Fergie Jenkins: Hank Aaron still ‘all-time home run hitter’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Many have said over the years that even after Barry Bonds broke Major League Baseball’s all-time home run record, they still consider Hank Aaron the real record holder.
Bonds, whose playing career ended after 2007, has been connected to steroids through the years and is still outside the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Count Cubs great and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins as one who considers Aaron — who died Friday at age 86 — his home run king.
“Well, being that I never played against Barry Bonds but [I played against] Hank Aaron [for] 11 years, I truly think that he is still the all-time home run hitter in baseball,” Jenkins said on Friday, stopping short of tying it to PEDs.
“I just think that what he had to go through to get there, he was consistent in hitting 40+ home runs every season and he just went out and did his job on a daily basis.”
RELATED: Fergie Jenkins ‘shocked’ by death of ‘childhood hero’ Hank Aaron
Aaron received racially motivated threats as he neared Ruth’s all-time mark. He broke the record with career home run No. 715 in April 1974, finishing his 23-year career with 755 long balls — hitting 40 or more in eight seasons.
"When he got close to 714, I know that he received a lot of hate mail,” Jenkins said. “Him and Ernie Banks talked a lot. Ernie knew Hank more than I did. But the nice thing about it, [Aaron] was able to handle the pressure, and he went out there and played every day."
That record stood for 31 years until Bonds broke it in 2007, ultimately finishing his career with 762 home runs. Bonds hit 351 from 1999-2007, following a 1998 season notorious for its home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
Jenkins’ and Aaron’s careers crossed paths from 1965-76, and the Cubs Hall of Famer remembers Aaron as not only a great player, but person.
"He was an outstanding ballplayer," Jenkins said. "A great gentleman."
Click here to subscribe to the Cubs Talk Podcast for free.
