On this day in 1954, a young baseball player named Henry Aaron replaced the iconic Bobby Thomson who was ailing from injury. Aaron wasn’t known as Hammerin’ Hank yet, hadn’t won any baseball hardware, and his stat line was empty. Aaron was born in 1934 in Mobile Alabama. He was one of eight children. His family was desperately poor. Hank loved baseball but his family couldn’t afford any equipment. He resorted to hitting bottle caps with sticks and making his own baseball gear from things he found in the streets. Aaron thrived on the field. He tried out for the Dodgers at the age of 15 but they passed on him saying he was too young. Aaron would then sign with multiple different independent negro league teams, typically making less than $3 a game! In the year 1951 he signed with the Indianapolis Clowns, the highest level of Negro League play at the time. Aaron only played 26 games for the Clowns before signing with the then-Boston Braves. Aaron worked his way up through the minor leagues, posting jaw-dropping numbers. Aaron was invited to the Milwaukee Braves' spring training. On this day the great Bobby Thomson broke his ankle while stealing second, opening up the spot for the 20-year-old Aaron to step into the spotlight. Aaron would continue to play at an elite level for 23 years, 21 with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and his final two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. His most iconic moment would be when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record on April 8, 1974. He would go on to hit a total of 755 home runs (many people still consider Aaron the home run king), hit 3771 (3rd all time, only behind Pete Rose and Ty Cobb), win the world series and the MVP award in 1957, the record for most all-star game appearances, and more records then be counted.
Henry the Hammer Aaron’s iconic career all started because he replaced another player. He took his spot on the field. The Bible talks about someone else who was a substitute, a replacement. Amazingly He was a substitute for us. This person is Jesus Christ. The Bible declares that the wages of sin are death and that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory. None of us are exempt from that. That is a Bible truth that cannot be ignored or brushed away. For us to be saved someone would have to take our place, someone would have to be our replacement. The prophet Isaiah writes about the “Suffering Servant” who would willingly and sacrificially lay down His own life for us. He wrote “But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).” I cannot think of more graphic words that could be expressed to show how deeply Jesus would agonize. Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God would be pierced (the text indicates pierced through, picturing the image of the spear of the solider entering into the chest of Christ while on the cross and the nails), He was crushed, He was punished, and was wounded. Why? For our wrongs, for our sins, and our well-being. He did it to heal us spiritually, to take away the stain of sin which we could never lighten let alone remove. Rejoice today that Christ, the greatest substitute would take our place to redeem us and make us His own.
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