Hank Aaron, Baseball Legend

Mobile Alabama saw the birth of Hammering Hank Aaron on Feb. 5, 1934. In high school, Hank played shortstop and third base and proved to be an exceptional, though unorthodox batter.
He briefly played in the Negro league in 1952 but was quickly sold to the Atlanta Braves that same season. He player for Jacksonville in 1953, first as shortstop then second base. His batting remained irreproachable. Despite the southern racism of the times his bat lead his team to the pennant that year and Hank Aaron was chosen the league MVP. He had lead in the league in most every facet of the game. It was said that he lead the league in everything!
He made it to the Braves lineup the very next spring, replacing the injured Bob Thomson at left field.

Hank Aaron made history with his bat in 1974 breaking a venerable title . He hit his 715th homer that day bettering the Bambino's famous home run record which had lasted so long.

Hank 's first home run had come in April 1954. In 122 games that year he hit .280 and managed 13 homers before an injury in September ended his season. He would soon do much better still.
It was in 1955 that Aaron was moved to right field where he played for most of his career, winning 3 Gold Gloves. 1955 saw him hit twenty seven homers with 106 RBI and an average of .314. He would soon do better yet. The National League batting title was his the next season with a .328 average. His career high average was reached in 1959 with an average of .355.
With 44 home runs in 1957 he lead the National league and achieved 132 RBI's , a career high with a .322 batting average. The Braves clinched the pennant that season on an Hank 11th inning homer . MVP honors were his that season but for the last time in his career.
Great Hank Aaron hitting gave the Atlanta Braves the pennant again in 1957 yet it was not enough to win the world series that the Yankees took in seven. Aaron 's power and hitting success wasn't due to his physique. It was likely his great vision and powerful wrists that did the trick.
The racist in America in those years did not want him to beat Babe Ruth's homer record of 714. His quest for that record was made more difficult and courageous by the constant threats to his life. The summer of '73 ended with Hammering Hank Aaron at 713 homers, one less than Ruth, after hitting a remarkable 40 in just 392 at-bats. He was 39.
In the season opener for 1974 and in his very first at bat he tied Ruth with a home run against Cincinnati's Jack Billingham.
The largest crowd in Braves history showed up with great expectations on April 8th 1974. Hank Aaron was ready to oblige. In the fourth inning, he ripped an Al Downing pitch into the Atlanta Braves bullpen, where it was caught by reliever Tom House. As Hank rounded second base, two students showed up and ran next to him. The new homer king was mobbed at home plate by his teammates.
Was he the best ever? Consider this; Apart from the home run title Hank also hit his way into the title books by knocking in the most runs ( two,297), total bases ( six,856) and extra base hits ( one,477). He is the only player ever to hit thirty home runs or more in fifteen years and at least twenty home runs in 20 seasons. He hit 40 homers or more eight times with a career max of 47. Additionally he was again first to reach 3,000 career hits. Topping it all, he led the National in homers and runs-batted-in four times playing in a record twenrty four All Star games
A .305 batter, lifetime he performed his magic for the Atlanta Braves for the most part but ending his extraordinary career in Milwaukee for the Brewers in 1976.
Hank Aaron held the home run record he first took from Ruth in 1974 for some 30 years. It stands at 755 and endured for over thirty years. He lost the title to steroids.


Hammering Hank may well have been the greatest of his day. To watch today's best at play Just Click Here for the best major league baseball tickets at bargain prices.