Hank Aaron
Henry Louis Aaron
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Born:
February 5, 1934 in
Mobile, Alabama.
Formerly baseball's
all-time home-run king, Aaron played 23 years as an
outfielder for the Milwaukee (later Atlanta) Braves and
Milwaukee Brewers (1954–76). He holds many of baseball's distinguished records, including runs batted in
(2,297), extra base hits (1,477), total bases (6,856)
and most years with 30 or more home runs (15). He is also
in the top five for career hits and runs.
Aaron also had the
record for most career home runs (755) until Barry Bonds
broke it with his 756th home run on August 7, 2007, in San
Francisco.
Breaking Babe Ruth's
record of 714 career home runs, was both a triumph and a
trial for Aaron. He was beseiged by the media and badgered
by racist letter-writers who resented him breaking Ruth's
record.
A complete player
whose skills were never fully appreciated until he broke the record in
1974, he was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player only
once (1957).
After retiring as a
player, Aaron moved into the Atlanta Braves front office as executive
vice-president, where he has been a leading spokesman for minority
hiring in baseball. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1982.
His autobiography,
I Had a Hammer, was published in 1990.
In 1999, to celebrate
the 25th anniversary of breaking Ruth's record, Major League Baseball
announced the Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the best overall
hitter in each league.
He was honoured with
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
Source:
Biography.com
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