Hank Aaron
Henry Louis Aaron
American
- Ranked 5th, 100 Greatest Baseball Players - 1999, The Sporting News
- As Noted In: Baseball Hall of Famer, National Baseball Hall of Fame
Hammerin' Hank
For more than three decades, Hank Aaron has been best known for hitting more home runs than any other baseball player in history. However, the baseball icon also spoke out against pervasive racism in major league baseball and broke racial barriers throughout his career. Despite hate mail, death threats against him and a plan to kidnap one of his daughters, Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record on April 8, 1974 when he hit his 715th home run. At the end of his career, Hammerin' Hank Aaron had a total of 755 home runs. Aaron set twelve other major league records by his retirement from the playing field in 1976 and won three Gold Glove Awards. He became one of the first blacks in Major League Baseball upper-level management when Braves owner Ted Turner appointed him vice president of player development. On August 1, 1982, Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame receiving 97.8 percent of the ballots cast. Aaron is a longtime supporter of civil rights organizations such as the NAACP. He co-founded with his wife, educator Billye, the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation to help children develop their potential. - NPS