The portrait of Yankee outfielders Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron posing in a batting stance.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1959
Hank Aaron in a batting pose, wearing a Milwaukee Braves uniform.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1961
San Francisco, California, United States
National League stars Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron stand together for a victory portrait after the All-Star Game of 1961 in San Francisco.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves talks during a press conference after he hit his 715th career home run on April 8, 1974 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's long-standing record of 714 lifetime home runs.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
521 Capitol Avenue SE, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Atlanta Braves' Hank Aaron hits career home run 715 against Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Al Downing on April 8, 1974 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
792 W General Robinson St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212, United States
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves and the National League All-Stars bats against the American League All-Stars during the Major League Baseball All-Star game on July 23, 1974 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
Hank Aaron's mother gives her favorite home hitter a hug after Hammerin' Hank made Babe Ruth an also-ran.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
Tom House congratulates Hank Aaron on his 715th home run hit.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
Hank Aaron describes his 715th home run during a news conference following the game.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
201 East Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Hank Aaron is shown here at bat prior to hitting his 714th home run to tie Babe Ruth's record at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
1974
Hank Aaron holds up the ball that broke Babe Ruth's home run record.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
Bradenton, Florida, United States
Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves waits on-deck during an MLB Spring Training game against the New York Yankees circa March 1958 in Bradenton, Florida.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
Bradenton, Florida, United States
Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves swings on the pitch during an MLB Spring Training game against the New York Yankees circa March 1958 in Bradenton, Florida.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
American baseball player Hank Aaron waits for the pitch in an empty stadium.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves poses for a portrait.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves swings at the ball.
Gallery of Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron
Gallery of Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron
Gallery of Hank Aaron
A waist-up portrait of Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves baseball team in uniform.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
National League Most Valuable Player Award
1957
National League Most Valuable Player Award
Spingarn Medal
1976
Spingarn Medal
American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award
1977
Orlando, Florida, United States
Hank Aaron addresses members and delegates after receiving the Golden Plate Award during the American Academy of Achievement Summit in Orlando.
Presidential Citizens Medal
2001
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
Bill Clinton, then President of the United States, gives Hank Aaron the Presidential Citizens Medal award on January 8, 2001 at the White House in Washington, D.C.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2002
George W. Bush, then President of the United States, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hank Aaron.
National League stars Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron stand together for a victory portrait after the All-Star Game of 1961 in San Francisco.
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves talks during a press conference after he hit his 715th career home run on April 8, 1974 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
521 Capitol Avenue SE, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Atlanta Braves' Hank Aaron hits career home run 715 against Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Al Downing on April 8, 1974 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
792 W General Robinson St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212, United States
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves and the National League All-Stars bats against the American League All-Stars during the Major League Baseball All-Star game on July 23, 1974 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States
Bill Clinton, then President of the United States, gives Hank Aaron the Presidential Citizens Medal award on January 8, 2001 at the White House in Washington, D.C.
Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves waits on-deck during an MLB Spring Training game against the New York Yankees circa March 1958 in Bradenton, Florida.
Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves swings on the pitch during an MLB Spring Training game against the New York Yankees circa March 1958 in Bradenton, Florida.
(I Had a Hammer is much more than the intimate autobiograp...)
I Had a Hammer is much more than the intimate autobiography of one of the greatest names in pro sports - it is a fascinating social history of twentieth-century America. With courage and candor, Aaron recalls his struggles and triumphs in an atmosphere of virulent racism.
Hank Aaron is a retired American baseball player, one of the finest hitters in the history of the sport. A right-handed batter who generated much of his power with his quick, strong wrists, he hit at least 30 home runs in each of 15 seasons and compiled a batting average of .305 and a slugging average of .555 during his 23 years in the major leagues.
Background
Henry Louis Aaron was born on February 5, 1934 to Herbert Aaron, Sr. and Estella Aaron. He was raised in a segregated neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama. The house where he and his seven siblings grew up did not have plumbing, electricity, or glass windows. Aaron was born in the midst of the Great Depression, and his parents struggled to keep ahead of the bills. Aaron's father worked at the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company.
Education
Young Henry was a good student, but from an early age, he knew he wanted to play professional baseball.
Aaron spent most of his spare time at Carver Recreational Park, a neighborhood playground a block from his home. There he played sandlot baseball, essentially teaching himself the game. When his parents realized that he was intent on pursuing sports, they advised him to "play a lot better than the white boy."
When Aaron was a young teenager, professional baseball slowly began to integrate with the arrival of Jackie Robinson, the first black to play in the major leagues. While Robinson was enduring taunts and death threats in the majors, Aaron was making a name for himself in Mobile. His Central High School did not have a baseball team, so he played in local amateur and semi-pro leagues. In 1949, Aaron had his first tryout with an MLB franchise, the Brooklyn Dodgers, but he did not make the team. After this, Hank returned to school to finish his secondary education. He attended the Josephine Allen Institute. During his junior year, Aaron first joined the Pritchett Athletics, and later the Mobile Black Bears.
In 2011, then President of Princeton University Shirley M. Tilghman awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree to Hank Aaron.
Career
On November 20, 1951, 18-year-old Aaron was signed by scout Ed Scott to play shortstop for the Negro League team the Indianapolis Clowns. Leaving home for the first time, he relocated to the Midwest, where he helped the Clowns to a 1952 Negro League World Series victory. Yet Aaron was with the Negro League for only about six months before he received two telegram offers from major league teams - one from the San Francisco Giants and one from the Milwaukee Braves. Thinking he'd have a better chance to make the team, Aaron chose the Braves over the Giants, who had star player Willie Mays.
Sold to the Milwaukee team for $10,000, Aaron signed with Braves' scout Dewey Griggs on June 14, 1952. His first assignment was to the team's farm club in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Playing second base in the farm club, Aaron was named Northern League Rookie of the Year in 1952.
The following year Aaron played for the Braves' affiliate team in the South Atlantic League, the Jacksonville Tars. As one of the first five African-Americans to play in the "Sally League," Aaron faced racial discrimination in the segregated South. He was separated from his teammates while traveling by bus and often had to make his own arrangements for housing and meals. Despite these indignities, Aaron helped lead Jacksonville to a pennant win and was named the league's Most Valuable Player. He had led the league in everything from batting average (.362) and RBI (125) to runs (115) and hits (208).
While playing winter ball in Puerto Rico in 1953, Aaron learned to play the outfield. This new skill would come in handy the following spring, when an injury sidelined Braves' left fielder Bobby Thomson. Aaron stepped in to take his place in the outfield, making his major league debut at the age of 20. In March 1954, he hit his first major-league home run during spring training. He made his official debut at the Braves' April 13 game against the Cincinnati Reds. Ten days later he hit his first major league home run. Aaron stopped just short of completing his first season with the Braves, breaking his ankle in early September and sitting out the rest of the year.
It did not take Aaron long to regain his footing. In 1955, he moved to the right field. In batting, he averaged. 314 and hit 27 home runs. In July he played in his first All-Star Game. The following season his batting average edged up to .328, leading to his first of two National League batting titles. By 1957, the 23-year-old player seemed at the peak of his powers, leading the league with his batting prowess. In a game that led the Braves to a pennant win, Aaron scored a heroic home run in the eleventh inning and was carried off the field by his teammates. He went on to average .393 and hit three home runs in the 1957 World Series, helping the Braves to victory over the New York Yankees.
Now a full-fledged baseball superstar, Aaron began racking up home runs. The six-foot, 180-pound player took his power not from his heft but from his strong, supple wrists and his deft swing.
In June 1959, after hitting three homers in a single game against the San Francisco Giants, Aaron was paid $30,000 to appear on the television show Home Run Derby. After this experience, which earned him nearly as much as his annual salary, Aaron altered his hitting style to bring in even more home runs.
In 1966, the Braves moved to Atlanta, giving the American South its first major league baseball team. That year and the following, Aaron led the league in home runs. Soon baseball fans began to recognize that the slugger had a chance at breaking Babe Ruth's home run record. In July 1968, he had hit his 500th homer and, a year later, he took the 3,000th hit of his career.
On June 10, 1972, Aaron hit his 649th home run, tying with Willie Mays for second place in career home runs. He ended the 1973 season with 713 home runs - just one shy of tying Ruth's record.
The 1974 baseball season began with much anticipation; fans wondered not if but when Aaron would break Ruth's record. The answer was not long in coming, as Aaron hit a homer in his first at-bat of the season. His eyes teared as he rounded third base; he was now tied for the record. Four days later, on April 8, 1974, the largest crowd in Braves history (53,775) filled the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Aaron hit the record-breaking homer in the fourth inning, off a fastball from Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Al Downing. The ball sailed over the left-center field wall and into the Braves bull pen, where it was caught by relief pitcher Tom House.
Aaron's feat came more than two years before his retirement as a major league ballplayer. He hit his last home run as a Braves' player, his 733rd, on October 2, 1974. In November Aaron squared off with Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh in a home run contest, beating Oh 10-9 (the Japanese slugger would go on to break Aaron's record, however). By the following season, Aaron had been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers; in Wisconsin, he was able to end his career where he began it. He hit his first home run for the Brewers on April 18, and by May 1 he had set another record: baseball's highest-ever RBI (2,212). Aaron took his final at-bat, hitting a single, on October 3, 1976, in Milwaukee County Stadium. He was 42 years old.
Immediately after his retirement, Aaron rejoined the Atlanta Braves - this time as a player-development manager in the team's minor-league farm system. American media mogul Ted Turner, who had purchased the Braves in 1976, invited Aaron to take the job. Here he helped develop such Braves talent as Tom Glavine and David Justice. It was not long before Aaron was asked to manage the major league team. In 1990, he became a baseball executive, named senior vice president and assistant to the president of the Braves. A budding businessman, Aaron also served as a board member for the Braves and for Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), and as vice president of business development for the CNN Airport Network.
Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, Aaron was very active in community services. His 1991 autobiography, I Had a Hammer, made the New York Times bestseller list.
Aaron is one of the city's most successful entrepreneurs. He owns several car dealerships, as well as a chain of 30 restaurants around the country.
(I Had a Hammer is much more than the intimate autobiograp...)
1991
Religion
Aaron frequently read The Imitation of Christ, a Catholic devotional manual, which he kept in his locker. He was friends with Father Mike Sablica, a Catholic priest, was also influential in Aaron's faith.
Politics
Hank went on a political rank against Republicans, comparing them to the Ku Klux Klan.
Views
In 1994 Aaron and his wife established the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation to support ambitious youth. As of 2011, the foundation awarded 755 grants to deserving youths.
Throughout his business career, Aaron has held to his philosophy to help other African-Americans succeed. "No matter how much success that one may achieve, there's always one of us back there that needs a little help," - he said.
Quotations:
"I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face."
"I like those lefties, but when you're hitting, all pitchers look alike. I don't care too much who's throwing or what he throws. When my timing is off, I have trouble; when it ain't, I don't."
"He [Stan Musial] was my favorite hitter. He could do almost anything he wanted to do at-bat. He was a scientific hitter. I've seen him deliberately go for the home run late in a game and get it. Even if it meant pulling an outside pitch, he'd pull because he'd made up his mind to do it. Another thing I liked about him was the power he generated when he hit the ball between the infielders. This is a sure sign of a great hitter."
"It took me 17 years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."
"I'm not trying to make anyone forget the Babe; but only to remember Hank Aaron."
"Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80 percent of being a successful hitter. The other 20 percent is just execution."
"The mental aspects of hitting were especially important to me. I was strictly a guess hitter, which meant I had to have a thorough knowledge of every pitcher I came up against and develop a strategy for hitting him. My method was to identify the pitches a certain pitcher had and eliminate all but one or two and then wait for them. One advantage I had was quick wrists. Another advantage - and one that all good hitters have - was my eyesight. Sometimes I could read the pitcher's grip on the ball before he ever released it and be able to tell what pitch he was throwing. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them."
"There wasn't any pitcher I felt I couldn't get a hit off."
"When he was healthy, there was nobody better than Campanella as both a catcher and a hitter. But I played with Del Crandall a long time and he was a match for anybody defensively."
Membership
Aaron was a member of the Boy Scouts of America.
Personality
Hank Aaron is a brave, courageous, confident, and talented man.
Aaron is a vegetarian.
Physical Characteristics:
Hank Aaron is 6'1" (185 cm) tall and weighs 180 lbs (82 kg). He has black eyes.
Quotes from others about the person
Bobby Bragan: "Sure, Aaron's a bad-ball hitter and always will be, but it would be a mistake to try to change him. Clemente got only 13 bases on balls all last season, so this spring we tried to get him to look over the pitches more carefully. He got to taking strikes and got himself so fouled up generally that we told him to forget the whole thing and go back to doing what comes naturally. You don't try to change a hitter like Aaron. In my book he's a better hitter than Willie Mays. He's going to get better, too. He'll be the one to beat for the batting championship for ten years, maybe more. He's the first N.L. player since Bill Terry with something better than an outside chance to hit .400 before he's through."
Roberto Clemente: "I would have to say myself, but it would not look good for me to say it. I just have confidence I am the best because I believe in myself. If I had to pick another player, it would be Hank Aaron. He does everything so well."
Rogers Hornsby: "Sure, Henry Aaron has a hitting weakness. It's a pitch with something on it right across the letters and in close. But that's the batting weakness of every great hitter, regardless of what else he can or can't hit."
Sandy Koufax: "There were now men on first and second. The batter was Henry Aaron. I walked him on four straight balls, which was probably the smartest thing I did all year. There have been many times since when I wished I had been wild enough to walk Henry Aaron. I'm usually backing up third as I am wishing it."
Frank Robinson: It worked out just right. I've had to try to catch Aaron virtually all my career. But he's the home run king, so that means he's the cleanup hitter. That means I got into the Hall of Fame before he did."
Interests
Sport & Clubs
baseball, golf; Cleveland Browns
Athletes
Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial
Connections
Aaron married Barbara Lucas in 1953. They gave birth to five children - Gary, Lary, Dorinda, Gaie and Hank Jr. The couple divorced in 1971. Two years later, Hank married Billye Suber Williams, with whom he gave birth to one child - Ceci.
Father:
Herbert Aaron, Sr.
Mother:
Estella Aaron
Spouse:
Billye Suber Williams
ex-spouse:
Barbara Lucas
Son:
Gary Aaron
Son:
Lary Aaron
Son:
Hank Aaron, Jr.
Daughter:
Gaile Aaron
Daughter:
Dorinda Aaron
Daughter:
Ceci Aaron
References
Henry Aaron's Dream
Before he was Hammerin' Hank, Henry Aaron was a young boy growing up in Mobile, Alabama, with what seemed like a foolhardy dream: to be a big-league baseball player. He didn't have a bat. He didn't have a ball. And there wasn't a single black ballplayer in the major leagues. But none of this could stop him. In a captivating biography of Henry Aaron's young life, Matt Tavares pays inspiring homage to one of baseball's all-time greats.
2010
The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron
Based on meticulous research and extensive interviews The Last Hero reveals how Aaron navigated the upheavals of his time - fighting against racism while at the same time benefiting from racial progress - and how he achieved his goal of continuing Jackie Robinson's mission to obtain full equality for African Americans, both in baseball and society, while he lived uncomfortably in the public eye.
2010
Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America
In this powerful recollection, Tom Stanton penetrates the myth of Aaron's chase and uncovers the compelling story behind the most consequential athletic achievement of the past fifty years.
2001
Hank Aaron: Brave in Every Way
On April 8, 1974, America watched as Hank Aaron stepped up to the plate and hit home run number 715! With that hit, he surpassed Babe Ruth's legendary baseball record and realized a lifelong dream. Before blacks were allowed in the major leagues, Hank was determined to play. This is the story of how Hank Aaron became a great ballplayer and an inspiration to us all.