Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron was the all-time MLB home run king for 33 years, and still is the all-time home run leader among those who have not been credibly accused of steroid use.
Aaron reached the major leagues with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954, after short stints in the minor leagues and the Negro Leagues. By the time he retired, he would be the final former Negro League player in pro baseball. In his third season, he won the batting title with a .328 average.
Aaron won his only MVP award in 1957, when he led the league in runs, home runs, and RBI, and fell just short of the Triple Crown, finishing third in batting average. That was also the first of 4 seasons in which he would hit exactly 44 home runs, which also happened to be his uniform number. He also led the Braves to the World Series that year, where they upset the defending champion Yankees in 7 games behind Aaron's .393 average, 3 homers, and 7 RBI.
The next season ended in disappointment when his .333 average wasn't enough for a repeat title, as the Yankees won the rematch in 7 games. In 1959, he had his only career 3-homer game, each one good for 2 runs, and he set career highs in hits and batting average, with 223 and .355 respectively, both best in the league, but he finished only third in the MVP voting.
He had another close brush with a Triple Crown in 1963, when he again led the league in runs, homers, and RBI, but came in third in batting. That was also his second time with 44 home runs, and his 4th time finishing 3rd in the MVP race, though it should have been his 4th MVP by that time.
The Braves moved to Atlanta after the 1965 season, and in his first season there, he hit 44 home runs again, his third time leading the league with that exact total. In 1968 he hit his 500th home run, the second-youngest at the time to reach that milestone, behind only Jimmie Foxx, and the next year moved into third place on the all-time list behind Ruth and Mays.
In 1969 he hit 44 home runs in a season again, though this time is was not enough to lead the league, but it was enough to get the Braves into the playoffs for the first time in Atlanta. During the NLCS, he hit .357 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI, but the Braves were swept by the Mets despite his best efforts.
In 1970, he reached the 3000 hit plateau, then broke the NL record with his 12th season of at least 30 home runs, a record he would extend to 15 seasons by 1973. In 1971 he reached 600 home runs, and set the NL record for most seasons with 40 home runs, when he did it for the 7th time with a career high of 47. He would add another 40-homer season later as well.
In 1972, he passed Willie Mays to take over 2nd place on the all-time home runs list, reached 2000 RBI's, and became the all-time leader in total bases, a record he still holds today. The spotlight was on him throughout the 1973 season, as he approached Babe Ruth's all-time home run mark, and he ended up finishing the year one short of Ruth's record.
He said that his greatest fear was that he wouldn't live to see the 1974 season, as he received numerous death threats for his pursuit of the record, many of them racially motivated. He hit the record-tying home run on his very first swing of the season, then broke the record in the first home game of the season. The record would eventually reach 755, and would stand until 2007, when Barry Bonds surpassed him.
After the season he did not want to retire, so the Braves traded him to the Brewers, where he broke Ruth's all-time RBI record the following year, another record which is still his. He also holds the record for most consecutive seasons of 100 runs scored, with 13 from 1955 to 1967.
In addition to his all-time records for RBI's and total bases, he is #3 on the all-time hit list, #4 in runs scored, and #2 in home runs. He won an MVP early in his career, but should have won 6 others. He did finish #3 in the MVP voting 6 times, and in addition to being a great ballplayer, was also a great person, never causing any controversy and always being graceful in breaking records and in relinquishing them when they were surpassed. There is no way that a list of the very best players of all time can't include Hank Aaron.
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