Hank Aaron

Henry Louis Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1934 and grew up in a segregated neighborhood there. His route to major-league baseball included the Negro Leagues and minor-league competition before he joined the Braves. The Baseball Hall of Fame identifies him among the Black stars who entered the majors after Jackie Robinson crossed its color line.

The Negro Leagues part of that route began in 1952. In February of that year, at eighteen, he joined the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League as a shortstop, reportedly at about $200 a month. In his first seventeen games with the Clowns, he batted .427 with five home runs and twenty-six runs batted in, and the team went on to win the 1952 Negro League World Series. The Clowns sold his contract to the Braves before the season ended, and after two seasons in the minor leagues he reached Milwaukee in 1954.

Aaron's career was much broader than a single home run. In 1957, he won the National League's Most Valuable Player award as the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series. His playing record eventually included three Gold Gloves and twenty-five All-Star Game selections. He remained a productive hitter over many seasons, providing the foundation for the milestone that later brought intense national attention.

He finished the 1973 season with 713 career home runs, one behind Babe Ruth. The chase brought racial hostility. Aaron received death threats and large amounts of hate mail as he closed in on Ruth's record, and he declined to let the threats change how he played. After tying Ruth early in the following season, Aaron hit number 715 on April 8, 1974, against Los Angeles pitcher Al Downing in Atlanta. The Hall's account places the historic swing within a game the Braves won 7-4.

Aaron continued playing and finished with 755 home runs. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1982 and died in January 2021.

In 1994, Hank and Billye Aaron established the Chasing the Dream Foundation. Working with the Boys & Girls Clubs, the program awards scholarships of up to $2,500 to forty-four young people a year, a number chosen to match Aaron's uniform. The Hall's account describes partnerships involving the Boys & Girls Clubs and Major League Baseball, including the 44 Forever scholarship initiative, and assistance for students developing talents beyond baseball. The scholarship program still awards grants each year to Boys & Girls Clubs members, forty-four at a time in honor of his number.