Fifty years ago, Atlanta Braves right fielder and designated hitter Hank Aaron beat the home run record of legendary slugger Babe Ruth to cement his legacy in stone. Aaron hit his 715th homer on April 8, 1974, at the now-demolishing Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
Aaron went on to hit 755 home runs from 1954-76. His monumental record has only been beaten by Barry Bonds, who had to use performance-enhancing drugs to do so. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of breaking the record, the U.S. Postal Service created a stamp, the Braves organization released a video, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is set to unveil a bronze statue of Hank Aaron on the first floor of its historical museum this summer.
These honors will add to the already large number of dedications Aaron has received, ranging from street names, busts, statues, and even an entire stadium in Mobile, Alabama where Aaron was born.
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Aaron, who died in 2021 at 86, left an unforgettable mark on the sport as one of the most prolific hitters in baseball history. But a ball player’s career is only a short part of their life. As Aaron’s career began to wind down, he extended his influence so it wasn’t strictly constrained to his on-field prowess.
An activist off the field, he used his platform to advocate for equality and social justice. In 1984, eight years after retirement and two after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Hank Aaron met the reporter who would get to know him better than anyone else – his eventual biographer, Terence Moore.
“The Real Hank Aaron: An Intimate Look at the Life and Legacy of the Home Run King” looks at every aspect of Aaron’s life. According to Moore, at the time the two met Aaron was the only African American executive in Major League Baseball.
“[I found] we were very similar in the sense that we both understood this concept of mind games as racism because one of the things that got lost, that I point out in the [biography], is people always think his racial issues took place when he was chasing Babe Ruth’s record, and that’s it,” Moore said. “But what I detailed in my book is that he was also facing racism when he became an executive with the Braves.”
It was during this period that Aaron became very outspoken when it came to talking about the lack of Black people within and surrounding baseball. According to Moore, in 1982 about 18% of major league players were African American. The current number is roughly 6%.
Aaron’s statements went beyond just players. He wanted to see change on the management side of things as well.
“He was also very outspoken about Civil Rights, and what people refuse to admit then and even now,” Moore said. “White folks couldn’t stand Hank Aaron because of that. He was getting hate mail, I know [because] he would show me… he was getting phone calls from people getting upset with him telling him, ‘You need to stay in your place!’”
Those people, Moore said, wanted a “squeaky clean” version of Hank Aaron who did his work and would be there to be the famous token Black player.
“They don’t want to hear the Hank Aaron talking about, we need more Blacks in the front office, we need more Black players, we need more Black senators,” Moore said. “Hank was all of that.”
In his 1982 Hall of Fame speech, Aaron left the world with one of his most impactful statements: “A man’s ability is only limited by his lack of opportunity.”
His quiet strength, well-placed words, and unwavering commitment to excellence made Aaron a role model for aspiring athletes and activists. At the end of his career, Aaron took steps to make sure his influence wouldn’t be limited to just the baseball field. After an illuminating conversation with then Milwaukee Brewers President Bud Selig, he created the Chasing the Dream Foundation, which has provided countless scholarships to deserving Boys & Girls Clubs students.
“I don’t want anything,” Aaron said in a 2020 Forces article. “I just want something that says that ten years from now, Henry Aaron has put his fingerprint on somebody to help them get through college and make them better than what they were before. That’s where my Chasing the Dream Foundation came from.”
Before his death, Aaron was still striving to create unity. He dreamed that the generations coming forward would choose to build relationships that would move society forward.
“I just wish that these kids today would find out that it’s not just money alone,” he said in the Forbes interview. “It’s not just what you can get out of someone, but [also] learn how to be able to get along with other people, as well as to get along with yourself.”
