Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 44, Hammer

Even with all of the elite Hall of Fame players in the history of the Atlanta Braves franchise, none holds a candle to Hank Aaron.

He overcame nationwide racism to become the all-time home run king while playing for a team in Atlanta. He fought for the inclusion of African-Americans at every level of the game. He’s remembered now with an award honoring the top offensive performer each season in each league. There’s simply no one in Atlanta Braves franchise history that comes close to the icon status of Hank Aaron.

Henry “Hank” Aaron grew up in Mobile, Alabama, a regular hot spot for baseball in its day. Satchel Paige hailed from Mobile. A half-decade after Hank would debut, Willie McCovey would enter the league from Mobile. To say he had to have his game at top-level to stand out in his own hometown is an understatement.

Aaron originally played in the Negro Leagues, though for just one season with the Indianapolis Clowns. The Braves signed him before the end of that first season, and the 18-year-old finished his year with Eau Claire, where he hit .336 over 87 games with 9 home runs. The 1953 season brought Hank to the South Atlantic League and the Braves Jacksonville affiliate, a great place to really give him a flavor of the racism he would face in the major leagues. Fighting against racism seemingly at every stop of the season, he hit .362 over 137 games with 36 doubles, 14 triples, and 22 home runs.

The Milwaukee Braves brought the 20-year-old to the big leagues in 1954 and gave him a spot in the everyday lineup. He hit 13 home runs with a .280 batting average. The home run output would be his lowest total as a member of the Braves franchise.

The Milwaukee team matured along with Hank, and by the time he was winning batting titles in 1956 and then crushing a league-leading 44 home runs (his most common career total, as well as his jersey number) in 1957 to take home his only MVP award, Aaron had a strong team behind him. In 1957 and 1958, the Braves played for the World Series, going 7 games against the Yankees in both series, winning in ’57, but falling in ’58.

Sadly, for Hank, it would be his last appearance in the World Series. He would get one more playoff appearance in 1969, as the Braves were defeated by the Miracle Mets to get to the Fall Classic. In the playoffs for his career, Aaron played in 17 games, hitting .362/.405/.710 with 6 home runs.

When the Braves became the Atlanta Braves in 1966, Aaron had not even eclipsed the 400-homer mark in his career. However, by the time the 1968 season was out, he would eclipse 500 and have the baseball world buzzing about his chances to potentially catch the great Babe Ruth, along with Willie Mays, who was slowing down significantly after turning 35 in 1966 – still a feared hitter, but never again eclipsing 30 home runs in a season after his age-35 year.

Aaron, on the other hand, simply kept pounding out round-trippers. As the 1972 season came to a close, he had 673 career home runs. Incredibly, at age 39, Hank clubbed 40 home runs to come within one of the Babe at the end of the 1973 season.

As great as that tension-filled offseason was for the baseball media to build up their stories about Hank’s place in history and the effect of a black man surpassing one of the sport’s great icons in its most prestigious career record, for Aaron, it was an offseason of hell with hate mail flowing to him throughout the offseason.

The big moment came at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8th, 1974. While many in Braves Country love the local announcer Milo Hamilton’s call of the historic bomb, I’ve always appreciated the respect of the moment that Vin Scully gave the call:

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Aaron was 40 as he rounded those bases. It would be his final season for the Atlanta Braves. He finished his Braves career with a .310 batting average and 733 home runs.

Hank still holds the all-time records for both total bases (6,856) and runs batted in (2,297). He was a 25-time All-Star, the most games any player has had the honor of representing his team in the league’s history.

He returned to Milwaukee for two final seasons with the new Milwaukee Brewers, hitting 22 home runs over two injury-riddled seasons, but also getting a chance to thank the first fans that supported him as a player.

Hank celebrated his 85th birthday just a week ago, and with the game losing McCovey last year and just recently losing Frank Robinson, it’s incumbent on Atlanta Braves fans to recognize and realize the special chance we have to celebrate an absolute legend of not just baseball, but of all sports in Henry Aaron.