Hank+Aaron


 * Childhood ** ** … **

Henry Louis Aaron, commonly known as Hank Aaron, was born on February 5, 1934 in a poor, mostly black area of Mobile, Alabama. Early in his childhood, the Aaron family moved to a better part of town, but African-Americans, where they lived, it was still segregated. He lived with seven siblings and in his house they didn’t have plumbing, electricity, or glass windows. He was born during the Great Depression and his father worked at the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company. The job was good, but he constantly recieved verbal abuse from white co-workers. Young Henry was a good student, and was also a great football player. However, from an early age he knew he wanted and was going to play Professional Baseball. He spent most of his time at Carver Recreational Park, a neighborhood playground a block away from his house. There he played sandlot baseball, essentially teaching himself the game. It was there and in high school that Aaron became a star, playing third base and shortstop, and excelling as a hitter. When his parents realized that he was intent on pursuing sports, they advised him to “play a lot better than the white boy.” In Aaron's young teenager, professional baseball slowly began to integrate with the arrival of Jackie Robinson, which was the first black player to play baseball in the major leagues. At the age of 15 he bagan playing local amateur and semi-pro leagues.


 * Accomplishments **** & **** Obstacles **** … **

While still attebding school he was scouted and signed to the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League. The Clowns then went on to win the '52 Negro League World Series. That same year, Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves came calling and bought Aaron's contract from the Clowns. He won his first batting title in 1956 after two years in the big leagues when he hit for a .328 average. He was also named the National League Player of the Year by The Sporting News. The following year in 1957, Hank changed his hitting approach and went on to lead the league in home runs with 44 while driving in 132 runs. He was named [|Most Valuable Player] that year also. That same year, Aaron hit many clutch home run for the Braves, and the team went on to win the World Series. During the course of his illustrious career, Aaron went on to play in 21 All-Star Games. He is the all-time leader in career RBI's with 2297, and he also won three Gold Glove awards. However, his biggest accomplishment is career home runs. Despite only leading the league in homers four times, Aaron smacked an amazing 744 over the course of his career. But his fight wasn't easy. During the summer of 1973, he closed in on the all-time mark of 714 set in 1935 by Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, racism was still an ongoing dilemma in the United States, and as the media hounded him people began writing cruel and threatening letters to Aaron out of resentment of Ruth's record potentially being broken by a black man. He received more than 10,000 letters (most of them hate mail and even death threats) during the off-season claiming he should not break the record. Despite all these threats however, he remained the ultimate professional and gentleman, he ignored the insults and slurs and was able to go out on the field every day regardless of the heckling, even from his own fans, and excel at the sport. The Braves opened the 1974 season on the road in Cincinnati, and for fear of him breaking the record away from Atlanta, team management benched him. But the decision was overturned by the baseball commissioner. On April 8, 1974 Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Ruth's record, [|making baseball hisory] and in doing so, received the undying support of the fans. Aaron would finish his career back in Wisconsin, this time with the American League Milwaukee Brewers.



[|"Hammerin' Hank"] finished with 755 overall homeruns and with a lifetime batting average of .305 before retiring after his 1976 season. Although Barry Bonds broke his record on August 7, 2007, Aaron is still know as a legend. He was elected to baseball's [|Hall of Fame] in 1982, and now works in the front office of the Atlanta braves as the vice president for player development. As one of baseball's all-time [|home run kings], Hank Aaron did more than just hit home runs. Sure, Aaron led the National League (NL) four times, and was a two-time batting champion leading the league in RBIs four times and runs scored three times. But he is also a great leader and role model for young, upcoming African American ball players today.

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“ **//Hammerin' Hank//” //1934// //-// //Present//

Works Cited: http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00006764.html http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9173497 http://www.baseballreference.com/a/aaronha01.shtml [| [[http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=110001                  http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/bondstracker|http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=110001]]] http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/bondstracker