Hank Aaron’s Biography:
Hank Aaron was born February 5, 1934 in Mobile, Alabama. His full name is Henry Lewis Aaron and his caring parents were Estella and Herbert Aaron. Hank Aaron became a baseball superstar and as a quiet resister to segregation and racism he would serve as a role model in the sport and beyond.Hank Aaron graduated from Allen Institute in 1951. Hank’s first professional job was with the Mobile Bears, a Negro league team. He then played for the Indianapolis Clowns, another Negro league team, before being spotted by the Boston Braves in 1952. Hank then played one year in the Milwaukee minor league system (as the team moved from Boston to Milwaukee) and then joined the major league club. In his first season with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954 he hit .280 with 13 homers in 468 at bats, not close to a hint for what he was about to accomplish. He was only 20. But 1954 was a remarkable year in other ways for Hank and for civil rights. That year Hank Aaron along with four other black players integrated southern the southern baseball leagues. Jackie Robinson had gone before him, breaking the color line in the northern leagues. 1954 was also the year of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on Brown vs. The Board of Education that struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine.The next year Hank’s stats were good, as he played his first full season hitting 27 homers with a .314 average. Hank’s strengths helped boost his team. The next couple years the Braves became a better and better team and in 1957 Hank Aaron won his first National League MVP award after helping the Braves win their first World Series, all at the age of 23. This win would be his first and only World Series win, in his entire 22-year career. Every year after the World Series win though 1974 Hamerin’ Hank was on the National League All-Star team for a record breaking 20 years, an unheard of record. Though his career Hank Aaron would break record after record and finally break the great Babe Ruth’s home run record at 715 and go on to hit as many as 755 home runs. After his record breaking home run, Hank was met at home plate by his parents. He received a 10-minute standing ovation from the fans at the park. His National League baseball batting average was .305. Baseball experts call him, "the greatest natural right-handed hitter of all time"(Sports Champions). But Hank Aaron didn’t just break every record that he felt like breaking (Aaron's batting records include total of 755 home runs, 1477 extra base hits, and 2297 runs batted in). His other career stats include a 2174 runs scored, second only to Ty Cobb, and 12,364 times at bat in 3298 games, second to Pete Rose. Aaron’s 3771 hits were exceeded only by those of Ty Cobb and Pete Rose. He also did something more important than achieving record-breaking statistics; he changed the position of civil rights for the better. Hank Aaron was a black baseball player in a time of segregation and racism. He made challenges to segregation in the south. When the Milwaukee Braves were going to move from Milwaukee to segregated Atlanta, Hank Aaron said that, “As long as the stadium in Atlanta is segregated, I will not play there.” He was a target for much hate and during his chase of Babe Ruth’s home run record he received 100 pounds of letters a day, most of it hate mail. Racist people in America didn’t want to see the white record defeated by a black man. In the end he beat Babe Ruth’s home run record and he showed America that blacks were just as good as whites, something people didn’t think. As determined as he was to pursue the Babe’s record, Hank said that he didn’t want people to forget Babe Ruth, he just wanted them to remember him, too.Aaron was forty years old when he broke the Babe’s home run record. As he got closer to the Babe Ruth’s magic number, Aaron received death threats and even was afraid he might be lynched for continuing toward his goal. The FBI was even called into investigate some of the threats against him. He broke a baseball hero’s record from the time of segregation. In an interview with Sandy Tolan, who wrote the book, Me and Hank, Hand Aaron said, “I did feel like the struggle in which I was in was one that I had as much on my shoulders as some of the other civil rights leaders, because if I failed or had Jackie Robinson failed, then it would have set baseball back a hundred years.” Hank Aaron deserves his Baseball Hall of Fame for his outstanding record and because he challenged white supremacists and intolerance. In retirement, Hank continued to work in baseball and especially in support of young players.