makes 28 losses in the last 29 regular season games for the Browns. It’s bad, but that single win against the Chargers last year means Cleveland can’t even make a success of losing, and just miss out on the top losing streaks shortlist.
Streaking to failure – or gambling on spectacular success
There is something almost magical about the streak. Sportsbook fans and casino goers know that it can make gamblers overnight millionaires or bring them to ruin, whether they are putting it all on black 22 at casino-websites.co.uk or trying to hold their nerve in a complex sports betting accumulator.
For sports fans, however, when all else is lost, there is what becomes an almost morbid interest in just how bad your team can become. It is a feeling that Cleveland fans know only too well. Here are some of the biggest losing streaks in sporting history.
NFL: 26 games
Not to rub it in, but had Cleveland lost to San Diego last year, they would have shot straight to the top of the list. As it is, the biggest losing streak stands at 26, and is a record held by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Worse, it came in 1976, when the regular season was only 14 games long and the Bucs were the new kids in town. It took the franchise almost two entire seasons to manage its first victory, a 33-14 win over The Saints in the penultimate game of the1977 season at Tampa Stadium. Read the rest of this entry →
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is one of the most underappreciated wide receivers in NFL history, despite boasting a career that spanned 16 seasons and saw him excel as one of the league’s premier deep threats. Known for his speed, route-running, and ability to make plays downfield, Harold Jackson left an indelible mark on the game during an era that was not yet pass-heavy. Standing at 5’10” and weighing 175 pounds, he defied expectations of size to become a dominant force on the field. Over the course of his illustrious career (1968–1983), Jackson totaled 10,372 receiving yards and 76 touchdowns, placing him among the top receivers of his time.
