Braves unveil Hank Aaron statue at SunTrust Park

As the SunTrust Park opening extravaganza gets underway, the Braves kicked things up a notch by unveiling a statue of Hammerin’ Hank himself, Mr. Henry Aaron, on Wednesday night.

You can watch the 11-minute unveiling ceremony here, courtesy of the Braves Twitter feed.

Here’s another angle, which has it looking appropriately imposing and awe-inspiring.

And of course, Mr. Aaron looks very gratified about his likeness being preserved in this manner.

The statue was designed by Atlanta-based artist Ross Rossin (which is not a name I just made up because I didn’t know the name of the artist, I swear). The statue was unveiled during a fundraiser for Aaron’s Chasing the Dream Foundation, stands nine feet tall, and weighs about seven tons.