Former U.N. Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young remembered when Henry “Hank” Aaron came to Atlanta prior to the Braves’ first game in the city in 1966.
Young said he overheard a group of white men standing on the street watching Aaron riding in a convertible saying, “We got to be a big league city now.”
“Just his presence, before he hit a hit, changed this city,” said Young.
Aaron, one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history, died Friday of natural causes at 86.
At his funeral Wednesday afternoon at Friendship Baptist Church, Aaron’s casket rested in front of the pulpit, surrounded by flowers and a framed photo of Aaron in front of one of his statues.