Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021)
On February 5, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron Jr., the baseball
slugger who broke Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714
homers, was born in Mobile, Alabama.
Aaron began his professional baseball career in 1952 in
the Negro League and joined the Milwaukee Braves of
the major league in 1954, eight years after Jackie
Robinson had integrated baseball.
Aaron was the last Negro League player to compete in
the majors. He quickly established himself as an important
player for the Braves and won the National League batting
title in 1956.
The following season, he took home the league’s MVP
award and helped the Braves beat Mickey Mantle and
the heavily favored New York Yankees in the World
Series. In 1959, Aaron won his second league batting
title.
Aaron became one of baseball’s first Black executives,
with the Atlanta Braves and was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. Aaron died on January
22, 2021 at age 86.
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