Hank Aaron was born on February 5, 1934 in Mobile, Alabama. Since his family could not afford baseball equipment, he honed his skills, hitting bottle caps with sticks. Inspired by Jackie Robinson’s entry as the first black player in professional baseball, Hank entered Major League Baseball at age 20 as a right-fielder and played 23 seasons between 1954 and 1976. On April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 rose to their feet as Aaron’s 715th career home run flew over the outfield fence, shattering Babe Ruth’s record of 714. Acknowledged as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. In 1999, major league baseball created the Hank Aaron Award, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this achievement and to honor Aaron’s contributions to baseball. On January 22, 2021, Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron died in his sleep at home at the age of 86.
