1968
Hank Aaron Hits 500th Homer
On July 14, 1968, Atlanta Braves slugger Henry “Hank” Aaron hits
the 500th home run of his career in a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Henry Aaron was born February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama. The
third of eight children, Aaron was a star football player, third baseman and
outfielder in high school, and signed with the Negro League’s Mobile Black
Bears while still a teenager. He joined the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952 at age
18 and helped them win the Negro League World Series. The next year, his
contract was sold to the Milwaukee Braves of the National League. On April 13,
1954, Aaron became the last former Negro League player to make his debut in the
major leagues.
Aaron broke camp with the big league Braves in 1954 after a year
of thorough domination in the minor leagues. In that and many future seasons
with the Braves, Aaron shared the spotlight with third baseman Eddie Matthews.
For their careers, the two men hit a record 863 home runs as teammates and hit
home runs in the same game 75 times. In 1957, Aaron won his only MVP award,
hitting .322 with 44 home runs and 132 RBIs. Aaron, Matthews and pitchers
Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette led the Braves to a World Series victory that
year over Manager Casey Stengel and his perennial favorite New York Yankees. In
1958, the Braves won their second National League pennant in a row, but lost a
World Series rematch to the Yankees.
On July 14, 1968, with 499 career home runs under his belt,
Aaron hit a three-run shot in the third inning off Giants’ pitcher Mike
McCormick. Aaron was mobbed at home plate by his teammates and presented with
an award by Braves President Bill Bartholomay honoring him as the seventh man
in baseball history to hit 500 home runs.
Aaron was already 34 years old in 1968, the age at which players
of his era usually began a rapid decline. Although 1968 was a slightly off year
for the slugger–he hit .287 with 29 home runs and 86 RBIs–Aaron was not yet
slowing down. Naysayers ate their words as they watched him hit 203 home runs
between 1969 and 1973. On April 8, 1974, after a winter of hate mail containing
threats from racist fans, Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record for career home runs
when he hit his 715th off Cincinnati’s Jack Billingham. Aaron retired from
baseball in 1976 with 755 home runs. After a career of remarkable offensive
consistency, Aaron retired as the all-time leader in runs batted in, extra base
hits and total bases. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.