the burgeoning civil rights movement. He campaigned for then-Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in Milwaukee in 1960 and was credited with helping the Democratic candidate win the Wisconsin presidential primary.
In 1966, at the height of the civil rights movement, the Braves moved to Atlanta, worrying Mr. Aaron. “I have lived in the South, and I don’t want to live there again,” he said. “We can go anywhere in Milwaukee. I don’t know what would happen in Atlanta.”
He was the biggest star on a team representing the heart of the old South and became as recognizable in Atlanta as another of the city’s residents, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The man who, more than anyone, embodied baseball greatness on and off the field, may not be here anymore, but his legacy of drive, never settling, and leading by example still lives on.