Hank Aaron

Early life

Henry Louis Aaron was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama, to Herbert Aaron Sr. and Estella (Pritchett) Aaron. Herbert Sr. worked as a shipyard riveter. He had seven siblings. Tommie Aaron, one of his brothers, also went on to play Major League Baseball. By the time Aaron retired, he and his brother held the record for most career home runs by a pair of siblings (768).

While he was born in a section of Mobile referred to as "Down the Bay", Aaron spent most of his youth in Toulminville. Aaron grew up in a poor family. His family could not afford baseball equipment, so he practiced by hitting bottle caps with sticks. Aaron would create his own bats and balls out of materials he found on the streets. Aaron's boyhood idol was baseball star Jackie Robinson. Aaron attended Central High School as a freshman and a sophomore. At Central, Aaron played outfield and third base, helping lead his team to a Negro High School Championship. He played both football and baseball and was offered multiple football scholarships, but turned them down for baseball. Aaron was a member of the Boy Scouts of America, and he filmed a commercial for the organization in the 1970s.

Although he batted cross-handed (as a right-handed hitter, with his left hand above his right), Aaron established himself as a power hitter. As a result, in 1949, at age 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 ($40 today), which was a dollar more than he got while on the Athletics.

Professional career

Negro and minor leagues

On November 20, 1951, baseball scout Ed Scott signed Aaron to a contract on behalf of the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League, where he played for three months.

Aaron started play as a 6 ft (180 cm), 180 lb (82 kg) shortstop, and earned $200 per month. As a result of his standout play with the Indianapolis Clowns, Aaron received two offers from MLB teams via telegram, one from the New York Giants and the other from the Boston Braves. Years later, Aaron remembered:

I had the Giants' contract in my hand. But the Braves offered fifty dollars a month more. That's the only thing that kept Willie Mays and me from being teammates — fifty dollars.

While with the Clowns he experienced racism. Of a time his team was in Washington, D.C. Aaron recalled:

We had breakfast while we were waiting for the rain to stop, and I can still envision sitting with the Clowns in a restaurant behind Griffith Stadium and hearing them break all the plates in the kitchen after we finished eating. What a horrible sound. Even as a kid, the irony of it hit me: here we were in the capital in the land of freedom and equality, and they had to destroy the plates that had touched the forks that had been in the mouths of Black men. If dogs had eaten off those plates, they'd have washed them.

The Howe Sports Bureau credits Aaron with a .366 batting average in 26 official Negro league games, with five home runs, 33 runs batted in (RBIs), 41 hits, and nine stolen bases.

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. On June 12, 1952, Aaron signed with Braves' scout Dewey Griggs. During this time, he picked up the nickname "pork chops" because it "was the only thing I knew to order off the menu". A teammate later said, "the man ate pork chops three meals a day, two for breakfast".

The Braves assigned Aaron to the Eau Claire Bears, the Braves' Northern League Class-C farm team. The 1952 season proved to be very beneficial for Aaron. Playing in the infield, Aaron continued to develop as a ballplayer and made the Northern League's All-Star team. He broke his habit of hitting cross-handed and adopted the standard hitting technique. By the end of the season, Aaron had performed so well that the league made him the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. Although Aaron appeared in just 87 games, he scored 89 runs, had 116 hits, nine home runs, and 61 RBI. Aaron also hit for a .336 batting average. During his minor league experience, Aaron was very homesick and faced constant racism, but his brother, Herbert Jr., told Aaron not to give up the opportunity.

Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1954–1974)

In 1954, Aaron attended spring training with the major league club. Although he was on the roster of its farm club, Milwaukee manager Charley Grimm later stated, "From the start, he did so well I knew we were going to have to carry him." On March 13, 1954, Milwaukee Braves left fielder Bobby Thomson fractured his ankle while sliding into second base during a spring training game. The next day, Aaron made his first spring training start for the Braves major league team, playing in left field and hitting a home run. This led Aaron to a major league contract, signed on the final day of spring training, and a Braves uniform with the number five.

On April 13, he made his major league debut and was hitless in five at-bats against the Cincinnati Redlegs. In the same game, Eddie Mathews hit two home runs, the first of a record 863 home runs the pair would hit as teammates. On April 15, Aaron collected his first major league hit, a double off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Vic Raschi. Aaron hit his first major league home run on April 23, also off Raschi. In 122 games, Aaron batted .280 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs 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.

At this point, Aaron was known to family and friends primarily as "Henry". Braves' public relations director Don Davidson, observing Aaron's quiet, reserved nature, began referring to him publicly as "Hank" in order to suggest more accessibility. The nickname quickly gained currency, but "Henry" continued to be cited frequently in the media, both sometimes appearing in the same article, and Aaron would answer to either one. During his rookie year, his other well-known nicknames, "Hammerin' Hank" (by teammates) and "Bad Henry" (by opposing pitchers) are reported to have arisen.

While living in Milwaukee, Aaron resided in the Prinz House in Historic Brewers Hill. Considerably later in his career, Aaron coined "Stone-fingers", which would prove a popular handle for one of baseball's more colorful characters, the famously distance-hitting but defensively challenged first baseman Dick Stuart, reportedly "delight[ing]" even its recipient.

Milwaukee Brewers (1975–1976)

On October 2, 1974, Aaron hit his 733rd home run in his last at-bat as a Braves player. Aaron commented after the game that it was his last time as a player in Atlanta as his contract had expired. While he considered retirement, he said that he was willing to return to baseball for another year. He had also said that he would be interested in serving as a team's general manager, someone who would make decisions and not a "house boy". The Braves offered Aaron a position with the team when he retired, but the role would be more in public relations, rather than one where he could evaluate talent.

At the end of the season, Aaron, who had a prior relationship with Brewers owner Bud Selig, requested a trade to Milwaukee. He was acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers for Dave May thirty-one days later on November 2. Minor league right-handed pitcher Roger Alexander was sent to the Braves to complete the transaction at the Winter Meetings one month later on December 2. The trade re-united Aaron with former teammate Del Crandall, who was now managing the Brewers. He signed a two-year contract with the Brewers for $240,000 per year. Playing in the American League allowed Aaron to serve as a designated hitter rather than play in the field.

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. This All-Star Game, like the first one he played in 1955, was before a home crowd at Milwaukee County Stadium.

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 164 hits a season, while averaging nearly 33 home runs and 100 RBIs a year. He had 100+ RBIs in a season 11 times, including 5 years in a row between 1959 and 1963.

Career overall

For his career, Aaron batted .305 with 3771 hits, including 624 doubles, 98 triples, and 755 home runs. In 17 postseason games, including two World Series (1957, '58) and the 1969 NLCS, Aaron batted .362 (25-for-69) with 11 runs scored, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 16 RBI, 5 walks, on-base percentage of .405, slugging percentage of .710, and on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.116.

Post-playing career

After the 1976 season, Aaron rejoined the Braves as an executive. On August 1, 1982, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, having received votes on 97.8 percent of the ballots, second only to Ty Cobb, who had received votes on 98.2% of the ballot in the inaugural 1936 Hall of Fame election. Aaron was then named the Braves' vice president and director of player development. This made him one of the first minorities in Major League Baseball upper-level management.

In December 1980, Aaron became senior vice president and assistant to the Braves' president. He was the corporate vice president of community relations for Turner Broadcasting System, a member of the company's board of directors, and the vice president of business development for The Airport Network. On January 21, 2007, Major League Baseball announced the sale of the Atlanta Braves. In that announcement, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig also announced that Aaron would be playing a major role in the management of the Braves, forming programs through major league baseball that will encourage the influx of minorities into baseball. Aaron founded the Hank Aaron Rookie League program.

Shortly before the start of the 2002 baseball season, Aaron joined San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds—on the heels of his record-shattering performance the season before—to make a television commercial that aired during Super Bowl XXXVI, in which Aaron jokingly tried to persuade Bonds to retire before breaking the record.

As Bonds began to close in on the record during the 2007 season, Aaron let it be known that, although he recognized Bonds' achievements, he would not be present when Bonds broke the record. There was considerable speculation that this was a snubbing of Bonds based on the widespread belief that Bonds had used performance-enhancing drugs and steroids to aid his achievement. However, some observers looked back on Aaron's personal history, pointing out that he had downplayed his own breaking of Babe Ruth's all-time record and suggesting Aaron was simply treating Bonds in a similar fashion. In a later interview with Atlanta sportscasting personality Chris Dimino, Aaron made it clear his reluctance to attend any celebration of a new home run record was based upon his personal conviction that baseball is not about breaking records, but simply playing to the best of one's potential. After Bonds hit his record-breaking 756th home run on August 7, 2007, Aaron made a surprise appearance on the JumboTron video screen at AT&T Park in San Francisco to congratulate Bonds on his accomplishment:

Personal life

Aaron's first marriage was to Barbara Lucas in 1953. They had five children: Gary, Lary, Dorinda, Gaile, and Hank Jr. He divorced Barbara in 1971 and married Billye Suber Williams on November 13, 1973. Aaron adopted Billye's daughter, Ceci, from her first marriage to civil rights activist Samuel Woodrow Williams.

Despite being publicly and professionally known as "Hank," Aaron preferred to go by his given name, "Henry." The former name came around when Don Davidson, the public relations director for the Milwaukee Braves, began to refer to him as such in an effort to make the quiet, soft-spoken player seem more accessible to the fans and the press.

Aaron's great-nephew, Kimani Vidal, was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2024 NFL draft. His sister Alfredia, Vidal's grandmother, married U.S. Representative David Scott in 1969.

Religion

Born and raised a Baptist, Aaron converted to Catholicism in 1959 at age 25, together with his family. He and his wife first became interested in the faith after the birth of their first child, whom they baptized immediately. A friendship with a priest later helped lead to Hank and his wife's conversion. Aaron was known to frequently read Thomas à Kempis' 15th-century book The Imitation of Christ, which he kept in his locker.

In an interview in 1991, Aaron credited the priest, Fr. Michael Sablica, with helping him grow as a person in the 1950s. "He taught me what life was all about. But he was more than just a religious friend of mine, he was a friend because he talked as if he was not a priest sometimes." Active in the civil rights movement, the priest encouraged Aaron to be more publicly vocal about causes he believed in.

Sablica also encouraged him to "attend Mass every Sunday" during Spring Training, to which he responded with the racist realities of the day: "[In Bradenton], they won't let me go to Mass." Sablica said in an interview that he wouldn't have blamed Aaron if he stopped practicing. Aaron indeed attended Friendship Baptist Church toward the end of his life, noting in his autobiography that he didn't remain a practicing Catholic for very long after converting.

Hobbies and health

Aaron was a longtime fan of the Cleveland Browns, having attended many games in disguise in their "Dawg Pound" seating section.

In 1980, Aaron made a guest appearance on Happy Days episode "The Hucksters". In 1986, he made a guest appearance in "Just Another Fox in the Crowd", episode 30 of Crazy Like a Fox.

In 1994, Aaron and his wife established the Chasing the Dream Foundation which awarded the Hank Aaron Chasing The Dream Scholarship to members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Aaron lived in the Atlanta area. In July 2013, media reported that his home was burglarized with jewelry and two BMW vehicles having been stolen. The cars were later recovered.

Aaron suffered from arthritis and had a partial hip replacement after a fall in 2014.

On January 5, 2021, Aaron publicly received a COVID-19 vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Morehouse School of Medicine at Atlanta, Georgia. He and several other Black American public figures, including activist Joe Beasley, Andrew Young, and Louis Sullivan, did so to demonstrate the safety of the vaccine and encourage other Black Americans to do the same.

Death

On January 22, 2021, Aaron died in his sleep at his Atlanta residence at age 86. The manner of death was listed as natural causes. His funeral was held five days later at the Friendship Baptist Church. Amongst the attendees were former President Bill Clinton, former baseball commissioner Bud Selig, and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. After the funeral, Aaron's body was interred at South-View Cemetery in Atlanta.

Tributes

Upon Aaron's death, the sports world expressed their condolences to him. Many current or former athletes and team owners such as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, Magic Johnson, David Ortiz, Dusty Baker, Eduardo Pérez, Mike Trout, and Baseball Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark paid tribute to Aaron. Fans paid tribute to him by placing flowers in front of the home run wall where he hit his 715th home run at the former site of Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and in front of his statue at Truist Park.

Politicians also paid tribute to him. The Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms released the following statement on his death:

"Derek, our family and I join the nation in sending heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Billye Aaron, the beautiful wife of Henry "Hank" Aaron for nearly 50 years, and the entire family. This is a considerable loss for the entire city of Atlanta. While the world knew him as ‘Hammering Hank Aaron’ because of his incredible, record-setting baseball career, he was a cornerstone of our village, graciously and freely joining Mrs. Aaron in giving their presence and resources toward making our city a better place. As an adopted son of Atlanta, Mr. Aaron was part of the fabric that helped place Atlanta on the world stage. Our gratitude, thoughts and prayers are with the Aaron family."

Georgia governor Brian Kemp ordered flags in the state of Georgia to be lowered half-staff in honor of him.

U.S. President Joe Biden paid tribute to Aaron by releasing a statement calling him "an American hero". Aaron also received tributes from former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

The Atlanta Braves honored Hank Aaron during the 2021 season by including his jersey number 44 on the back of the team caps along with Phil Niekro's jersey number, 35 (who died one month earlier in December 2020). They also painted 44 in the midfield at Truist Park.

At Game 3 of the 2021 World Series in Truist Park, a pregame ceremony was held honoring Aaron where his son, Hank Jr., threw out a ceremonial first pitch. After the Braves won the 2021 World Series, Aaron was honored in the design of the team's World Series championship ring, which includes 755 total diamonds to commemorate Aaron's career home runs, and 44 emerald-cut diamonds to represent Aaron's jersey number with the Braves.

Awards and honors

In 1982, Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility.

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.

In 1999, Major League Baseball created the Hank Aaron Award, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Aaron's surpassing of Babe Ruth's career home run mark of 714 home runs and to honor Aaron's contributions to baseball. The award is given annually to the baseball hitters voted the most effective in each respective league. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Aaron on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

When the city of Atlanta was converting Centennial Olympic Stadium into a new baseball stadium, many local residents hoped the stadium would be named for Aaron. When the stadium was instead named Turner Field (after Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner), a section of Capitol Avenue running past the stadium was renamed Hank Aaron Drive. The stadium's street number is 755, after Aaron's total number of home runs; the 755 street number was retained for Turner Field's replacement, Truist Park. In April 1997, a new baseball facility for the AA Mobile Bay Bears constructed in Aaron's hometown of Mobile, Alabama was named Hank Aaron Stadium. Georgia State University acquired Turner Field and has since rebuilt it as Center Parc Stadium, in 2017, and university officials plan to build a new baseball park on the former Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium site, incorporating the left field wall where Aaron hit his record-breaking home run.

On February 5, 1999, at his 65th birthday celebration, Major League Baseball announced the introduction of the Hank Aaron Award. The award honors the best overall offensive performer in the American and National League. It was the first major award to be introduced in more than thirty years and had the distinction of being the first award named after a player who was still alive. Later that year, he ranked fifth on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.