The World Wide Leader is doing something different tonight on its Tuesday Night Baseball broadcast. The Braves/Mets contest will have a theme. That theme? Hank Aaron.
Aaron will be in the booth serving as a guest analyst alongside Dave Flemming, Eduardo Perez and Tim Kurkjian. Also during the game, ESPN will show highlights of Aaron’s career and take phone calls from some of his friends and contemporaries. Some of his late friends will also make appearances, as the network has announced video clips of Muhammad Ali and Mickey Mantle talking about Aaron’s accomplishments will be shown.
“Why is ESPN doing this tonight?” you might ask? Well, there doesn’t seem to be an exact reason. Aaron isn’t celebrating a birthday or any particular milestone anniversary of his playing career. It’s a Braves game. That’s the team Hank Aaron spent the bulk of his hall of fame career with in both Milwaukee and Atlanta. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch to open the new SunTrust Park last year.
It could also simply be a celebration of baseball. Aaron has remained visible in the game, showing up every year to hand out the trophy named in his honor at the World Series.
The Braves and Mets start at 7:30 tonight on ESPN.
Did this event happen? 14 June 2018 – Bill in Corvallis