A Historic Home Run: The Legacy of Hank Aaron, 50 Years Later

In their first match-up of the 1974 season, the Atlanta Braves prepared to face the Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. This game was different than most because of its potential to make history — four days earlier, the Braves’ Henry “Hank” Aaron had tied Babe Ruth’s 20-year record for career home runs. When he approached the plate that night, Hank Aaron was one swing away from claiming the new record.

After a walk in the second inning, Aaron was up for a second at-bat against Dodgers pitcher Al Downing. With a runner on first base, Aaron drove a pitch over the left-centerfield wall — the 715th home run of his career — surpassing Babe Ruth’s record. The sellout crowd of more than 50,000 erupted in celebration for the new home run champion.

Fifty years after that milestone night, Aaron is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, a designation he earned over a 23-season career that coincided with the height of the Civil Rights Movement. His journey to the National Baseball Hall of Fame began in a segregated, impoverished neighborhood in Mobile, Ala., where he played the game with “balls [made] out of rags.”

When his younger brother, Tommie, wasn’t available to play, Hank Aaron often threw balls over the roof of his home, sprinted to the other side, and caught them himself. It was quite a challenging feat — and a practice that helped hone his skills while demonstrating his potential to his parents. Although Aaron’s parents initially had hoped for their son to become a teacher or a preacher, when his love for baseball became clear, they encouraged him to follow his passion.

Aaron recalled a childhood friend who said that he was “too small [and] didn’t have enough intelligence” to play the game. The motivation to prove that friend wrong, and to follow in Jackie Robinson’s footsteps, led him to pursue a career in baseball.

“Jackie Robinson was the one that paved the way for me. … I had an obligation to do the same thing — not only for him, but for every other Black ball player that ever thought about playing Major League Baseball,” Aaron said.

During a brief stint in the Negro American League, Aaron was scouted by Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. He signed a contract with the Boston Braves in 1952 and played two seasons on their minor league teams, before making his major-league debut in 1954.

Aaron started making a name for himself by showcasing both talent and dedication to the game, playing 162 back-to-back games during a particular stretch. As his career progressed, and he inched closer to Babe Ruth’s home-run record, he faced on-field pressure, public scrutiny, and racism. While traveling for away games, he recalled the need to have “armed bodyguards everywhere,” and often stayed inside his hotel room to keep himself and his teammates safe.

Throughout this time, Aaron did not become discouraged, and continued to step up to the plate and play the sport he loved.

“The one thing I can tell you is that each time that I put on a baseball uniform, I went out there on the baseball field to give 110% of everything that I had … I played the game,” he said.

As Aaron was breaking barriers and building his legacy in baseball, he couldn’t have anticipated where his career would lead him next — meeting his future wife at a press appearance. At the same time Hank Aaron was making history on the field, Billye Aaron was blazing a trail in her own right.

In 1971, Billye Aaron was asked to interview “Hammerin’ Hank” for “Today in Georgia.” At the time, Billye Aaron had never attended a baseball game, but she recalled that she “very much [wanted] to participate in the interview.” 

As Billye Aaron prepared for the interview, Hank Aaron became her “mentor, in a way” — teaching her the rules of baseball and helping her draft questions — which kindled a close friendship. Billye Aaron credits “Today in Georgia” for the start of her journey with who she called a “gentle giant,” and the game of baseball for strengthening their life partnership.

“After we were married in 1973, I made sure I was at most of the games because I found it to be fun. I didn’t even know it was so much fun until I started going,” Billye Aaron reflected.

On April 8, 1974 — the evening Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th career home run — Billye Aaron attended the game with Hank’s mother, Estella.

“[My mother] had been traveling around, and God rest her soul, and she was there to see me break the record. ... And greeted me with a bear hug. She was something,” Hank Aaron said.

“I was extremely proud of him and his accomplishments,” Billye Aaron said.

In November 1974, Hank Aaron was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers. After the move, the Aarons became involved with the local community, and continued to break ground in their respective fields. Hank Aaron went on to cement his place in the baseball Hall of Fame, while Billye Aaron established an eponymous weekly talk show on WTMJ-TV.

“During the two seasons that we were in Milwaukee, I held my own and I got to know the Milwaukee community,” Billye Aaron said. “And I invited various Black people in the community to come on the show, who had never been on a TV show.”

After the 1976 season, Hank Aaron retired, leaving the game with 755 career home runs. Soon after, he became one of the first Black Americans to hold a baseball executive position as the Atlanta Braves’ vice president of player development.

In 1982, Hank Aaron was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. During his acceptance speech, he thanked Billye Aaron for “[bringing] an awful lot of sunshine into [my] life.”

“We didn’t have to take this journey by ourselves,” Billye Aaron said. “We didn’t get where we were, or are, by ourselves.”

Throughout their 47-year marriage, the Aarons remained committed to philanthropy and equal opportunity, stemmed from their shared desire to help children go to college, get involved with extracurricular activities, and follow their dreams. In 1994, they founded the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation, which helps children ages 9-12 develop skills and “begin the process of imagination.”

On Jan. 22, 2021, Hank Aaron died at age 86. Reflecting on their life together, Billye Aaron remains dedicated to continuing their work, honoring her husband’s legacy, and spreading the kindness he showed her, from the first day they met. 

“I’ve got to try somehow to keep it going,” Billye Aaron said. “And I think I will, I can, and I must in Henry’s memory. And I know he would be satisfied. I know he’d be happy with what I’m still trying to do.”

Article hero image: Hank and Billye Aaron at a press conference after Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record (Bettmann/Getty Images).