Aaron, Henry L. (Hank)
Baseball
b. Feb. 5, 1934, Mobile AL
Aaron began his professional baseball career as an 18-year-old shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. A right-handed hitter, he batted cross-handed, with his right hand below his left hand. Still, he showed enough promise as a hitter that the Boston Braves bought his contract and changed his grip. After two years in the minor leagues, Aaron became the starting leftfielder for the Braves in 1954, the team's second season in Milwaukee. He replaced the veteran Bobby Thomson, who had broken his ankle.
No one could have imagined that the slender, 160-pound rookie would eventually break Babe Ruth's career home run record, although he hit a respectable .280 with 13 home runs before breaking an ankle in September. In 1955, Aaron became the Braves' starting rightfielder and he won the NL batting title in 1956 with a .328 average and 26 home runs.
By 1957, Aaron was a solid 180-pounder, a feared power hitter and a genuine superstar. He was the league's most valuable player that season, leading in home runs with 44, runs batted in with 132, and runs scored with 118. The Braves won the pennant and beat the New York Yankees in a seven-game World Series, led by Aaron's .393 average, 3 home runs, and 7 RBIs.
His all-time career mark of 755 home runs was built on a remarkable 20-season stretch from 1955 through 1974. He hit 40 or more home runs in 8 of those seasons, 30 or more in 15, and 20 or more in all 20. He also batted over .300 fourteen times. His top batting average was .355 in 1959; his best home run season was 1971, when he had 47. Interestingly, he hit 44 home runs--his uniform number--in three different seasons, 1957, 1963, and 1965.
Entering the 1974 season, Aaron had 713 home runs, one shy of Ruth's record. The Braves, who had moved to Atlanta in 1966, announced that he would be held out of the opening series in Cincinnati so he would have a chance to break the record before his home fans. However, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered the team to use Aaron in Cincinnati, and he tied the record in his first trip to the plate.
In his first home game, on April 8, Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Ruth's record. The pitcher was Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers; the ball went into the Braves' bullpen in left field, where it was caught by relief pitcher Tommy House.
After the 1974 season, Aaron returned to Milwaukee, which had a new AL team, the Brewers. He spent two years there as a designated hitter. When he retired, he held all-time major-league records for extra base hits, 1,477; total bases, 6,856; and runs batted in, 2,297.
Aaron then returned to Atlanta to work in the Braves' front office, where he became one of the first blacks in upper-level management as vice-president of player development.