Hank "Hammerin" Aaron

Aaron was born on Feb. 5, 1934 in Mobile, Ala., and was one of eight children of Herbert and Estella Aaron. He grew up loving baseball but the Aaron family was poor and could not afford baseball equipment, so he developed his skills by hitting bottle caps with sticks.

In March 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, Robinson played in an exhibition game in Aaron’s hometown of Mobile. Robinson told Black youngsters, including Aaron, of the possibilities that would be coming for Black people and spoke of the need to strive for a good education. But Aaron, only 14 and already a talented sandlot ballplayer, cared little for his high school studies and instead envisioned professional baseball as the road to escaping poverty and segregation.

He then passed through sandlots with brief stops in the Negro Leagues and the minor leagues before making his MLB debut in April 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves at just 20 years old, where he ultimately became one of baseball’s most iconic figures.

Nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank,” Aaron played 23 seasons, 21 of which were with the Braves. He was considered among the greatest all-around players in baseball history and one of the last major league stars to have played in the Negro Leagues.

The Hall of Fame outfielder would eclipse Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record of 714 while enduring a barrage of racism.

On April 8, 1974, he hit his 715th home run at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which broadcaster Vin Sully described at the time as “a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.” But in his pursuit of Ruth’s record, Aaron endured hate mail and death threats.

Aaron would retire two years later with a total of 755 career home runs, which remained one of the most hallowed numbers in all of sports for more than 30 years.

During his illustrious career, Aaron led the Braves to two National League Championships and one World Series win and remains baseball’s all-time leader in RBI (2,297) and total bases (6,856). Aaron was also a 25-time All-Star, the most of any player in history. He only played 23 seasons, but there were multiple All-Star games from 1959-1962.

Aaron entered the baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, the first year he was eligible, and received 97.8 percent of the vote from baseball writers, second at the time to Ty Cobb, who was inducted in 1936.

Aaron is survived by his wife, Billye; two sons, Lary and Henry Jr., and two daughters, Dorinda and Gaile, all of whom he had with his first wife, Barbara; and his daughter Ceci, from Billye Aaron’s first marriage.