House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves Franchise all-time top outfielder: Hank Aaron

By Fred Owens

Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron is easily the best outfielder in franchise history, and one of baseball’s greatest all-time players. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron is easily the best outfielder in franchise history, and one of baseball’s greatest all-time players. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron as he appeared in the 1974 Major League Baseball All-Star game. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron as he appeared in the 1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Bad break = good news for Hank Aaron

The Braves left for Milwaukee with holes in their outfield. They traded Sid Gordon and Sam Jethroe to the Pirates for Danny O’Connell; only Bill Bruton and an aging Andy Pafko remained to man the outfield

To fill one of those slots, they traded four players and cash to the Giants for Bobby Thompson, who promptly broke his ankle in spring training. Aaron had a good spring, took Thompson’s job in the outfield on opening day, and held onto it for 20 years.

His first homer came against the Cardinals, ten days after his Major League debut. Aaron drove in the game’s first run with a single off Vic Rashi in the top of first and hit a solo shot off Rasch in the seventh inning to bring the Braves within one run of the Cardinals. The Braves tied the game and won it in the fourteenth when he followed Pafko home after a Johnny Logan single.

He ended the 1954 season batting .280/.322/.447/.769 with 104 OPS+ and 13 homers, and finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Attention league, Hank Aaron is dangerous

With his first full season under his belt. Aaron began to do the things that made the rest of the league sit up and take notice. As he headed to the first of 24 consecutive All-Star games, he was batting .322/.361/.552/.913 with 17 homers 15 doubles, 56 RBI, and 109 hits.

He cooled slightly in the second half but ended with 27 homers, a league-leading 37 doubles, nine triples, 106 RBI, batting .314/.366/.540/.906, with a 141 OPS plus. and a ninth-place finish in NL MVP Voting.

Over the next 19 seasons Aaron:

  • Averaged 36 homers a year, and hit less than 26 only once, 20 in 112 games during the 1974 season
  • Averaged 173 hits and total 3280, including 536 doubles and 81 triples
  • Drove in 2027 runs, an average of 107 a year
  • Walked 1220 times and struck out 1194 – so much for “power hitters must strike out a lot”
    • Walked more than he struck out 16 times
  • Stole 235 bases in 303 attempts – a 77.5% success rate
  • Led the league in …
    • Total bases eight times – 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1967, 1969
    • Homers four times – 1957, 1963, 1966, 1967
    • RBI four times – 1957, 1960, 1963, 1966
    • Slugging four times – 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971
    • Runs three times -1957, 1963, 1967
    • OPS and OPS+ three times -1959, 1963, 1971
    • Doubles three more times -1956, 1961, 1965
    • Average and hits twice – 1956 and 1959
    • Sacrifice flies once 1960
  • Won
    • Three Gold Gloves- 1958, 1959, 1960
    • NL MVP in 1957
    • finished top ten in MVP voting 11 more times (13 total)
    • finished in the top 17 five additional times
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