R.I.P. Henry Aaron

Henry Aaron, who began his professional baseball career in the old Negro Leagues and went on to break Babe Ruth’s major league record for career home runs, died on January 22nd, 2021, in Atlanta, two weeks before his 87th birthday. Aaron played for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves from 1954-74 and ended his career back in Milwaukee with the Brewers from 1975-76. Aaron is the 10th Baseball Hall of Famer to die in the last nine months and third already in 2021.

Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Ruth’s record, in Atlanta on April 8th, 1974 off pitcher Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the year or so leading up to this event, Aaron was subjected to vile racism in the form of hate mail and death threats. Despite all this, Aaron was the picture of dignity even though he and others were worried he could be murdered (the Atlanta Journal had even prepared an obituary in case that happened). Thankfully, the crowd in Atlanta was anything but hostile when the historic moment arrived.

Aaron ended his career with 755 homers, which is now second all time to Barry Bonds’ 762. Aaron was more than just a home run hitter. His 2297 RBIs and 6856 total bases are still major league records, and his 3771 hits are third all time. He had a lifetime batting average of .305. He was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1957, when he hit 44 homers with a career high 132 RBIs, (both numbers led the league, as well as his 118 runs scored) while hitting .322. The Braves were World Series champions that year, beating the Yankees in seven games. Aaron hit .393 with three homers and seven RBIs in the World Series. Henry Aaron was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.