Hank Aaronās death marks the passing of one of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball, and now some fans are hoping to cement his legacy by changing Atlantaās problematic team name from the Braves to the Hammers, after Aaron's nickname, "Hammerin' Hank."
Atlanta teams have already come out to honor the baseball great. The NFLās Atlanta Falcons, Major League Soccerās Atlanta United and Georgia Techās football team have all announced they will retire Aaronsā number, 44, in the 2021 season.
According to the Associated Press, a petition on social media is now urging the Atlanta Braves, where āThe Hammerā spent nearly his entire 23-year career, to further honor Aaron by changing their name to the Atlanta Hammers.
āThe renaming serves two important purposes: 1) It honors an icon who represented our city with grace and dignity for more than half a century, and 2) It removes the stain on the city of having a team name that dishonors Native and Indigenous people, especially given one of the greatest tragedies in American History, the Trail of Tears, began in the region the team calls home,ā the petition said.
The Braves have resisted changing their name, arguing that āBravesā is meant as a tribute to Native Americans and not as a slur. The team did try to curtail fansā use of the āTomahawk Chopā cheer by not distributing the teamās iconic red foam tomahawks before the 2019 playoffs.
In recent months, some fans have come up with a possible new logo that replaces Atlantaās tomahawk logo with a similar-looking hammer.
