Hank Aaron

Hammerin' Hank: Baseball's home run king for 33 years.

Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron's career home run total of 755 in 2007, 33 years after Aaron had broken the MLB record previously held by Babe Ruth.^[1]

Quick Facts

Position: Right fielder
Born: 5 February 1934
Birthplace: Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Died: 22 January 2021
Place of death: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Debut league: MLB
Debut date: April 13
Debut year: 1954

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He grew up in a poor family and practiced by hitting bottle caps with sticks because his family could not afford baseball equipment.^[2] In 1951, baseball scout Ed Scott signed Aaron to a contract with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League.^[3] For $10,000, the Braves purchased Aaron's contract from the Clowns.^[4] Aaron's first major league game occurred on April 13, 1954; he recorded no hits in five at-bats versus the Cincinnati Redlegs.^[5]

Following his playing days, Aaron worked in the Atlanta Braves' front office, eventually becoming senior vice president.^[6]

What the cited sources add

The SABR BioProject notes that Aaron's father worked at a local shipyard and the family lived on the edge of poverty due to the Great Depression.^[2] The Horatio Alger Association states that while in grade school Aaron contributed to family income by working for a brickmaker and as an ice boy.^[7] The Horatio Alger Association notes that Aaron became an executive vice president for the Atlanta Braves after retiring as a player in 1974.^[7] According to the SABR BioProject, Aaron's season ended on September 5 when he fractured his left ankle sliding into third base; this was the only major injury of his career.^[2]

References

Wikipedia, "Hank Aaron" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Henry Aaron Career Statistics", Baseball Reference; "Number of seasons player meets criteria, in the regular season, requiring Home Runs >= 30, sorted by descending instances.", Stathead (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Johnson, "Hank Aaron (SABR BioProject)", Society for American Baseball Research. facts only, no text reused. sabr.org
Wikipedia, "Hank Aaron" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Blackwood, "Stealing Home", The Pitch, February 3, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hank Aaron" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bryant, p. 43.; "Aaron, Henry (Louis)", H. W. Wilson Company, 1958, p. 3; "Aaron, Henry (Louis)", H. W. Wilson Company, 1958, p. 3; "Hank Aaron Visits Negro League Museum", The Augusta Chronicle, July 11, 1999; Pollock, "Barnstorming to Heaven: Syd Pollock and His Great Black Teams", University Alabama Press, 2006, p. 228 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hank Aaron" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Milwaukee Braves vs Cincinnati Redlegs Box Score: April 13, 1954", Baseball Reference, April 13, 1954 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Hank Aaron" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Henry Aaron 1954–1974", Atlanta Braves, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"Henry L. Aaron.", Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.. facts only, no text reused. horatioalger.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hank Aaron (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.