Hank Aaron

Henry Louis Aaron, known as “Hammer” or “Hammerin’ Hank,” was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama, and died on January 22, 2021. He played right field in Major League Baseball for 23 seasons, from 1954 through 1976, and is widely regarded as one of the sport’s all-time greats. Aaron spent 21 of those seasons with the Milwaukee and later Atlanta Braves in the National League, and his final two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League. By the time he retired, he owned most of the game’s major career power-hitting marks. He famously broke Babe Ruth’s long-held record for career home runs, and his total of 755 stood as the MLB benchmark for 33 years until Barry Bonds surpassed it in 2007. From 1955 through 1973, Aaron hit at least 24 home runs every season, and he is one of only two players—alongside Alex Rodriguez—to have 15 or more seasons with 30 or more home runs.

Aaron holds MLB records for career runs batted in (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856). He ranks third all-time in career hits (3,771) and fifth in runs scored (2,174). He is among just five players to record at least 150 hits in 17 different seasons, and he shares with Rodriguez the record for most seasons with 30 or more home runs (15). His hitting ability is highlighted by the fact that even without counting any of his home runs, he still finished with over 3,000 hits. Aaron was an All-Star for 20 seasons in the National League and one in the American League, and he holds the record for most All-Star selections (25). He also shares the record for most All-Star Games played (24) with Willie Mays and Stan Musial. A three-time Gold Glove winner, Aaron won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1957, the same year the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series.

Aaron was the eighth of eight children, raised in and around Mobile, Alabama. He spent brief stints in the Negro American League and minor league baseball before reaching the majors. By his final MLB season, he was the last former Negro league player on a major league roster. During his career, and especially while chasing the home run record, Aaron and his family faced extensive racist threats. Those experiences fueled his activism during the civil rights movement.

He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1982 and entered the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1999, MLB created the Hank Aaron Award to honor the top offensive player in each league, and that same year he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. After retiring, Aaron worked in front office roles for the Atlanta Braves, including as senior vice president. He lived near Atlanta until his death in 2021.

Aaron was born in a Mobile neighborhood called “Down the Bay” but spent most of his youth in Toulminville. His father, Herbert Aaron Sr., worked as a shipyard riveter, and the family was poor. Unable to afford baseball equipment, Aaron practiced by hitting bottle caps with sticks and made his own bats and balls from street materials. His boyhood idol was Jackie Robinson. He attended Central High School as a freshman and sophomore, playing outfield and third base and leading his team to a Negro High School Championship. He also played football and received multiple football scholarship offers but chose baseball instead. Aaron was a Boy Scout and filmed a commercial for the organization in the 1970s.

Despite batting cross-handed—with his left hand above his right as a right-handed hitter—Aaron emerged as a power hitter. At age 15 in 1949, he tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers but did not make the team. He then finished his secondary education at the Josephine Allen Institute, a private high school in Alabama. During his junior year, he played for the Prichard Athletics, an independent Negro league team, and later for the Mobile Black Bears, another independent Negro league team. With the Bears, he earned $3 per game, a dollar more than he had made with the Athletics.

On November 20, 1951, scout Ed Scott signed Aaron to a contract with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League, where he played for three months. He started as a shortstop, earning $200 per month. His standout play led to two MLB offers via telegram: one from the New York Giants and one from the Boston Braves. Aaron later recalled holding the Giants’ contract but choosing the Braves because they offered $50 more per month—a decision that kept him from becoming a teammate of Willie Mays. While with the Clowns, he experienced racism. He remembered sitting in a restaurant behind Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., while waiting out a rain delay, and hearing the staff break all the plates after the team finished eating—a jarring reminder of the prejudice he faced even in the nation’s capital.