WEBVTT 00:13.310 --> 00:14.910 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Well, good afternoon. 00:14.910 --> 00:17.360 align:start I know we're all excited. 00:17.360 --> 00:18.950 align:start And welcome -- 00:18.950 --> 00:21.230 align:start [ Applause ] 00:21.230 --> 00:24.150 align:start Madison Council members and guests. 00:24.150 --> 00:29.150 align:start And again this year has been a wonderful, wonderful year 00:29.150 --> 00:31.840 align:start with your support, and it's had 00:31.840 --> 00:33.970 align:start such a great impact on the library. 00:33.970 --> 00:39.350 align:start And the exhibit that we hope you will enjoy was made possible 00:39.350 --> 00:45.890 align:start by your support, the innovative and engaging Baseball Americana. 00:45.890 --> 00:51.510 align:start We were so delighted when it was voted by USA Today 00:51.510 --> 00:55.520 align:start as the number one exhibit to see this summer, the only one 00:55.520 --> 00:58.070 align:start in Washington DC out of 15. 00:58.070 --> 00:59.780 align:start So we were just -- 00:59.780 --> 01:02.180 align:start [ Applause ] 01:02.180 --> 01:03.870 align:start And you'll see that shortly. 01:03.870 --> 01:07.170 align:start And then the 18th National Book Festival, 01:07.170 --> 01:08.780 align:start record breaking attendance. 01:08.780 --> 01:14.940 align:start Over 200,000 people in one day in the Balt -- - - 01:14.940 --> 01:17.300 align:start I still commute from Baltimore. 01:17.300 --> 01:18.620 align:start So excuse me. 01:18.620 --> 01:20.690 align:start I do do that. 01:20.690 --> 01:27.510 align:start The Washington Convention Center, and it was held 01:27.510 --> 01:31.140 align:start on Labor Day weekend, and the crowd was just wonderful. 01:31.140 --> 01:34.720 align:start And that also was made possible with your generosity. 01:34.720 --> 01:36.530 align:start And that's just two examples 01:36.530 --> 01:39.210 align:start of what the Madison Council does for us. 01:39.210 --> 01:44.580 align:start And today, actually, is being made possible by two 01:44.580 --> 01:50.950 align:start of our Madison Council members, Tom and Joyce Moorehead, 01:50.950 --> 01:55.800 align:start who are friends with someone I think you're going 01:55.800 --> 01:58.810 align:start to be excited to hear from. 01:58.810 --> 02:01.460 align:start And we are in for a special treat. 02:01.460 --> 02:08.120 align:start Because today, we have Mr. Henry Aaron, and his wife Billye, 02:08.120 --> 02:15.060 align:start and I have to tell you, if you want to know about devotion, 02:15.060 --> 02:20.220 align:start her birthday is right now. 02:20.220 --> 02:25.510 align:start And because of their friendship with the Mooreheads, 02:25.510 --> 02:28.450 align:start the Baseball Americana, respect for it, 02:28.450 --> 02:31.640 align:start she said she would be here. 02:31.640 --> 02:36.780 align:start Well, unbeknownst to her though, her dear friends -- 02:36.780 --> 02:39.290 align:start and they call themselves like a kitchen cabinet 02:39.290 --> 02:41.210 align:start who have been together for years, 02:41.210 --> 02:43.690 align:start and her sisters and everything. 02:43.690 --> 02:47.950 align:start They usually celebrate their birthday, her birthday together. 02:47.950 --> 02:51.800 align:start And they fooled her and said they were going to Las Vegas. 02:51.800 --> 02:53.290 align:start Well, they're all here. 02:53.290 --> 02:57.060 align:start And they fooled her and they're here with us today. 02:57.060 --> 03:01.430 align:start So we thank you, Mrs. Aaron, for sharing that with us. 03:01.430 --> 03:03.230 align:start And so now, yes. 03:03.230 --> 03:06.970 align:start [ Applause ] 03:06.970 --> 03:11.610 align:start And so now, and I must say I'm pretty nervous. 03:11.610 --> 03:18.130 align:start Because when I was 10, I wanted to be a shortstop. 03:18.130 --> 03:19.830 align:start And it's been in the paper. 03:19.830 --> 03:21.430 align:start I've said it with this exhibit. 03:21.430 --> 03:24.430 align:start You know, I spent summers in Springfield, Illinois, 03:24.430 --> 03:27.620 align:start going down to St. Louis with my grandfather. 03:27.620 --> 03:29.690 align:start And I thought that, well, you see, 03:29.690 --> 03:32.420 align:start I'm here as the Librarian of Congress. 03:32.420 --> 03:34.640 align:start That didn't work out. 03:34.640 --> 03:39.450 align:start But I can't tell you how delighted I am to be able 03:39.450 --> 03:41.860 align:start to welcome to the stage Mr. Henry Aaron, 03:41.860 --> 03:46.630 align:start someone who has shown in his life 03:46.630 --> 03:50.590 align:start and in his deeds what being a champion really is. 03:50.590 --> 03:55.290 align:start And so today, we are honored that he will talk a little bit 03:55.290 --> 04:02.030 align:start with us about his experiences. 04:02.030 --> 04:09.070 align:start Mr. Henry Aaron. 04:09.070 --> 04:10.370 align:start [ Applause ] 04:10.370 --> 04:15.810 align:start And I also should mention that I was such a baseball fan 04:15.810 --> 04:18.130 align:start that when my parents got divorced, 04:18.130 --> 04:20.890 align:start I had a few players I thought, if it wasn't going to work 04:20.890 --> 04:22.790 align:start out with my dad, that she could marry. 04:22.790 --> 04:30.270 align:start You know, Maury Wills, you know, I had a few lined up for her. 04:30.270 --> 04:33.730 align:start So thank you, Mr. Aaron. 04:33.730 --> 04:35.030 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Thank you. 04:35.030 --> 04:36.350 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Oh, we mic-ed you up. 04:36.350 --> 04:38.370 align:start We thought you could sit down. 04:38.370 --> 04:40.130 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh yeah, thank you. 04:40.130 --> 04:42.800 align:start >> Carla Hayden: We're going to pretend like this is just 04:42.800 --> 04:45.940 align:start like the two of us talking together. 04:45.940 --> 04:50.020 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I'd just like to thank some here 04:50.020 --> 04:52.530 align:start if I may for a moment. 04:52.530 --> 04:57.240 align:start I'd like to thank the Mooreheads, Joyce and Tom, 04:57.240 --> 05:01.550 align:start for entertaining the kitchen cabinet. 05:01.550 --> 05:05.500 align:start And especially all the people that is involved 05:05.500 --> 05:09.270 align:start with making my wife's birthday what it is. 05:09.270 --> 05:12.120 align:start You don't know what pressure that takes off me. 05:12.120 --> 05:14.170 align:start [ Laughing ] 05:14.170 --> 05:16.460 align:start But now I want to thank you guys. 05:16.460 --> 05:20.020 align:start You guys are really somebody special. 05:20.020 --> 05:23.830 align:start Tom, you and Joyce, thank you very much. 05:23.830 --> 05:27.670 align:start And Dr. Hayden, I'd just like to thank you. 05:27.670 --> 05:30.690 align:start I think all of the people here 05:30.690 --> 05:35.650 align:start that have given me the opportunity to stand here 05:35.650 --> 05:39.840 align:start and talk to you for a moment about something 05:39.840 --> 05:42.440 align:start that I am very fond of. 05:42.440 --> 05:44.570 align:start You know, I think about -- 05:44.570 --> 05:49.040 align:start I don't get a chance to get to Washington that often. 05:49.040 --> 05:53.380 align:start But I think about it now and I tell a lot of people 05:53.380 --> 05:58.050 align:start that I have come in contact with that -- 05:58.050 --> 06:00.410 align:start that you don't have to go overseas in order 06:00.410 --> 06:03.130 align:start to come and find your roots. 06:03.130 --> 06:06.420 align:start Really, you can come right here in Washington, 06:06.420 --> 06:10.580 align:start right here to this beautiful building here. 06:10.580 --> 06:14.650 align:start And understand what it has to offer. 06:14.650 --> 06:17.540 align:start And I just want to thank you for all that you do. 06:17.540 --> 06:21.730 align:start You have been instrumental in doing some great things. 06:21.730 --> 06:25.870 align:start And I am so thankful for you. 06:25.870 --> 06:31.260 align:start And of course, the thing that I've been involved 06:31.260 --> 06:36.470 align:start with for many years, aside from the 23 years 06:36.470 --> 06:40.640 align:start that I played the game of baseball, 06:40.640 --> 06:51.310 align:start but just after the 23 years that I was not involved in baseball, 06:51.310 --> 06:54.580 align:start that my life had to go on living, you know. 06:54.580 --> 06:57.520 align:start And, of course, you know, my mother 06:57.520 --> 07:01.490 align:start and my father has passed on since. 07:01.490 --> 07:04.760 align:start But you and I was talking just a moment ago. 07:04.760 --> 07:06.810 align:start >> Carla Hayden: I'd like you to mention that, 07:06.810 --> 07:08.470 align:start more about your mother and father. 07:08.470 --> 07:09.770 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 07:09.770 --> 07:11.070 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Because they were quite instrumental 07:11.070 --> 07:15.410 align:start in you being able to endure life after baseball. 07:15.410 --> 07:16.710 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 07:16.710 --> 07:18.010 align:start That's right. 07:18.010 --> 07:19.310 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And succeed. 07:19.310 --> 07:20.610 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 07:20.610 --> 07:22.670 align:start Well, see, my father, he built his house -- 07:22.670 --> 07:26.510 align:start it wasn't that much of a house, but it was ours. 07:26.510 --> 07:31.710 align:start And he built it with himself -- just three of us really. 07:31.710 --> 07:36.210 align:start It was me and my brother, my older brother, and him. 07:36.210 --> 07:40.100 align:start We did it on Saturdays between jobs. 07:40.100 --> 07:43.740 align:start He was working with the Alabama Drydocking Shipbuilding Company. 07:43.740 --> 07:45.040 align:start >> Carla Hayden: In Mobile? 07:45.040 --> 07:47.150 align:start >> Hank Aaron: In Mobile, Alabama. 07:47.150 --> 07:49.770 align:start And wasn't making much money. 07:49.770 --> 07:54.930 align:start But we built our home with ourselves. 07:54.930 --> 07:57.750 align:start Wasn't much of a roof, I must say that. 07:57.750 --> 08:00.790 align:start We did the best we could. 08:00.790 --> 08:05.680 align:start On some rainy days, we didn't completely fill 08:05.680 --> 08:08.690 align:start in all the potholes. 08:08.690 --> 08:10.620 align:start We slept under some drops. 08:10.620 --> 08:14.400 align:start But we did the best we could. 08:14.400 --> 08:16.570 align:start We did the best we could and it was ours. 08:16.570 --> 08:18.000 align:start That's the most important thing. 08:18.000 --> 08:19.300 align:start Yeah. 08:19.300 --> 08:20.750 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And I understand that even 08:20.750 --> 08:24.720 align:start when you achieved so much success and everything, 08:24.720 --> 08:29.040 align:start that your father -- you tried to get him to leave that house. 08:29.040 --> 08:31.030 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh, no, he would not. 08:31.030 --> 08:34.050 align:start Oh, God, he would not leave it for nothing. 08:34.050 --> 08:35.750 align:start He was determined that it was his 08:35.750 --> 08:40.280 align:start and he was going to stay there. 08:40.280 --> 08:46.030 align:start In fact, after I had been in baseball for about 15, 16 years, 08:46.030 --> 08:48.890 align:start I went back to Mobile and I tried to buy my mother 08:48.890 --> 08:52.140 align:start and father -- and I bought a house for them. 08:52.140 --> 08:54.160 align:start My mother loved fishing. 08:54.160 --> 08:56.650 align:start And she had a special way of fishing. 08:56.650 --> 08:59.660 align:start I know many of you probably fish 08:59.660 --> 09:02.000 align:start but she had a special way to fish. 09:02.000 --> 09:06.830 align:start And what she did was going on the dock 09:06.830 --> 09:09.770 align:start and she'd take a newspaper and ball it up, 09:09.770 --> 09:13.050 align:start and she would slap the water like this. 09:13.050 --> 09:15.470 align:start And look -- got them. 09:15.470 --> 09:16.770 align:start >> Carla Hayden: She would catch fish? 09:16.770 --> 09:18.600 align:start >> Hank Aaron: She would catch fish, all kinds of fish. 09:18.600 --> 09:22.030 align:start I tried to do the same thing and they ignored me. 09:22.030 --> 09:24.740 align:start They wouldn't even think about me. 09:24.740 --> 09:28.520 align:start But she had some special way of doing it. 09:28.520 --> 09:32.430 align:start But I tried to get him to -- 09:32.430 --> 09:34.650 align:start I tried to get him to move 09:34.650 --> 09:38.750 align:start to this little house I had bought for them. 09:38.750 --> 09:42.360 align:start And he told me one day, early one morning -- 09:42.360 --> 09:45.320 align:start he was out there trying to crank his car with his crank. 09:45.320 --> 09:46.820 align:start And he's going, "Gah." 09:46.820 --> 09:49.020 align:start And he called me, he said, "Come here, son. 09:49.020 --> 09:50.710 align:start I want to talk to you." 09:50.710 --> 09:52.010 align:start And he said, "Listen. 09:52.010 --> 09:54.570 align:start I see what you're trying to do." 09:54.570 --> 09:58.380 align:start He said, "You're trying to get your mother and I to move 09:58.380 --> 10:01.280 align:start to that house that you just bought." 10:01.280 --> 10:03.390 align:start He said, "But we're not going anywhere." 10:03.390 --> 10:04.690 align:start I said, "Is that right?" 10:04.690 --> 10:05.990 align:start He said, "No." 10:05.990 --> 10:07.290 align:start He said, "I tell you what." 10:07.290 --> 10:09.100 align:start He said, "All of these people here -- 10:09.100 --> 10:10.400 align:start there's not that many of them. 10:10.400 --> 10:11.700 align:start There's maybe five 10:11.700 --> 10:14.440 align:start or six families here in this little area." 10:14.440 --> 10:17.250 align:start He said, "These are friends of mine." 10:17.250 --> 10:20.220 align:start He said, "I can wake up in the morning, I can walk down, 10:20.220 --> 10:22.700 align:start I can say hello, Stella, whatever, you know." 10:22.700 --> 10:24.790 align:start And he said, "These are friends of mine." 10:24.790 --> 10:26.760 align:start He said, "I'm not going anywhere." 10:26.760 --> 10:32.080 align:start He said, "So you can take that money that you paid 10:32.080 --> 10:35.850 align:start for that house and get a refund." 10:35.850 --> 10:37.150 align:start [ Laughing ] 10:37.150 --> 10:40.570 align:start But he was just determined not to go anywhere. 10:40.570 --> 10:44.920 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Even after you became a successful businessman 10:44.920 --> 10:46.800 align:start -- and I wanted to bring them up too -- 10:46.800 --> 10:49.090 align:start and everything, he wouldn't budge. 10:49.090 --> 10:50.570 align:start >> Hank Aaron: He wouldn't budge. 10:50.570 --> 10:52.700 align:start He wouldn't even -- he wouldn't even think 10:52.700 --> 10:56.800 align:start about owning a new car, to be honest for you. 10:56.800 --> 10:59.660 align:start You know, he loved for some reason -- 10:59.660 --> 11:00.960 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Wait a minute. 11:00.960 --> 11:02.260 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes? 11:02.260 --> 11:04.670 align:start >> Carla Hayden: But you were the first African American 11:04.670 --> 11:05.970 align:start BMW dealer. 11:05.970 --> 11:09.760 align:start You have a pretty extensive background in automobiles. 11:09.760 --> 11:11.060 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 11:11.060 --> 11:13.450 align:start He wanted nothing to do with it. 11:13.450 --> 11:15.910 align:start He loved cranking his car up. 11:15.910 --> 11:19.000 align:start He loved cranking his car up and he loved the people 11:19.000 --> 11:21.440 align:start that he walked down the street with, 11:21.440 --> 11:25.030 align:start wearing his overalls suspenders on one shoulder 11:25.030 --> 11:28.210 align:start and one hanging down to here. 11:28.210 --> 11:30.010 align:start But that was him. 11:30.010 --> 11:31.310 align:start That was him. 11:31.310 --> 11:33.300 align:start That was my father. 11:33.300 --> 11:36.300 align:start And God rest his soul. 11:36.300 --> 11:38.990 align:start He was a wonderful man. 11:38.990 --> 11:40.940 align:start >> Carla Hayden: He did go around, I understand -- 11:40.940 --> 11:42.920 align:start and I read all the books about you, 11:42.920 --> 11:46.970 align:start including your autobiography, "I Had A Hammer." 11:46.970 --> 11:48.270 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 11:48.270 --> 11:49.570 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And you said 11:49.570 --> 11:50.960 align:start that even though he was wearing overalls, there were times 11:50.960 --> 11:53.160 align:start when he was popping his buttons and everything. 11:53.160 --> 11:55.360 align:start He was telling everybody who his son was. 11:55.360 --> 11:56.660 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 11:56.660 --> 11:57.960 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Yeah, he was that. 11:57.960 --> 11:59.290 align:start And what happened to the house? 11:59.290 --> 12:00.590 align:start >> Hank Aaron: The house now has moved 12:00.590 --> 12:06.450 align:start to a little place called -- well, it's still in Mobile. 12:06.450 --> 12:09.190 align:start But it moved to the baseball park. 12:09.190 --> 12:13.180 align:start They moved it and that was the most -- that's the lonesome. 12:13.180 --> 12:18.450 align:start I mean, I was in tears when that house was moved. 12:18.450 --> 12:20.280 align:start It moved all the way from Tomanville, 12:20.280 --> 12:23.750 align:start which is where I was born, in Tomanville, 12:23.750 --> 12:25.490 align:start to a little place called Downdaby. 12:25.490 --> 12:30.050 align:start And that's where the house is now sitting. 12:30.050 --> 12:33.760 align:start Two bedrooms, a little place where -- 12:33.760 --> 12:36.840 align:start and you can go in and see my mother's -- 12:36.840 --> 12:40.150 align:start believe it or not, her wedding dress. 12:40.150 --> 12:43.900 align:start Many, many 50, 60, 70 years ago, 12:43.900 --> 12:46.940 align:start it's still hanging in that little room. 12:46.940 --> 12:48.240 align:start >> Carla Hayden: It's a museum. 12:48.240 --> 12:50.250 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes, it's a little museum. 12:50.250 --> 12:52.080 align:start But that's where the house is now. 12:52.080 --> 12:53.380 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Wow. 12:53.380 --> 12:54.680 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 12:54.680 --> 12:55.980 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And your mom was -- 12:55.980 --> 12:57.280 align:start you mentioned with the fishing 12:57.280 --> 13:01.860 align:start but they also both really gave you some values and some things 13:01.860 --> 13:04.210 align:start that helped you through some pretty difficult times, 13:04.210 --> 13:05.960 align:start even during those 23 years. 13:05.960 --> 13:08.360 align:start There were some pretty rough times. 13:08.360 --> 13:09.660 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh, no question about it. 13:09.660 --> 13:13.640 align:start I had rough -- oh, you mean, growing up in Mobile? 13:13.640 --> 13:15.990 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Well, that was the start. 13:15.990 --> 13:18.160 align:start That was not -- 13:18.160 --> 13:21.020 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, you know, 13:21.020 --> 13:25.420 align:start and yet my mother always taught me, and she told me two things. 13:25.420 --> 13:31.520 align:start One thing that you have to always remember and be proud of. 13:31.520 --> 13:36.280 align:start She said your name is Henry Aaron. 13:36.280 --> 13:38.500 align:start And say, "Always protect it." 13:38.500 --> 13:44.940 align:start And I think about it now and I think many, 13:44.940 --> 13:50.340 align:start many years ago I say you know, thinking about Henry Aaron. 13:50.340 --> 13:53.130 align:start Even when I got into the business of automobile 13:53.130 --> 13:57.090 align:start or whatever it was, food business, I always felt 13:57.090 --> 14:01.910 align:start like regardless of what someone tried to tell me, 14:01.910 --> 14:06.420 align:start the most important thing was the fact that they may want to come 14:06.420 --> 14:10.610 align:start and they can show you a big picture of something. 14:10.610 --> 14:13.870 align:start But the most important thing is that you always got to remember 14:13.870 --> 14:16.240 align:start that your name is Henry Aaron 14:16.240 --> 14:17.640 align:start and it's going to always be that. 14:17.640 --> 14:20.820 align:start And I've always tried to protect that. 14:20.820 --> 14:25.680 align:start And I try my darndest to make my mother and father proud of it. 14:25.680 --> 14:28.550 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You never leave that feeling. 14:28.550 --> 14:29.850 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 14:29.850 --> 14:31.150 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And you got a chance 14:31.150 --> 14:33.730 align:start and they both got a chance to be very proud. 14:33.730 --> 14:35.030 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Right. 14:35.030 --> 14:36.330 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Now, 14:36.330 --> 14:38.920 align:start I mentioned those hard times though, because Mobile, 14:38.920 --> 14:40.220 align:start Alabama that was deep south. 14:40.220 --> 14:41.710 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Deep south, absolutely. 14:41.710 --> 14:43.280 align:start >> Carla Hayden: People talk about Mississippi 14:43.280 --> 14:45.990 align:start and everything but wow. 14:45.990 --> 14:47.290 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Right. 14:47.290 --> 14:50.930 align:start We had a rough time, you know, no question about it. 14:50.930 --> 14:54.580 align:start When I was growing up in Alabama, I remember -- 14:54.580 --> 14:58.440 align:start I remember two or three incidents. 14:58.440 --> 15:03.510 align:start I remember very well that when it when it got dark, 15:03.510 --> 15:07.650 align:start it was dark because we had no electric lights. 15:07.650 --> 15:09.890 align:start And I remember many times -- 15:09.890 --> 15:13.250 align:start my people with the kitchen cabinet heard me talking 15:13.250 --> 15:14.550 align:start about this. 15:14.550 --> 15:17.960 align:start But I remember many times that my mother used to call me 15:17.960 --> 15:22.660 align:start and tell me to come and get under the bed. 15:22.660 --> 15:24.250 align:start And I said, "For what reason?" 15:24.250 --> 15:29.050 align:start Because I'm not doing anything but playing baseball, catching. 15:29.050 --> 15:34.400 align:start But down the street was a group of white guys 15:34.400 --> 15:36.990 align:start with the Ku Klux Klan. 15:36.990 --> 15:40.210 align:start And they would be coming through your neighborhood, 15:40.210 --> 15:47.140 align:start intimidating you, lighting fires, throwing a little bundle 15:47.140 --> 15:49.110 align:start of lights in your yard, you know, 15:49.110 --> 15:51.660 align:start and things like this, you know. 15:51.660 --> 15:55.310 align:start And my mother said, that's the reason I wanted you to stay 15:55.310 --> 15:59.120 align:start under the house -- I mean, under the bed, you know. 15:59.120 --> 16:02.190 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And so coming out of and experiencing that 16:02.190 --> 16:05.680 align:start and then what you had to endure entering 16:05.680 --> 16:07.470 align:start into professional baseball. 16:07.470 --> 16:08.770 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 16:08.770 --> 16:10.070 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Because you mentioned you were always 16:10.070 --> 16:13.040 align:start playing and everything, but it was what, lot playing? 16:13.040 --> 16:15.780 align:start Or you were just playing? 16:15.780 --> 16:17.080 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 16:17.080 --> 16:18.380 align:start Yes, just playing. 16:18.380 --> 16:19.890 align:start >> Carla Hayden: But then when you got into professional ball, 16:19.890 --> 16:23.250 align:start you experienced some of the same things in different ways. 16:23.250 --> 16:24.550 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes, I did. 16:24.550 --> 16:31.500 align:start I had the same problem in some cases in cities like Cincinnati. 16:31.500 --> 16:32.800 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Cincinnati? 16:32.800 --> 16:34.980 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh, yeah, I had lots of trouble 16:34.980 --> 16:37.270 align:start in Cincinnati one time. 16:37.270 --> 16:39.700 align:start I traveled in Cincinnati. 16:39.700 --> 16:44.210 align:start I remember a very dear friend of mine 16:44.210 --> 16:45.980 align:start that had been in the service. 16:45.980 --> 16:49.990 align:start And this is the first time I've told the story. 16:49.990 --> 16:51.290 align:start This is the first time. 16:51.290 --> 16:53.410 align:start He had been in service. 16:53.410 --> 16:57.090 align:start And we used to play -- back when I first came in baseball, 16:57.090 --> 17:03.630 align:start we used to play 150-some games, I think it was. 17:03.630 --> 17:06.560 align:start And he used to always take a day off 17:06.560 --> 17:11.390 align:start and come visit us in Cincinnati. 17:11.390 --> 17:14.970 align:start Well, that was a long time ago when Cincinnati, when you -- 17:14.970 --> 17:21.450 align:start When you get off out of the airport, from the airport, 17:21.450 --> 17:26.250 align:start you had quite a ways to go before you get to the hotel. 17:26.250 --> 17:29.290 align:start And I remember so very well that -- 17:29.290 --> 17:32.550 align:start I remember that the police stopped us. 17:32.550 --> 17:38.900 align:start And he had met some lady, and stopped us and told us 17:38.900 --> 17:42.470 align:start that we needed to get off the highway. 17:42.470 --> 17:46.630 align:start And he told me, he said -- and by the way, he said, 17:46.630 --> 17:50.370 align:start "You need to get out of the car," speaking to me. 17:50.370 --> 17:52.970 align:start And I got out of the car. 17:52.970 --> 17:56.390 align:start And I remember he said, "Now when I come back down here, 17:56.390 --> 17:59.180 align:start he said, "I don't want to see you on this highway anymore." 17:59.180 --> 18:04.440 align:start You know, and so when he came back there, 18:04.440 --> 18:10.130 align:start I immediately went back down in the trenches, the bottom. 18:10.130 --> 18:12.070 align:start Mud was up to here. 18:12.070 --> 18:14.490 align:start Now I'm playing professional baseball. 18:14.490 --> 18:18.900 align:start Mud was up to my belt buckle. 18:18.900 --> 18:23.100 align:start And I remember that I got to the hotel about two or three o'clock 18:23.100 --> 18:27.150 align:start in the morning with mud all on me and everything. 18:27.150 --> 18:31.590 align:start But he came back, they came back by with four 18:31.590 --> 18:34.620 align:start or five cars of policemen. 18:34.620 --> 18:36.520 align:start And they didn't find me, of course. 18:36.520 --> 18:39.670 align:start They had to come down and search to find me. 18:39.670 --> 18:43.570 align:start But I was able to get to the hotel. 18:43.570 --> 18:48.060 align:start And I never did get back, go in that direction anymore. 18:48.060 --> 18:49.360 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that was in Ohio? 18:49.360 --> 18:50.660 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 18:50.660 --> 18:51.960 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Cincinnati, Ohio. 18:51.960 --> 18:53.260 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 18:53.260 --> 18:54.560 align:start >> Carla Hayden: So those types of things happened. 18:54.560 --> 18:55.860 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh, yes. 18:55.860 --> 18:57.160 align:start >> Carla Hayden: During your career, professional? 18:57.160 --> 18:58.460 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh yeah. 18:58.460 --> 18:59.760 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You're going 18:59.760 --> 19:01.060 align:start for all these records and things like that. 19:01.060 --> 19:02.690 align:start But there was still that aspect? 19:02.690 --> 19:03.990 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh yeah, no question. 19:03.990 --> 19:05.290 align:start >> Carla Hayden: That was part of it? 19:05.290 --> 19:06.590 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 19:06.590 --> 19:07.890 align:start >> Carla Hayden: So then you started thinking too 19:07.890 --> 19:13.470 align:start about using your fame and position, excuse me, 19:13.470 --> 19:15.490 align:start to really help do things. 19:15.490 --> 19:19.170 align:start You got a little active with Civil Rights. 19:19.170 --> 19:20.470 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 19:20.470 --> 19:23.720 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And Atlanta gave a real opportunity. 19:23.720 --> 19:26.580 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, you know, there's so many -- 19:26.580 --> 19:34.060 align:start so many things that I think about as a young man growing up. 19:34.060 --> 19:38.730 align:start And I started playing baseball when I was 18. 19:38.730 --> 19:42.810 align:start I got to the big leagues when I was 18 years old. 19:42.810 --> 19:48.680 align:start I played with Milwaukee from 18 till the year 19:48.680 --> 19:53.710 align:start that they transferred us to Milwaukee -- I mean to Atlanta. 19:53.710 --> 19:56.950 align:start And playing in Atlanta, Georgia -- 19:56.950 --> 20:01.220 align:start now Atlanta itself was Atlanta. 20:01.220 --> 20:03.910 align:start But outside of Atlanta, you were in Georgia. 20:03.910 --> 20:05.210 align:start [ Laughing ] 20:05.210 --> 20:06.510 align:start >> Carla Hayden: A little different, huh? 20:06.510 --> 20:07.810 align:start >> Hank Aaron: And you better recognize 20:07.810 --> 20:09.110 align:start that you were in Georgia. 20:09.110 --> 20:12.950 align:start So I tried to make myself understood that. 20:12.950 --> 20:18.130 align:start Although, you know, I'm in Atlanta playing baseball, 20:18.130 --> 20:22.010 align:start but don't get carried away and think that you someplace else. 20:22.010 --> 20:24.560 align:start Because you are in Georgia. 20:24.560 --> 20:26.470 align:start And I tried to make myself believe that. 20:26.470 --> 20:30.300 align:start You know, I understood that. 20:30.300 --> 20:31.600 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And you were able 20:31.600 --> 20:33.870 align:start to start businesses there in Atlanta. 20:33.870 --> 20:36.510 align:start And Ted Turner had a part of that. 20:36.510 --> 20:37.810 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I did. 20:37.810 --> 20:39.110 align:start I did very well with Ted. 20:39.110 --> 20:40.670 align:start Ted and I were very good friends. 20:40.670 --> 20:43.260 align:start And I started -- I was very lucky. 20:43.260 --> 20:47.470 align:start When I say lucky, I mean I was -- I wouldn't say lucky. 20:47.470 --> 20:51.410 align:start I think I just took for granted that, you know, 20:51.410 --> 20:53.990 align:start baseball was not going to be for me forever, 20:53.990 --> 20:56.590 align:start or going to be with me forever. 20:56.590 --> 21:00.410 align:start That I had to do something else in order to make a living. 21:00.410 --> 21:03.550 align:start And I wasn't going to play it the rest of my life. 21:03.550 --> 21:07.460 align:start So I had to do something else in order to make sure 21:07.460 --> 21:10.110 align:start that my life will continue to function the way 21:10.110 --> 21:12.260 align:start that I think that it should. 21:12.260 --> 21:15.600 align:start >> Carla Hayden: But you also thought about others. 21:15.600 --> 21:17.040 align:start We talked about the fact 21:17.040 --> 21:19.870 align:start that the Jackie Robinson papers are here. 21:19.870 --> 21:21.170 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 21:21.170 --> 21:22.780 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And what he did in terms of business, 21:22.780 --> 21:24.470 align:start but also being active. 21:24.470 --> 21:26.600 align:start And you started a foundation. 21:26.600 --> 21:28.400 align:start And I love the name. 21:28.400 --> 21:30.770 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation. 21:30.770 --> 21:32.630 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Chasing the Dream. 21:32.630 --> 21:36.910 align:start >> Hank Aaron: And by the way, we have a young lady here 21:36.910 --> 21:40.200 align:start who does more handling that than I do. 21:40.200 --> 21:41.500 align:start [ Laughing ] 21:41.500 --> 21:42.800 align:start She's right here. 21:42.800 --> 21:45.160 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And so Chasing the Dream, I mean that name. 21:45.160 --> 21:48.240 align:start >> Hank Aaron: But you know, what started that was the fact 21:48.240 --> 21:52.870 align:start that when I retired from baseball, I remember Bud Selig 21:52.870 --> 21:58.760 align:start who is now -- he was the commissioner of baseball. 21:58.760 --> 22:03.230 align:start But right then he was the owner of the Milwaukee Braves 22:03.230 --> 22:07.080 align:start And I remember him, I remember we was playing someplace 22:07.080 --> 22:08.380 align:start in Baltimore. 22:08.380 --> 22:11.360 align:start And I told a friend of mine. 22:11.360 --> 22:14.940 align:start I said, "You know, I can't -- 22:14.940 --> 22:17.470 align:start baseball is something I'm going to have to give up. 22:17.470 --> 22:23.040 align:start I can't -- my longest ball is to the warning track. 22:23.040 --> 22:26.880 align:start I slide and I'm thinking I'm in second base and I'm halfway." 22:26.880 --> 22:29.950 align:start I said, "I can't do what I used to do." 22:29.950 --> 22:33.220 align:start I said, "I need to try to think about something else." 22:33.220 --> 22:37.160 align:start So I told this friend of mine, I said, "I'm going to retire." 22:37.160 --> 22:39.260 align:start He said, "Well, why don't you go and tell the commissioner?" 22:39.260 --> 22:40.570 align:start It wasn't the commissioner. 22:40.570 --> 22:42.610 align:start Tell the owner, Bud Selig. 22:42.610 --> 22:44.440 align:start So I went and told Bud Selig about it. 22:44.440 --> 22:45.740 align:start I said, "Bud." 22:45.740 --> 22:48.540 align:start I said, "I don't think I'm going to play." 22:48.540 --> 22:50.420 align:start I said, "You gave me a two-year contract 22:50.420 --> 22:52.080 align:start and that's going to be it." 22:52.080 --> 22:54.900 align:start I said, "I don't think I can play no more." 22:54.900 --> 22:58.080 align:start He said, "Well," he said, "What do you want to do?" 22:58.080 --> 23:00.700 align:start I said, "I want to have -- I want to do something, 23:00.700 --> 23:04.190 align:start but I can't think of what it is right now." 23:04.190 --> 23:07.550 align:start And he said, "Well, come back tomorrow." 23:07.550 --> 23:09.260 align:start So I went back in his office the next day. 23:09.260 --> 23:13.090 align:start I said, "Two things that don't want." 23:13.090 --> 23:16.910 align:start I said, "I don't want somebody to come up and say we're going 23:16.910 --> 23:20.550 align:start to have a day for Hank Aaron, and we're going 23:20.550 --> 23:23.350 align:start to give him a year supply of Coca-Cola." 23:23.350 --> 23:24.650 align:start [ Laughing ] 23:24.650 --> 23:26.450 align:start I said, "I don't want that. 23:26.450 --> 23:29.240 align:start And I don't somebody to come up and say, 23:29.240 --> 23:30.780 align:start I'm going to give him an automobile. 23:30.780 --> 23:32.080 align:start I didn't want that." 23:32.080 --> 23:33.380 align:start >> Carla Hayden: No. 23:33.380 --> 23:35.140 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I said, "I want something that I think 23:35.140 --> 23:38.830 align:start that two years from now I'm going to love to be." 23:38.830 --> 23:41.720 align:start And my wife said, "Well, why don't you get a foundation?" 23:41.720 --> 23:43.600 align:start So I said okay. 23:43.600 --> 23:47.450 align:start So I called it -- it wasn't the Chasing the Dream Foundation 23:47.450 --> 23:48.750 align:start at that time. 23:48.750 --> 23:52.290 align:start It was just Hank Aaron Foundation. 23:52.290 --> 23:55.690 align:start Started out little of nothing, doing nothing. 23:55.690 --> 24:00.290 align:start Making no money, doing nothing, start out with $200 in it. 24:00.290 --> 24:01.590 align:start >> Carla Hayden: $200? 24:01.590 --> 24:03.200 align:start >> Hank Aaron: $200. 24:03.200 --> 24:04.500 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You were ambitious. 24:04.500 --> 24:05.800 align:start [ Laughing ] 24:05.800 --> 24:12.600 align:start >> Hank Aaron: But we tried to do the best we could. 24:12.600 --> 24:13.900 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Okay. 24:13.900 --> 24:15.200 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Tried to do the very best we could. 24:15.200 --> 24:17.800 align:start Until one day -- I'm getting ahead of myself. 24:17.800 --> 24:21.380 align:start Now one day, I remember my wife and I was traveling someplace. 24:21.380 --> 24:23.400 align:start And she said, you know, she said, 24:23.400 --> 24:26.750 align:start "Your foundation isn't going anyplace." 24:26.750 --> 24:30.570 align:start She said, "We ought to try to do something with this foundation." 24:30.570 --> 24:32.370 align:start I said, "Well, what do you think we ought to do?" 24:32.370 --> 24:35.530 align:start "Let's try and raise some money." 24:35.530 --> 24:37.790 align:start I said, "Yes, I love that." 24:37.790 --> 24:39.280 align:start I said, "Let's raise some money." 24:39.280 --> 24:43.590 align:start >> Carla Hayden: That $250 wasn't doing much. 24:43.590 --> 24:46.680 align:start >> Hank Aaron: So sure enough, she decided that she was going 24:46.680 --> 24:50.810 align:start to get in touch with Coca Cola, some of the big boys, 24:50.810 --> 24:54.160 align:start and she'd talk about some money. 24:54.160 --> 24:58.570 align:start She went to Coca Cola and offered Coca Cola five seats, 24:58.570 --> 25:03.310 align:start a tendency for $50,000 and $20,000. 25:03.310 --> 25:06.770 align:start And I told her, I said, "Now don't embarrass me, please. 25:06.770 --> 25:08.870 align:start God." I said, "That's a lot of money." 25:08.870 --> 25:10.170 align:start She said, "Don't worry." 25:10.170 --> 25:11.880 align:start She said, "Let me handle it." 25:11.880 --> 25:13.440 align:start [ Laughing ] 25:13.440 --> 25:15.460 align:start And so I said, "Okay." 25:15.460 --> 25:19.390 align:start And so fast forward. 25:19.390 --> 25:23.880 align:start I remember the night of the dinner. 25:23.880 --> 25:25.180 align:start We had Bill Clinton then. 25:25.180 --> 25:28.500 align:start Now I know this is not politics -- 25:28.500 --> 25:29.800 align:start >> Carla Hayden: President Bill Clinton? 25:29.800 --> 25:31.100 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 25:31.100 --> 25:32.400 align:start President Bill Clinton was there. 25:32.400 --> 25:37.930 align:start We raised that night -- we raised over $1,200,000. 25:37.930 --> 25:39.230 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Wow. 25:39.230 --> 25:40.530 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That night, 25:40.530 --> 25:43.660 align:start and that started me on the foundation. 25:43.660 --> 25:44.960 align:start >> Carla Hayden: I think so. 25:44.960 --> 25:47.540 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That started me on raising money for the kids. 25:47.540 --> 25:51.120 align:start And today, we have helped over -- 25:51.120 --> 25:55.410 align:start >> We have helped over 50 scholarships 25:55.410 --> 25:58.560 align:start and 18 universities and colleges. 25:58.560 --> 25:59.860 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Wow. 25:59.860 --> 26:01.160 align:start Wonderful. 26:01.160 --> 26:02.460 align:start [ Applause ] 26:02.460 --> 26:09.070 align:start And those are full scholarships, full scholarships. 26:09.070 --> 26:10.370 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 26:10.370 --> 26:11.670 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Wonderful. 26:11.670 --> 26:12.970 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 26:12.970 --> 26:14.270 align:start So that's what we're doing now. 26:14.270 --> 26:16.320 align:start And so I am so happy and extremely happy. 26:16.320 --> 26:19.070 align:start Because it's all over the world, 26:19.070 --> 26:22.230 align:start and it's helping kids chase their dreams 26:22.230 --> 26:24.970 align:start as I chased mine many years ago. 26:24.970 --> 26:26.270 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that's what led it. 26:26.270 --> 26:27.570 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 26:27.570 --> 26:28.870 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You knew baseball was going 26:28.870 --> 26:30.170 align:start to be that for you. 26:30.170 --> 26:31.470 align:start >> Hank Aaron: True. 26:31.470 --> 26:32.770 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You knew and you said, "This is going 26:32.770 --> 26:36.550 align:start to be the way that I'm going to move out 26:36.550 --> 26:38.330 align:start and hten later give to others." 26:38.330 --> 26:39.630 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 26:39.630 --> 26:40.930 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And some people don't. 26:40.930 --> 26:42.230 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, that's true. 26:42.230 --> 26:44.570 align:start >> Carla Hayden: That's why I think people admire you so much. 26:44.570 --> 26:45.870 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, thank you. 26:45.870 --> 26:47.170 align:start >> Carla Hayden: That you've used your fame 26:47.170 --> 26:49.680 align:start and you've used what you've done to help others. 26:49.680 --> 26:53.020 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, I have tried with the help of my wife, 26:53.020 --> 26:57.980 align:start and with the foundation we have tried 26:57.980 --> 27:01.350 align:start to do what we were called upon to do you know, 27:01.350 --> 27:02.960 align:start to try to help others. 27:02.960 --> 27:04.520 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You also did it in business. 27:04.520 --> 27:06.670 align:start And I'm looking at Mr. Moorehead, 27:06.670 --> 27:13.220 align:start because you were the first African American BMW 27:13.220 --> 27:14.520 align:start dealership ever. 27:14.520 --> 27:15.820 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, we were. 27:15.820 --> 27:17.120 align:start Yeah. 27:17.120 --> 27:18.420 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Now I think you said though you only -- 27:18.420 --> 27:21.860 align:start this might be back with the $200 theme. 27:21.860 --> 27:23.890 align:start You sold five cars the first year. 27:23.890 --> 27:26.510 align:start >> Hank Aaron: We didn't sell too many BMW's, 27:26.510 --> 27:27.810 align:start at least my dealership. 27:27.810 --> 27:30.240 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Okay, there's a little theme here. 27:30.240 --> 27:33.070 align:start >> Hank Aaron: At that time, my dealership was so small. 27:33.070 --> 27:34.400 align:start We had a small dealership. 27:34.400 --> 27:38.740 align:start I think Tom may have been a little larger than mine. 27:38.740 --> 27:43.500 align:start >> Carla Hayden: He was the second African American 27:43.500 --> 27:44.800 align:start BMW dealer. 27:44.800 --> 27:46.100 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 27:46.100 --> 27:47.860 align:start Yeah. But thank God, you know, Mr. Moorehead has 27:47.860 --> 27:54.920 align:start since graduated, and has gone on and done quite well, thank God. 27:54.920 --> 27:56.220 align:start Thanks, Tom. 27:56.220 --> 27:58.440 align:start He's done very well. 27:58.440 --> 27:59.740 align:start 8 27:59.740 --> 28:01.040 align:start [ Applause ] 28:01.040 --> 28:02.340 align:start He and Joyce have done quite well. 28:02.340 --> 28:06.470 align:start But anyhow, it gave me an opportunity 28:06.470 --> 28:09.680 align:start to understand what being in business 28:09.680 --> 28:12.480 align:start and what life was all about, you know, really. 28:12.480 --> 28:17.300 align:start I've enjoyed myself. 28:17.300 --> 28:25.510 align:start It's been something that I think that we have helped other kids 28:25.510 --> 28:27.680 align:start to fulfill their dreams. 28:27.680 --> 28:32.850 align:start So we feel quite proud of the fact that I have helped others. 28:32.850 --> 28:35.040 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And you went into other businesses, 28:35.040 --> 28:36.340 align:start the restaurant business. 28:36.340 --> 28:37.910 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I mean, I mean, I mean, the food business. 28:37.910 --> 28:39.210 align:start >> Carla Hayden: The food business. 28:39.210 --> 28:40.510 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 28:40.510 --> 28:41.810 align:start >> Carla Hayden: So you're just rolling. 28:41.810 --> 28:43.110 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I don't know. 28:43.110 --> 28:44.410 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You're doing pretty well here. 28:44.410 --> 28:49.670 align:start That's because it's a continuation of the excellence 28:49.670 --> 28:54.540 align:start and striving, and then it's back to your parents and those values 28:54.540 --> 28:58.080 align:start and what they taught you about being there 28:58.080 --> 29:02.350 align:start and being steady, staying the course. 29:02.350 --> 29:03.650 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Right, right. 29:03.650 --> 29:07.570 align:start And I have tried, in spite of all the things 29:07.570 --> 29:14.490 align:start that have happened to not only -- not myself but have happened 29:14.490 --> 29:20.430 align:start in this country and especially to African Americans, 29:20.430 --> 29:21.730 align:start little kids, you know. 29:21.730 --> 29:26.310 align:start And that was something that I think that made me 29:26.310 --> 29:29.700 align:start and my wife talk about when we had -- 29:29.700 --> 29:33.090 align:start not had, when we talked to our grandkid. 29:33.090 --> 29:38.370 align:start You know, he's 14, 15 years old, 16 years old. 29:38.370 --> 29:42.110 align:start And the most important thing is to make sure 29:42.110 --> 29:45.560 align:start that he understands what life is all about. 29:45.560 --> 29:51.150 align:start You know, when I was his age, I knew I had -- 29:51.150 --> 29:55.110 align:start my wife, my mother didn't tell me anything, but one time. 29:55.110 --> 29:59.930 align:start And after that, it was something else 29:59.930 --> 30:02.540 align:start that was getting on my behind. 30:02.540 --> 30:05.250 align:start So that's what she told me. 30:05.250 --> 30:08.330 align:start But you know, today these kids are a little bit different, 30:08.330 --> 30:09.630 align:start you know? 30:09.630 --> 30:10.930 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And how do you -- 30:10.930 --> 30:14.510 align:start and you mentioned your one grandson is about 17? 30:14.510 --> 30:15.810 align:start >> Hank Aaron: 17, yes. 30:15.810 --> 30:19.130 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that you talk to him about being -- 30:19.130 --> 30:21.350 align:start you use your experiences that you had. 30:21.350 --> 30:23.410 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I use my experience. 30:23.410 --> 30:30.200 align:start And what I try to tell him is that no matter what happens, 30:30.200 --> 30:31.690 align:start if he's driving a car -- 30:31.690 --> 30:36.690 align:start and today's kids are a little bit smarter than I was 30:36.690 --> 30:39.230 align:start when I was growing up, you know, really, to be honest. 30:39.230 --> 30:41.180 align:start And I try to tell him say, you know, 30:41.180 --> 30:46.260 align:start the most important thing is that when someone stop you, 30:46.260 --> 30:50.780 align:start wants you driver's license, give him your license, put your hands 30:50.780 --> 30:55.340 align:start on the steering wheel, pull your hand up and don't make a move. 30:55.340 --> 30:56.990 align:start Just stay right there. 30:56.990 --> 30:58.560 align:start That's kind of tough. 30:58.560 --> 30:59.860 align:start >> Carla Hayden: That's tough. 30:59.860 --> 31:01.160 align:start >> Hank Aaron: It's tough, it's kind of tough. 31:01.160 --> 31:02.460 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Especially for young people. 31:02.460 --> 31:03.760 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Young kids today, yeah. 31:03.760 --> 31:07.190 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And your experiences though in Mobile 31:07.190 --> 31:08.770 align:start and then traveling and so. 31:08.770 --> 31:10.070 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 31:10.070 --> 31:11.370 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Really reinforced that though. 31:11.370 --> 31:12.670 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 31:12.670 --> 31:13.970 align:start And I understood that. 31:13.970 --> 31:17.080 align:start I understood that because growing 31:17.080 --> 31:19.950 align:start up in Mobile, you understood that. 31:19.950 --> 31:24.120 align:start But today, you know, young people, young kids are not -- 31:24.120 --> 31:28.050 align:start you know, you have to explain things to them, and you should. 31:28.050 --> 31:33.000 align:start You can't just walk up to one and say something and expect 31:33.000 --> 31:35.020 align:start that -- they want an answer, 31:35.020 --> 31:37.660 align:start and they should rightfully have an answer. 31:37.660 --> 31:38.960 align:start You know, really. 31:38.960 --> 31:43.270 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Now do you ever have young athletes come to you 31:43.270 --> 31:45.110 align:start and ask for advice and things? 31:45.110 --> 31:46.410 align:start I'm sure they -- 31:46.410 --> 31:49.590 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I have tried to stay out of that, really. 31:49.590 --> 31:53.090 align:start And the reason for that is because I think 31:53.090 --> 31:59.290 align:start that so many young players today think that -- 31:59.290 --> 32:02.860 align:start the agents think that you're trying to figure out a way 32:02.860 --> 32:06.710 align:start to get your hands in their pocketbook or something. 32:06.710 --> 32:08.530 align:start And so I kind of stay away from that. 32:08.530 --> 32:10.980 align:start You know, I try to help them as much as I can, 32:10.980 --> 32:13.590 align:start away from the -- in the clubhouse. 32:13.590 --> 32:17.620 align:start On the field I'll talk to one of them about hitting or something. 32:17.620 --> 32:22.790 align:start But I never try to get one-on-one. 32:22.790 --> 32:24.680 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that must be -- 32:24.680 --> 32:27.840 align:start you mentioned that you always thought 32:27.840 --> 32:29.860 align:start that records were made to be broken. 32:29.860 --> 32:31.160 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 32:31.160 --> 32:32.460 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that was your approach. 32:32.460 --> 32:33.760 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's true. 32:33.760 --> 32:35.060 align:start That's true. 32:35.060 --> 32:38.340 align:start And the reason for that is because for 23 years, 32:38.340 --> 32:43.400 align:start I had I hit 750-some-odd homeruns. 32:43.400 --> 32:49.610 align:start And Barry Bonds was slowly snipping at my heels 32:49.610 --> 32:53.270 align:start and he was -- and people were saying that the reason 32:53.270 --> 32:54.950 align:start that he was getting so close was 32:54.950 --> 32:57.660 align:start because he was doing some things illegal. 32:57.660 --> 33:00.690 align:start I didn't know he was doing anything illegal. 33:00.690 --> 33:01.990 align:start I've never known him. 33:01.990 --> 33:04.620 align:start I've never seen him do anything, really, to be honest with you. 33:04.620 --> 33:05.920 align:start But that's what they were saying. 33:05.920 --> 33:08.270 align:start And they were saying that, "Are you going 33:08.270 --> 33:09.880 align:start to give him the record?" 33:09.880 --> 33:11.910 align:start I said, "I'm not giving him anything." 33:11.910 --> 33:15.810 align:start I said again, I said records are made to be broken. 33:15.810 --> 33:18.420 align:start And no matter who it is, somebody is going 33:18.420 --> 33:20.450 align:start to break somebody's record, you know. 33:20.450 --> 33:21.750 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Eventually. 33:21.750 --> 33:23.050 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 33:23.050 --> 33:25.170 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And if you look at it like that, you can move 33:25.170 --> 33:28.100 align:start through your life and keep going 33:28.100 --> 33:31.250 align:start and feel good and do what you do. 33:31.250 --> 33:32.550 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's true. 33:32.550 --> 33:34.590 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that's why I think that when people talk 33:34.590 --> 33:40.320 align:start about separating the record from the person is very important. 33:40.320 --> 33:43.300 align:start Because you have that distinction. 33:43.300 --> 33:49.980 align:start Now another distinction that I think we will see 33:49.980 --> 33:52.410 align:start in the exhibit -- and people are going 33:52.410 --> 33:54.310 align:start to see the baseball exhibit and I mentioned 33:54.310 --> 33:59.500 align:start that your scouting report from Branch Rickey is in there. 33:59.500 --> 34:01.200 align:start But you don't know what he said. 34:01.200 --> 34:02.500 align:start >> Hank Aaron: No. 34:02.500 --> 34:04.670 align:start >> Well, the whole world knows now. 34:04.670 --> 34:05.970 align:start [ Laughing ] 34:05.970 --> 34:07.270 align:start It's in the exhibit. 34:07.270 --> 34:10.080 align:start Let's just say he said you had potential. 34:10.080 --> 34:11.470 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I have an idea. 34:11.470 --> 34:14.010 align:start I remember when I was planning 34:14.010 --> 34:17.390 align:start in the Negro League many, many years ago. 34:17.390 --> 34:21.940 align:start And I made $200 a month. 34:21.940 --> 34:24.010 align:start That's what I was making. 34:24.010 --> 34:27.060 align:start And I got $1 a day meal money for eating. 34:27.060 --> 34:31.290 align:start And then some friend of mine named Jenkins, 34:31.290 --> 34:32.620 align:start who was a very good friend of mine -- 34:32.620 --> 34:34.740 align:start he and I was very good friends. 34:34.740 --> 34:39.750 align:start And we used to buy a big jar of peanut butter about this so big. 34:39.750 --> 34:42.580 align:start And it was real peanut butter. 34:42.580 --> 34:43.880 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Peanut. 34:43.880 --> 34:46.710 align:start >> Hank Aaron: This wasn't the kind that had oil on top. 34:46.710 --> 34:48.150 align:start This was the real peanut butter. 34:48.150 --> 34:49.450 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Okay, we know. 34:49.450 --> 34:51.160 align:start >> Hank Aaron: And it would get right here 34:51.160 --> 34:55.050 align:start and it would stick to your throat. 34:55.050 --> 35:01.750 align:start And he and I -- I remember when I left Mobile, Alabama 35:01.750 --> 35:05.230 align:start and my sister carried me to the train station 35:05.230 --> 35:06.660 align:start with a suitcase about this big. 35:06.660 --> 35:07.960 align:start That was my suitcase. 35:07.960 --> 35:09.260 align:start I call it a suitcase. 35:09.260 --> 35:11.200 align:start It was a briefcase. 35:11.200 --> 35:12.650 align:start About this big. 35:12.650 --> 35:14.660 align:start A pair of pants and a shirt. 35:14.660 --> 35:17.090 align:start That was it. 35:17.090 --> 35:20.610 align:start And I went to join the Indianapolis Clowns, 35:20.610 --> 35:22.500 align:start the Negro League. 35:22.500 --> 35:27.200 align:start And it was almost three and a half weeks before and we played 35:27.200 --> 35:29.050 align:start in Winston Salem, South Carolina. 35:29.050 --> 35:31.740 align:start It was cold as the dickens. 35:31.740 --> 35:33.040 align:start I'll never forget. 35:33.040 --> 35:37.480 align:start I didn't have a jacket, didn't have anything. 35:37.480 --> 35:44.210 align:start And they wouldn't give me one because I was only a rookie. 35:44.210 --> 35:46.530 align:start And I did the very best that I could. 35:46.530 --> 35:50.760 align:start I froze at night, ate peanut butter and that was it. 35:50.760 --> 35:52.230 align:start [ Laughing ] 35:52.230 --> 35:58.410 align:start But you know, hey, I was 18 years old. 35:58.410 --> 36:00.880 align:start And that didn't bother me. 36:00.880 --> 36:02.180 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Yeah. 36:02.180 --> 36:03.480 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, that didn't bother me. 36:03.480 --> 36:05.170 align:start I was happy as a lark. 36:05.170 --> 36:06.680 align:start You know, I wanted to -- 36:06.680 --> 36:08.410 align:start I wanted to play baseball, you know. 36:08.410 --> 36:09.780 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You were chasing the dream. 36:09.780 --> 36:11.250 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I was chasing a dream. 36:11.250 --> 36:12.550 align:start That's right. 36:12.550 --> 36:13.850 align:start And I chased it. 36:13.850 --> 36:16.830 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And when you think about that, 36:16.830 --> 36:22.610 align:start the peanut butter and the briefcase and what that led to, 36:22.610 --> 36:25.920 align:start do you sometimes reflect back and say, Wow? 36:25.920 --> 36:27.220 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I think about it. 36:27.220 --> 36:36.020 align:start I think about all of the things that -- I made $200 a month. 36:36.020 --> 36:39.930 align:start And after taxes and all back then -- 36:39.930 --> 36:42.660 align:start of course tax wasn't that much. 36:42.660 --> 36:45.580 align:start But I used to send my mother all the rest of it. 36:45.580 --> 36:52.240 align:start And I used to always have at least $25 or $30 in my pocket. 36:52.240 --> 36:57.040 align:start And we never would -- we never would travel on the train. 36:57.040 --> 37:00.050 align:start We'd travel on the bus. 37:00.050 --> 37:10.290 align:start And all of us had a certain time, not in the evening, 37:10.290 --> 37:16.260 align:start but at night, we would be watching the turn signal, 37:16.260 --> 37:23.560 align:start helping the bus driver turn and drive the bus. 37:23.560 --> 37:29.480 align:start But we had -- you know -- You think about things like that, 37:29.480 --> 37:32.880 align:start you know, and you think, you say, how did I make it? 37:32.880 --> 37:36.150 align:start What made me do it? 37:36.150 --> 37:41.110 align:start And I always say you know, God works in mysterious ways. 37:41.110 --> 37:43.450 align:start And sometimes he can have his hands on you 37:43.450 --> 37:46.180 align:start and tell you what direction to go in. 37:46.180 --> 37:49.020 align:start And you don't know why you're going in that direction. 37:49.020 --> 37:50.680 align:start But you're going. 37:50.680 --> 37:54.410 align:start So you have to say, you know, in spite of all of the things 37:54.410 --> 37:59.460 align:start that you have tried to do, somebody else stronger than you, 37:59.460 --> 38:04.280 align:start most powerful than you, have sent you a direction 38:04.280 --> 38:07.390 align:start to make you go in the right direction. 38:07.390 --> 38:12.280 align:start And I feel like out of all the things that have happened to me 38:12.280 --> 38:16.510 align:start in the 23 years that I played baseball, and all the rest 38:16.510 --> 38:20.720 align:start of the things, that I had someone that was guiding me 38:20.720 --> 38:24.840 align:start in the right direction in order to make sure that, "Hank Aaron, 38:24.840 --> 38:28.300 align:start we want you go this way rather than going that way." 38:28.300 --> 38:31.810 align:start I played baseball for 23 years. 38:31.810 --> 38:34.890 align:start And I've never ran with a crowd. 38:34.890 --> 38:36.190 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Really? 38:36.190 --> 38:37.490 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Never had anybody -- 38:37.490 --> 38:38.790 align:start >> Carla Hayden: I didn't read that. 38:38.790 --> 38:40.090 align:start Okay 38:40.090 --> 38:42.870 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Never had anybody pulling my coattails 38:42.870 --> 38:45.990 align:start or anything like that. 38:45.990 --> 38:52.160 align:start When I went through chasing the Babe's record for many years, 38:52.160 --> 38:59.110 align:start I stayed away from my teammates for a year and a half, 38:59.110 --> 39:00.570 align:start and they stayed somewhere else. 39:00.570 --> 39:05.880 align:start And I had to have people bring me food into the hotel. 39:05.880 --> 39:08.900 align:start And for two years, I had to be left 39:08.900 --> 39:12.190 align:start out of the ballpark, let in the back. 39:12.190 --> 39:15.280 align:start Go out of the back way rather than going out. 39:15.280 --> 39:17.080 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Now was that your choice or was 39:17.080 --> 39:18.430 align:start that because of the threats? 39:18.430 --> 39:21.330 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That was because I got all kinds 39:21.330 --> 39:23.630 align:start of threatening letters. 39:23.630 --> 39:29.120 align:start I must had all kinds of letters that was threatening my life. 39:29.120 --> 39:33.260 align:start You know, if I did this, if I did this, you know. 39:33.260 --> 39:34.560 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Because of a record? 39:34.560 --> 39:36.140 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Because of a record. 39:36.140 --> 39:37.990 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And it was the racial part. 39:37.990 --> 39:40.270 align:start >> Hank Aaron: It was segregation, no question. 39:40.270 --> 39:42.410 align:start >> Carla Hayden: They kind of put that in the letter too? 39:42.410 --> 39:44.080 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 39:44.080 --> 39:47.850 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And that was part of it. 39:47.850 --> 39:54.240 align:start And I could imagine that that would almost take something, 39:54.240 --> 39:58.090 align:start the joy of doing it and you chasing your dream and playing 39:58.090 --> 40:00.330 align:start and doing this, and then to have that -- 40:00.330 --> 40:04.730 align:start wasn't that kind of bittersweet to have to deal with that too? 40:04.730 --> 40:06.030 align:start >> Hank Aaron: No question about it. 40:06.030 --> 40:08.600 align:start And also, you know, at that time, 40:08.600 --> 40:12.210 align:start I was married, had two kids. 40:12.210 --> 40:14.440 align:start And they were in school and they couldn't -- 40:14.440 --> 40:17.080 align:start I had one daughter that was at Fisk University. 40:17.080 --> 40:19.330 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Oh yes, in Nashville. 40:19.330 --> 40:20.910 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, she's in Nashville. 40:20.910 --> 40:24.220 align:start And for a year and a half, she couldn't leave the campus 40:24.220 --> 40:26.460 align:start because she was getting threatening letters. 40:26.460 --> 40:27.760 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Your daughter? 40:27.760 --> 40:30.240 align:start >> Hank Aaron: And so she couldn't leave campus. 40:30.240 --> 40:33.520 align:start And I had to go -- I had a little boy. 40:33.520 --> 40:37.570 align:start I had two sons at Maris another little private school, 40:37.570 --> 40:42.670 align:start but they too had to have people escort them here and there. 40:42.670 --> 40:43.970 align:start It was -- 40:43.970 --> 40:45.270 align:start >> Carla Hayden: It was hard. 40:45.270 --> 40:47.250 align:start >> Hank Aaron: It was a tough moment for me. 40:47.250 --> 40:49.690 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And people remember it in their ways, 40:49.690 --> 40:50.990 align:start and they think about it, 40:50.990 --> 40:53.120 align:start but they don't think about the human toll. 40:53.120 --> 40:54.420 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 40:54.420 --> 40:55.720 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And you were the human. 40:55.720 --> 40:57.020 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 40:57.020 --> 40:58.610 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You weren't just some -- 40:58.610 --> 41:02.820 align:start you were pretty phenomenal now, pretty phenomenal. 41:02.820 --> 41:06.530 align:start But you also were human and the toll that that took on you. 41:06.530 --> 41:07.830 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Right. 41:07.830 --> 41:09.130 align:start >> Carla Hayden: But no bitterness? 41:09.130 --> 41:13.340 align:start No, you know -- I mean, just sitting here now? 41:13.340 --> 41:19.440 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, as I said before, you know, 41:19.440 --> 41:22.320 align:start you think about all of the things that you went through, 41:22.320 --> 41:26.480 align:start you're going through and try to do the right thing, you know. 41:26.480 --> 41:29.000 align:start And the most important thing I was trying 41:29.000 --> 41:32.600 align:start to do was just bringing joy to people who wanted 41:32.600 --> 41:34.790 align:start to see a little baseball, that's all. 41:34.790 --> 41:36.570 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Now what about the new generations? 41:36.570 --> 41:37.920 align:start We talked about younger people. 41:37.920 --> 41:41.750 align:start There are more African America youth seeming to go 41:41.750 --> 41:44.060 align:start into basketball and football. 41:44.060 --> 41:46.920 align:start What about trying to get them involved with baseball? 41:46.920 --> 41:48.220 align:start Do you think there's -- 41:48.220 --> 41:49.530 align:start >> Hank Aaron: There's a problem, 41:49.530 --> 41:51.030 align:start and it's been a problem. 41:51.030 --> 41:54.080 align:start You know, it's a problem I've talked to. 41:54.080 --> 41:57.570 align:start I've spoken to the commissioner of baseball about it. 41:57.570 --> 42:00.850 align:start I've talked to both commissioners about it. 42:00.850 --> 42:06.060 align:start And for some reason, we don't have African Americans playing 42:06.060 --> 42:09.370 align:start Major League Baseball anymore, you know, for some reason. 42:09.370 --> 42:12.640 align:start Most of your African American players are coming 42:12.640 --> 42:16.400 align:start from the Dominican Republic, and some of the other places, 42:16.400 --> 42:18.440 align:start from some of the other islands, you know. 42:18.440 --> 42:22.010 align:start And for some reason we, you know, I was looking 42:22.010 --> 42:24.080 align:start at the game last night, the other night 42:24.080 --> 42:32.940 align:start when I think it was -- it was the Red Sox. 42:32.940 --> 42:34.240 align:start The Red Sox. 42:34.240 --> 42:37.210 align:start >> Carla Hayden: The Red Sox. 42:37.210 --> 42:38.510 align:start [ Laughing ] 42:38.510 --> 42:43.320 align:start >> Hank Aaron: The Red Sox and Houston Astros, yeah. 42:43.320 --> 42:47.040 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Can you imagine Mr. Henry Aaron watching games. 42:47.040 --> 42:50.580 align:start Wouldn't you love to sit next to him while he's watching a game? 42:50.580 --> 42:51.880 align:start [ Laughing ] 42:51.880 --> 42:54.500 align:start >> Hank Aaron: But I didn't see -- I didn't see -- 42:54.500 --> 42:57.930 align:start I didn't see one African -- I saw one African American player. 42:57.930 --> 42:59.480 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Isn't that something? 42:59.480 --> 43:02.860 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, and some clubs don't have any. 43:02.860 --> 43:04.680 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And what about in the front office? 43:04.680 --> 43:09.950 align:start Now that really is -- now where's Mr. -- well, he's -- 43:09.950 --> 43:15.180 align:start >> Hank Aaron: And I remember when we played baseball, 43:15.180 --> 43:20.290 align:start you know, myself and Willie and some of the other players. 43:20.290 --> 43:25.830 align:start We used to have -- it used to be you have five players. 43:25.830 --> 43:30.390 align:start You have players hitting .300, some players hitting 25 43:30.390 --> 43:33.900 align:start or 30 home runs, and all of them would be African American 43:33.900 --> 43:35.780 align:start players, you know. 43:35.780 --> 43:37.950 align:start >> Carla Hayden: But they wouldn't be reflected 43:37.950 --> 43:40.410 align:start in in the management and things like that later. 43:40.410 --> 43:41.710 align:start >> Hank Aaron: No, no. 43:41.710 --> 43:43.600 align:start For some reason, I don't understand it. 43:43.600 --> 43:49.070 align:start We've never broken that pillar yet, you know, management. 43:49.070 --> 43:51.120 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Well, that's one to break. 43:51.120 --> 43:52.420 align:start That's the record to break. 43:52.420 --> 43:53.720 align:start >> Hank Aaron: That's right. 43:53.720 --> 43:55.020 align:start That's true. 43:55.020 --> 43:56.320 align:start >> Carla Hayden: That's a record to break. 43:56.320 --> 43:57.620 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 43:57.620 --> 43:58.920 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Well, I must tell you that I put down -- 43:58.920 --> 44:00.710 align:start and I told you I was a little nervous so I had a lot 44:00.710 --> 44:02.810 align:start of my questions right here and I got a few, 44:02.810 --> 44:05.250 align:start especially chasing the dream 44:05.250 --> 44:08.880 align:start and helping young people see the possibilities. 44:08.880 --> 44:12.380 align:start Now they don't have to be involved in athletics, right? 44:12.380 --> 44:13.680 align:start >> Hank Aaron: No, no. 44:13.680 --> 44:14.980 align:start >> Carla Hayden: This is a straight scholarship. 44:14.980 --> 44:19.690 align:start It doesn't matter what they're majoring in. 44:19.690 --> 44:22.410 align:start >> They can be anything. 44:22.410 --> 44:25.520 align:start We have kids, we have one kid playing golf. 44:25.520 --> 44:26.820 align:start Is that right? 44:26.820 --> 44:28.120 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Okay. 44:28.120 --> 44:30.130 align:start >> Hank Aaron: And we have one playing the cello. 44:30.130 --> 44:36.420 align:start And we have one playing -- we have kids that are at Stanford. 44:36.420 --> 44:38.990 align:start And we have them all over. 44:38.990 --> 44:40.290 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Michigan. 44:40.290 --> 44:41.590 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 44:41.590 --> 44:44.760 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Okay, I think we will get some sports 44:44.760 --> 44:46.060 align:start rivalries going here. 44:46.060 --> 44:47.360 align:start I can tell. 44:47.360 --> 44:51.360 align:start >> Hank Aaron: So we have them all over. 44:51.360 --> 44:54.050 align:start Chased the Dream Foundation has been something 44:54.050 --> 44:56.360 align:start that I think we are and I am very proud of. 44:56.360 --> 45:01.490 align:start And it is not only -- we have white kids too now. 45:01.490 --> 45:02.790 align:start Yeah. 45:02.790 --> 45:04.500 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Oh, so it's kids. 45:04.500 --> 45:07.250 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, we have schools 45:07.250 --> 45:09.100 align:start that we have white kids that's going 45:09.100 --> 45:12.950 align:start to school under the same thing. 45:12.950 --> 45:19.950 align:start But we have one at University of Wisconsin, right? 45:19.950 --> 45:21.770 align:start Madison too? 45:21.770 --> 45:24.580 align:start Yes. So we have them all over. 45:24.580 --> 45:26.620 align:start So I'm very proud. 45:26.620 --> 45:27.920 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You should be. 45:27.920 --> 45:31.570 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, these kids are doing wonderful. 45:31.570 --> 45:32.870 align:start They've done marvelous. 45:32.870 --> 45:38.200 align:start And each one, every year, we bring them all to Atlanta. 45:38.200 --> 45:40.850 align:start Bring them all to Atlanta for one game, and they all -- 45:40.850 --> 45:45.930 align:start and all of them, all of them usually show up. 45:45.930 --> 45:48.510 align:start And they have a wonderful time. 45:48.510 --> 45:50.190 align:start >> Carla Hayden: So this is the Atlanta Braves? 45:50.190 --> 45:51.490 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah. 45:51.490 --> 45:52.880 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You bring them in there 45:52.880 --> 45:55.930 align:start and they're on the big screen. 45:55.930 --> 45:57.230 align:start >> Hank Aaron: The big screen. 45:57.230 --> 45:58.530 align:start Yes, yes. 45:58.530 --> 45:59.830 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And everything like that. 45:59.830 --> 46:01.130 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 46:01.130 --> 46:02.430 align:start And they have a lot of fun. 46:02.430 --> 46:03.730 align:start >> Carla Hayden: You mentioned watching the game. 46:03.730 --> 46:06.730 align:start So do you watch games a lot? 46:06.730 --> 46:08.030 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I do it. 46:08.030 --> 46:11.410 align:start I watch it in my bedroom at home. 46:11.410 --> 46:12.770 align:start I don't usually -- 46:12.770 --> 46:15.170 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Okay, I'm not going to ask you 46:15.170 --> 46:18.540 align:start if you have any teams that you like or anything like that, 46:18.540 --> 46:20.710 align:start because I know there's some people that would love 46:20.710 --> 46:25.350 align:start to hear you talk about what teams you think are doing well. 46:25.350 --> 46:26.650 align:start Remember, I'm from Baltimore. 46:26.650 --> 46:28.850 align:start So don't talk about that right now. 46:28.850 --> 46:30.830 align:start But the Cubs made it finally. 46:30.830 --> 46:32.130 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yes. 46:32.130 --> 46:35.630 align:start >> Carla Hayden: We used to say every year they'd come out. 46:35.630 --> 46:36.930 align:start So good. 46:36.930 --> 46:38.920 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah, they finally made it. 46:38.920 --> 46:42.400 align:start They finally made it, the Cubs did. 46:42.400 --> 46:44.010 align:start You know, and the commissioner, 46:44.010 --> 46:47.200 align:start Commissioner Bud Selig has been instrumental in this panel. 46:47.200 --> 46:51.290 align:start He's put together where you don't have the same team 46:51.290 --> 46:52.590 align:start every year. 46:52.590 --> 46:54.960 align:start You know, that was a time when you had the Yankees, Yankees, 46:54.960 --> 46:56.650 align:start Yankees, Yankees, Yankees every year. 46:56.650 --> 46:59.020 align:start Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers. 46:59.020 --> 47:00.650 align:start That doesn't happen anymore. 47:00.650 --> 47:04.690 align:start You know, I mean, it has changed quite a bit now. 47:04.690 --> 47:06.870 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And you've known him for how many years? 47:06.870 --> 47:08.370 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, bud and I have known each other 47:08.370 --> 47:13.450 align:start for at least 40 or 50 years. 47:13.450 --> 47:19.520 align:start Yeah. And he's instrumental in my little thing that give 47:19.520 --> 47:21.530 align:start to each player every year. 47:21.530 --> 47:25.870 align:start So he and I have been friends for a long time. 47:25.870 --> 47:30.570 align:start He's done a great job when he was commissioner of baseball. 47:30.570 --> 47:33.660 align:start And he's done -- I would have 47:33.660 --> 47:37.590 align:start to say he's done a great job with baseball period. 47:37.590 --> 47:41.190 align:start >> Carla Hayden: So before we end, I'm going to have 47:41.190 --> 47:45.660 align:start to ask you is there just one team that you're just kind 47:45.660 --> 47:50.310 align:start of looking out at as the team that you're kind of watching? 47:50.310 --> 47:52.410 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Who's going to win? 47:52.410 --> 47:54.420 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Oh, no. 47:54.420 --> 47:55.720 align:start No betting. 47:55.720 --> 47:57.570 align:start [ Laughing ] 47:57.570 --> 48:03.740 align:start No a team that's doing different things or you enjoy watching? 48:03.740 --> 48:07.160 align:start >> Hank Aaron: I don't know, I think -- 48:07.160 --> 48:17.320 align:start I would have to say without trying to put my -- 48:17.320 --> 48:18.860 align:start I would say Milwaukee. 48:18.860 --> 48:24.140 align:start >> Carla Hayden: I see people going, "Milwaukee?" 48:24.140 --> 48:29.300 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Milwaukee has done just about as well 48:29.300 --> 48:31.750 align:start as can be, you know, really. 48:31.750 --> 48:38.080 align:start That's not just because I played with Milwaukee for a long time. 48:38.080 --> 48:47.320 align:start But it's because I think the management has sought, 48:47.320 --> 48:51.720 align:start seen fit to really put the ball club 48:51.720 --> 48:54.110 align:start where it's supposed to be, you know. 48:54.110 --> 48:57.350 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Well, Mr. Aaron, even though you have done 48:57.350 --> 49:01.800 align:start so much after those 23 years, I think a lot 49:01.800 --> 49:06.500 align:start of us are still pleased that you are still interested in the game 49:06.500 --> 49:08.380 align:start and looking but also are helping 49:08.380 --> 49:10.750 align:start so many other people chase their dreams. 49:10.750 --> 49:12.050 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Well, thank you very much. 49:12.050 --> 49:14.330 align:start >> Carla Hayden: We appreciate you being with us. 49:14.330 --> 49:16.500 align:start >> Hank Aaron: It is so wonderful. 49:16.500 --> 49:19.490 align:start But this is the first time I've been 49:19.490 --> 49:22.490 align:start in this building, the very first time. 49:22.490 --> 49:29.150 align:start I mean this is something that everybody should come and see. 49:29.150 --> 49:32.190 align:start You are doing just -- 49:32.190 --> 49:34.000 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Well, I work with some great people. 49:34.000 --> 49:36.440 align:start And I'm telling you, we brought 49:36.440 --> 49:38.470 align:start out the good silver, right, for Mr. Aaron. 49:38.470 --> 49:39.770 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Yeah 49:39.770 --> 49:41.070 align:start [ Laughing ] 49:41.070 --> 49:42.370 align:start >> Carla Hayden: I mean we had -- 49:42.370 --> 49:45.200 align:start you name it, we had it, and it was out there. 49:45.200 --> 49:48.030 align:start And the curators and librarians were so excited. 49:48.030 --> 49:53.590 align:start And in fact, they are going to make sure that you see some 49:53.590 --> 49:55.940 align:start of the Jackie Robinson letters. 49:55.940 --> 50:00.070 align:start And archivists went back, Adrian Cannon went back and looked 50:00.070 --> 50:03.570 align:start into the archives and said, "You do that," because you were 50:03.570 --> 50:06.370 align:start that aware that we had the Jackie Robinson. 50:06.370 --> 50:09.120 align:start As I mentioned, you will see your scouting report 50:09.120 --> 50:10.600 align:start in the baseball exhibit. 50:10.600 --> 50:12.150 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Is it good? 50:12.150 --> 50:13.450 align:start >> Carla Hayden: It was good. 50:13.450 --> 50:14.750 align:start It was good. 50:14.750 --> 50:16.180 align:start Like I said, he said you had potential. 50:16.180 --> 50:17.480 align:start [ Laughing ] 50:17.480 --> 50:18.780 align:start And he talked about you. 50:18.780 --> 50:23.540 align:start And then we had something that we picked out from our archives. 50:23.540 --> 50:28.790 align:start It's a map, a very rare map of Mobile, Alabama. 50:28.790 --> 50:30.090 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Oh, oh. 50:30.090 --> 50:31.390 align:start >> Carla Hayden: It is rare and old. 50:31.390 --> 50:34.680 align:start It is the plan of Mobile, Alabama, and we have it for you 50:34.680 --> 50:36.170 align:start and we'll make sure you get it. 50:36.170 --> 50:37.470 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Thank you. 50:37.470 --> 50:38.770 align:start >> Carla Hayden: But we want to take a memento 50:38.770 --> 50:41.750 align:start from the Library of Congress for you. 50:41.750 --> 50:43.560 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Isn't that wonderful? 50:43.560 --> 50:50.620 align:start >> Carla Hayden: We wanted you to have that. 50:50.620 --> 50:51.920 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Thank you, thank you very much. 50:51.920 --> 50:53.220 align:start >> Carla Hayden: Oh yeah. 50:53.220 --> 50:55.060 align:start So I know that people would like to speak with you and just be 50:55.060 --> 50:58.020 align:start with you for a few minutes before we go on to dinner. 50:58.020 --> 50:59.320 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Sure. 50:59.320 --> 51:01.650 align:start >> Carla Hayden: And please, everyone, please thank Mr. 51:01.650 --> 51:19.410 align:start and Mrs. Aaron for being here today. 51:19.410 --> 51:20.710 align:start [ Applause ] 51:20.710 --> 51:27.980 align:start >> Hank Aaron: Thank you.