Today we all mourned as we learned of the passing of Hank Aaron, who died at the age of 86.
Aaron was one of the greatest and most widely-recognized faces in baseball, rising in a sport that at one time hated to see Black faces like his dominate. But that’s just what he did, building a professional, Hall of Fame career that spanned 23 years. And while he broke one of the most revered records in sports on April 8th, 1974, his path to the Hall of Fame was initially complicated and barred by racism.
Henry (Hank) Lewis Aaron was born on February 5th, 1934 in Mobile Alabama. Raised in a place bound by the evils of a rigid segregation system, Aaron found his calling in baseball. Unfortunately, baseball did not love him in the way he loved the sport. While playing in the minor leagues in the South, he was the target of racial abuse that defined the South at the time.
He was one of eight children in a closed knit family raised by his parents, Herbert and Estella (Pritchett) Aaron. He was encouraged by his mother to go to college, but baseball was in his blood. In 1948, when he was 14 years old, Aaron got the chance to watch Jackie Robinson during a spring training game in Mobile. Robinson, who broke the color barrier in professional baseball a year prior with the Brooklyn Dodgers, inspired the young sandlot star and his future was settled.
He would become a baseball player.
At the time, Mobile was a hotbed for talent, particularly Black talent. Legendary names such as Satchel Paige, Willie McCovey and Billy Williams all hailed from the area, and Aaron’s name would soon be added to this legendary list.
He signed with the Indianapolis Clowns from the Negro leagues and then moved on to the Boston Braves in 1952. Assigned to their farm team in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Aaron ended up becoming the Northern League’s rookie of the year that season. His journey toward greatness continued as he was promoted the following year as the second baseman for the Jacksonville, Florida team in the South Athletic League, which led him back to the South where racists once again waited.
That year he led the Sally League in hitting and was voted league MVP. He switched to outfield that winter and was invited to spring training with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. That season, his first in the big leagues, he had a batting average of .280 with 13 home runs. Not a bad start for a player who broke his ankle late in the season.
Over the next two decades, Aaron would unveil his dominance, forging a career that would ultimately enshrine him in Cooperstown in 1982. That year, his first year of eligibility, he received 97.8% of the vote, second only to Ty Cobb at the time. His career stat line, in which he spent all but 2 of his 23 years with the Braves, consisted of the following: .305 BA, 3,771 hits, 755 home runs, and 2,297 RBIs. Most recognize him as a home run king, but he should be remembered as a hitter and, arguably, the best to ever do it. He sits in third place in hits behind Pete Rose (4,256) and Cobb (4,189), is only second to Barry Bonds (762) in home runs and is MLB’s all-time RBI leader.
Sadly, Hanks’s dominant on-field performance made him a target by an America that refused to accept him.
He was constantly plagued by racism. And when he was getting closer to breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, it got even worse. The hate mail piled up and he received death threats. The vitriol was almost overwhelming against a Black man who “dared” to try and top a white man, one recognized as the King of baseball.
“It really made me see for the first time a clear picture of what this country is about,” said Aaron to Bill Rhoden of the NY Times in 1994. “My kids had to live like they were in prison because of kidnap threats, and I had to live like a pig in a slaughter camp. I had to duck. I had to go out the back door of the ballparks. I had to have a police escort with me all the time. I was getting threatening letters every single day. All of these things have put a bad taste in my mouth, and it won’t go away. They carved a piece of my heart away.”
Imagine having to hide and duck. Having to worry about your family. Having to have security with you at all times simply because white racists were agonizing over the fact that a Black man was about to take his place at the top of history in America’s pastime.
A place he earned.
Aaron remained undeterred, and on the night of April 8th, 1974, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron birthed the moment that a skinny, 14-year-old Black kid running around the sandlots in Mobile, Alabama had envisioned for decades.
It was a moment captured by the Dodgers’ legendary radio announcer, Vin Scully.
“What a marvelous moment for baseball,” said Scully. “What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.”
But for Hank Aaron, the idol was Jackie Robinson. And like his idol, Aaron suffered through, and fought against, racism and prejudice to became a national hero. President Bush ratified this status by awarding him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002, stating he “embodies the true spirit of our nation.”
Aaron would finish his career in Milwaukee after being traded to the Brewers after the 1974 season. Two years later, he retired and went back to Atlanta to work for the organization in various capacities. To honor what he did for the team, game, and city, the Braves erected a statue of Aaron swinging. And when the team moved to its current location, the address became 755 Hank Aaron Drive.
Today, Hank Aaron Drive lost its namesake, but not its importance. Hank Aaron will always be part of the city and the game, and he will always be recognized as one of the greatest players in baseball history.
We’re sure Jackie is telling him how proud he is of him right now.
