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After Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, a player of Aaron's caliber wasn't going to escape notice for long. He signed a $10,000 contract with the Milwaukee Braves, with whom he made his big league debut two years later. The Babe's record of 714 career home runs once seemed insurmountable, but Aaron surpassed the ex-Yankee with his No. 715 in front of his home crowd in Atlanta on April 8, 1974. Aaron was not at the ballpark that night, prompting speculation that he would not acknowledge the accomplishments of Bonds, who had been accused of cheating through performance-enhancement drugs. However, the former home run king soon appeared on the scoreboard to extend his congratulations via a videotaped message.
He broke his habit of hitting cross-handed and adopted the standard hitting technique. By the end of the season, he had performed so well that the league made him the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. Although he appeared in just 87 games, he scored 89 runs, had 116 hits, nine home runs, and 61 RBIs. During his minor league experience, he was very homesick and faced constant racism, but his brother, Herbert Jr., told him not to give up the opportunity. Aaron had seven siblings, including Tommie Aaron, who played major-league baseball with him. He appeared briefly in the Negro American League and in minor league baseball before starting his major league career.
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During his rookie year, his other well-known nicknames, "Hammerin' Hank" and "Bad Henry" are reported to have arisen. Aaron, who died one year ago Saturday, crafted a legacy that is about so much more than numbers, of course. But even focusing on the statistical side of the ledger, 715 and 755 only scratch the surface of what he accomplished over his long and legendary career. Aaron became just the second player ever to reach No. 700 when he hit a blast off the Phillies’ Ken Brett in Atlanta. HR #755 - Hank Aaron hit the 755th home run of his career on July 20, 1976, off Dick Drago of the California Angels - a milestone because it was his last, placing him at the top of the Top 1,000 list for 30+ years. HR #715 - Hank Aaron hit the 715th home run of his career on April 8, 1974, off Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers - a milestone because he passed Babe Ruth, taking over sole possession of the home run king title.
Eddie Murray is the only other player who even surpasses 2,500 career hits after taking out his homers. Baseball legend Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's hallowed mark of 714 home runs and finished his career with numerous big league records. On May 1, 1975, Aaron broke baseball's all-time RBI record, previously held by Ruth with 2,213. That year, he also played in his last and 24th All-Star Game (25th All-Star Game selection); he lined out to Dave Concepción as a pinch-hitter in the second inning.
Later life and death
Aaron received thousands of letters every week during the summer of 1973, including hate mail; the Braves ended up hiring a secretary to help him sort through it. Mickey Owen, the team's manager, helped Aaron with his batting stance. Until then, Aaron had hit most pitches to left field or center field, but after working with Owen, Aaron was able to hit the ball more effectively all over the field.
He was named a 2010 Georgia Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society in recognition of accomplishments that reflect the ideals of Georgia's founders. Aaron played the vast majority of his MLB games in right field, though he appeared at several other infield and outfield positions. In his last two seasons, he was primarily a designated hitter. He was an NL All-Star for 20 seasons and an AL All-Star for one season, and he holds the record for the most All-Star selections , while sharing the record for most All-Star Games played with Willie Mays and Stan Musial.
Hank Aaron's 755h home run ball was sold in 1996 for $650,000
HR #100 - Hank Aaron hit the 100th home run of his career on August 15, 1957, off Don Gross of the Cincinnati Reds [7th inning / 2 outs / runner on 1st]. The final charge may be different depending on the delivery address. Will usually dispatch within 15 working days of receiving cleared payment. 2017 Aaron Judge game-used home jersey worn when he set the AL rookie home run record with 52. 1964 Hank Aaron game-used Milwaukee Braves home jersey was worn by Aaron in 1963, when he led the National League in home runs with 44.
In addition to his 755 career home runs, Aaron is fourth on the career list with 2,174 runs scored. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. In 2022, a recording of the WSB broadcast of the April 8, 1974 Braves-Dodgers game in which Aaron hit his 715th home run was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
Hank Aaron still holds the real home run record
No one in major-league history comes close to touching Aaron, who is, not coincidentally, also the all-time leader in extra-base hits. In addition to Aaron’s 755 home runs, he had 2,294 singles, 624 doubles and 98 triples, giving him 6,856 total bases. Second place belongs to Stan Musial, with 6,134, putting him 722 short — the equivalent of 180 home runs. The active leader is Pujols, with 5,923 — a deficit that is the equivalent of 233 home runs.
As a result, in 1949, at the age of 15, Aaron had his first tryout with an MLB franchise, the Brooklyn Dodgers; however, he did not make the team. After this, Aaron returned to school to finish his secondary education, attending the Josephine Allen Institute, a private high school in Alabama. During his junior year, Aaron joined the Prichard Athletics, an independent Negro league team, followed by the Mobile Black Bears, another independent Negro league team. While on the Bears, Aaron earned $3 per game ($30 today), which was a dollar more than he got while on the Athletics. With the eyes of the entire nation on him, Aaron hit a pitch from the Dodgers’ Al Downing over the left field wall to pass Babe Ruth and make baseball history. He had a .305 batting average, 3,771 hits, 755 home runs, 2,297 RBIs and 2,174 runs scored.
Born into humble circumstances in Mobile, Alabama, Hank Aaron ascended the ranks of the Negro Leagues to become a Major League Baseball icon. He spent most of his 23 seasons as an outfielder for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, during which time he set many records, including a career total of 755 home runs. Aaron was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, and in 1999, MLB established the Hank Aaron Award to annually honor the top hitter in each league. In December 1980, Aaron became senior vice president and assistant to the Braves' president.
In 1968, Aaron was the first Atlanta Braves player to hit his 500th career home run, and in 1970, he was the first Atlanta Brave to reach 3,000 career hits. The Braves assigned Aaron to the Eau Claire Bears, the Braves' Northern League Class-C farm team. Playing in the infield, Aaron continued to develop as a ballplayer and made the Northern League's All-Star team.
At the end of the 1969 season, Aaron again finished third in the MVP voting. Hank Aaron was born on Monday, February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama. Aaron was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 13, 1954, with the Milwaukee Braves. As Aaron drew closer to home run No. 714, the chase to beat the Ruth's record revealed that world of baseball was far from being free of the racial tensions that prevailed around it. Letters poured into the Braves offices, as many as 3,000 a day for Aaron.
At Game 3 of the 2021 World Series in Truist Park, a pregame ceremony was held honoring Aaron where his son Hank Aaron Jr. threw out a ceremonial first pitch. He was the recipient of death threats and a large assortment of hate mail during the 1973–1974 offseason from people who did not want to see Aaron break Ruth's nearly sacrosanct home run record. The threats extended to those providing positive press coverage of Aaron. Lewis Grizzard, then-executive sports editor of the Atlanta Journal, reported receiving numerous phone calls calling journalists "nigger lovers" for covering Aaron's chase. While preparing the massive coverage of the home run record, he quietly had an obituary written, afraid that Aaron might be murdered.
But what made Aaron arguably the greatest player in baseball history was a combination of longevity and consistency. He is one of only two players who hit 30 home runs in 15 seasons. Aaron hit his 755th and final home run on July 20, 1976, at Milwaukee County Stadium off Dick Drago of the California Angels, which stood as the MLB career home run record for 31 years until it was broken in 2007 by Barry Bonds. Over the course of his record-breaking 23-year career, Aaron had a batting average of .305 and 163 hits a season, while averaging just over 32 home runs and 99 RBIs a year. He had 100+ RBIs in a season 15 times, including a record of 13 in a row. Aaron wasn’t making all of those All-Star teams just from inertia.
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