Hank Aaron: Baseball Icon Dies at 86
Hank Aaron, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, has died at the age of 86.
Aaron’s death was first reported by Atlanta’s WGCL-TV. An exact cause of death was not disclosed.
Aaron’s Hall of Fame career consisted of a brief stint in the Negro American League in 1951 before being scouted by Major League Baseball (MLB) and signing with the then Milwaukee Braves and playing in their minor league system. He would make his MLB debut on April 13, 1954.
Aaron’s MLB career stats are rivaled by very few and they consisted of an overall batting average of .305, 3,771 hits, 2,297 RBIs and 755 home runs.
Perhaps the biggest moment in Aaron’s career, and one of the biggest moments in MLB history, was when he broke Babe Ruth’s long-standing home run record on April 8, 1974 and hit his 715th career home run.
The iconic moment Hank Aaron became the Home Run King 🙏⚾️
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) January 22, 2021
📽️: @MLB pic.twitter.com/7rjMjFMc40
Aaron retired from baseball in 1976. He would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 on his first year of eligibility with 97.83 percent of the ballots. In 1999, Aaron was honored by the MLB with the Hank Aaron Award, which is awarded every year to the player selected as the top hitter in the American League and National League.
In 2001, Aaron was awarded the Presidential Citizen Medal by President Bill Clinton. In 2002, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, from President George W. Bush.
GALLERY: Hank Aaron Through the Years
