In a career that may be the most consistent baseball has ever seen. That year, Aaron received over 900,000 pieces of mail, many of them vicious and racially charged. Nine years later, in the heat of hatred and controversy, he hit his 715th home run to break Ruth's and baseball's most cherished record-a feat that was recently voted the greatest moment in baseball history. A year after that, he was a timid rookie leftfielder for the Milwaukee Braves, for whom he became a World Series hero in 1957 as well as the MostValuable Player of the National League.Īaron found himself back in the South when the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965. A year later, he and a few others had the unforgettable mission of integrating the South Atlantic League. Raised during the Depression in the Deep South enclave of Mobile, Alabama, Aaron broke into professional baseball as a cross-handed slugger and shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. His unique, poignant life has made him a symbol for much of the social history of twentieth-century America. 'Hammering Hank' Aaron's story is one that tells us much about baseball, naturally, but also about our times. But the world has also left its mark on him. Henry Aaron left his mark on the world by breaking Babe Ruth's record for home runs.
