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He got straight to business in 1974, hitting the first pitch he saw from Cincinnati’s Jack Billingham for a three-run home run on Opening Day. Aaron’s first home in the major leagues was a solo shot in the sixth inning off off Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium I. Aaron was just 20 years old and playing in his seventh game. The number of home runs hit by Hank Aaron the all-time leader was what? Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron, the Hall of Fame slugger whose 755 career home runs long stood as baseball's golden mark, has died. The Braves would add two more runs in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead that would turn into a 7-4 victory.
Letters poured into the Braves offices, as many as 3,000 a day for Aaron. Some wrote to congratulate him, but many others were appalled that a Black man should break baseball's most sacred record. He didn't try to inflame the atmosphere, but he didn't keep his mouth shut, either, speaking out against the league's lack of ownership and management opportunities for minorities. "On the field, Blacks have been able to be super giants," he once stated. "But, once our playing days are over, this is the end of it and we go back to the back of the bus again."
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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.
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. Hall of Famer Henry “Hank” Aaron was the home run king, breaking the home run record, with 755 in his career. He played 21 of 23 seasons with the Braves franchise but later worked for the team in management.
Professional career
The board appears to have been convinced, as Aaron was not drafted. In 1958, Aaron's wife noted that during the offseason he liked "to sit and watch those shooting westerns". The Braves purchased Aaron's contract from the Clowns for $10,000, which GM John Quinn thought was a steal, as he stated that he felt that Aaron was a $100,000 property.
Over the next 122 games, Aaron batted .280 with 13 homers before he suffered a fractured ankle on September 5. He then changed his number to 44, which would turn out to look like a "lucky number" for the slugger. Aaron would hit 44 home runs in four different seasons, and he hit his record-breaking 715th career home run off Dodgers pitcher Al Downing, who coincidentally also wore number 44. One of the greatest baseball players in history, he spent 21 seasons with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the National League and two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League .
Appearances on Leaderboards, Awards, and Honors
He started off the next year with a bang by tying Ruth’s mark on Opening Day against the Reds. 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. In May of the same year, Tulane University gave Aaron a posthumous honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, the first posthumous honorary degree ever awarded by the university. It was presented during the university's unified commencement ceremony and was accepted on his behalf by his widow Billye. Aaron dedicated the new exhibit "Hank Aaron-Chasing the Dream" at the Baseball Hall of Fame on April 25, 2009.
After touching home plate he was carried off the field by his teammates. It is as of yet the only pennant-clinching walk-off home run in major league history in a non-playoff regular-season game. Milwaukee went on to win the World Series against the New York Yankees, the defending champions, 4 games to 3. Aaron did his part by hitting .393 with three homers and seven RBIs. He led the Braves to another pennant, but this time they lost a seven-game World Series to the Yankees.
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The three runs scored on a pair of bases-loaded singles following second baseman Tim Johnson’s error on what would have been the third out of the inning. Aaron said on "The Dan Patrick Show" that he was deluged with racist hate mail and death threats as a Black player threatening the mark of one of the most popular white players to ever play the game. He said he kept all of the letters to remind his grandchildren how pervasive racism is in the country. "Rosalynn and I are saddened by the passing of our dear friend Henry Aaron," the nation's 39th president said in a statement.
Bright graduated from Florida A&M University in the summer of 2020 with his bachelor’s degree in journalism, but after securing a job as a reporter, he realized he wanted to work in the business of baseball. “My dream now is to become a CEO, become a GM, something of that caliber in the world of baseball or just in sports in general,” says Bright. George W. Bush, a one-time owner of the Texas Rangers, presented Aaron in 2002 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor. In Aaron-like, workmanlike fashion, the Braves slugger quickly ended the drama just four games into the 1974 campaign.
Hank Aaron's number 44 was retired by the Atlanta Braves in 1977.Hank Aaron's number 44 was retired by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976.Aaron was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1976, from the NAACP. In 1977, Aaron received the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award. In 1988, Aaron was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame for his time spent on the Eau Claire Bears, Milwaukee Braves, and Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron was a long-time fan of the Cleveland Browns, having attended many games in disguise in their "Dawg Pound" seating section. US President Joe Biden paid tribute to Aaron by releasing a statement calling him "an American hero".
Statues of Aaron stand outside the front entrance of both Turner Field and American Family Field. There is also a statue of him as an 18-year-old shortstop outside Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he played his first season in the Braves' minor league system. In June 2000 Tufts University awarded Aaron an honorary Doctor of Public Service. In July 2000 and again in July 2002, Aaron threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played at Turner Field and Miller Park now named American Family Field, respectively. 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.
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