hammerin' hank memorial patch (and a look at the braves' memorials to aaron and phil niekro)

when hank aaron passed away nine months ago, you knew there would be tributes. there was a tribute at the all-star game with players all wearing aaron's number 44 the day prior to the midsummer classic, and then there were tributes from his former teams.

the brewers, for whom aaron played in 1975 and 1976 to close out his career, added a large, circular patch to their right sleeves for the 2021 season. you can see it on this 2021 topps throwback thursday christian yelich card

that i picked up on ebay. i like that i have a yelich card to represent the hank aaron patch in my memorials collection as yelich was the recipient of the hank aaron award in 2018 and 2019. 

the patch worn by yelich and his teammates makes sense not only because aaron played for the brewers, but also (even moreso) because he played in milwaukee with the braves from 1954 through 1965, and as a result spent the majority of his career there. 

so what did the atlanta braves do to honor aaron? not enough, in my opinion. the braves began the season with a patch on their left sleeves marking the 150th anninversary of the franchise - dating back to their inception in boston. on their right sleeves, they had a patch noting their status as the hosts of the 2021 all-star game. rather than bump one of those patches or add another to their jersey, the team opted to honor aaron and fellow deceased hall of famer phil niekro with their numbers (35 for niekro) embroidered on the backs of their hats.

after it was announced that the all-star game was being moved to denver, the braves stopped wearing the all-star game patch, obviously. however, they didn't move their memorials to aaron and niekro from the hat to the jersey, which i thought was odd. i'll be on the lookout for a card showing the back of a braves' player's head, but i'm not holding my breath.

[edit - i did buy a copy of the 2021 topps now card that celebrates the braves as the world series champs as will smith's back is to the camera and you can sort of see the stitching on the back of his hat

i scanned the card at a high resolution to get a better look at it

but you still can't make out the numbers. i'll continue to keep my eyes out for a better example, but for now, this card fits in my memorials collection.]

[edit 2 - the braves' 2022 topps team card

gives a clearer view of the lame memorials thanks to the back of ozzie albies' hat. plus there's some sore of mascot creature on the card. in to the memorials binder it goes!]