Aaron, Hank

byname of Henry Louis Aaron

(born Feb. 5, 1934, Mobile, Ala., U.S.) U.S. baseball player, one of the greatest in professional baseball. After playing briefly in the Negro leagues and then in the minor leagues, Aaron was moved up to the majors as an outfielder with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. By the time the Braves moved to Atlanta, Ga., in 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs; in 1974 he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth's record. He played his final two seasons (1975–76) with the Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron's records for extra-base hits (1,477) and runs batted in (2,297) remain unbroken, and only Ty Cobb and Pete Rose exceed him in career hits (3,771). Aaron's home run record (755) was broken by Barry Bonds in 2007. Aaron is renowned as one of the greatest hitters of all time.

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