Henry “Hank” Aaron stamped his legacy as a baseball player 50 years ago when he became baseball’s Home Run King.
While Aaron’s accomplishments on the field were many, it was his reputation as an exemplary person and teammate that still stand out as much or more to those with the honor to play alongside him for any length of time.
Looking back on April 8, 1974, the night Aaron hit his 715th home run and broke Babe Ruth’s all-time record, his teammates still admire Aaron the man as much or more than Aaron the baseball player.
The Atlanta Braves are commemorating the anniversary of Aaron’s feat in a special ceremony at Truist Park prior to Monday’s game against the New York Mets.
“There might be somebody who’s as good of a baseball player as Henry Aaron, but I don’t think there was ever a baseball player that was better than Henry Aaron,” former Braves outfielder Ralph Garr said. “He had so much respect for the game and he played it the way it should be played…. Even as great a baseball player as he was, he was an even greater human being.”
That statement came to define Aaron as a teammate for 23 seasons in the major leagues and as a person in all stages of his life.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, on February 5, 1934, Aaron’s professional career began with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League in 1951. A year later, he signed with the Boston Braves, who then uprooted the franchise after 82 years and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Originally a shortstop, Aaron quickly advanced through the minors and made the big league club in 1954 after left fielder Bobby Thomson fractured his ankle late in spring training. Aaron took to the new position and would play the outfield for the majority of his career.
Connecting for his first home run on April 23, 1954, against Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals, Aaron…
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