Aaron

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The greatest sports saga of the modern era has to be Henry Aaron's assault on the immortal Babe Ruth's career home run record of 714. In this book, Henry Aaron tells in his own words the story of that epic journey.

In 1952, Henry Lewis Aaron left Mobile, Alabama, with two dollars in his pocket, two pairs of pants, and two sandwiches in a brown paper bag. Seventeen years old and homesick before the train even left the station, he was off to become a shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns, a black barnstorming team.

Aaron was not with the Clowns fo long when major league scouts picked up his trail. In particular, the Giants and Braves were interested in his services. The Braves bought his contract from the Clowns for $2,500 and sent him ot their Eau Claire farm club where he hit .336.

The next year, Aaron played for Jacksonville in the Sally League, the first black to do so, and hit .362 to lead the league. On the road in those days, the white players stayed in a hotel in the center of town. More often than not, the black players stayed in a private home on the wrong side of the tracks.

Aaron made the Braves varsity in 1954 when Bobby Thomson broke his leg sliding into second base in spring training. His first season he hit a respectable .280 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs.

Several seasons later, he waas one of baseball's premier players. In 1956, he won the National League batting title withan average of .328. In 1957, he led the Braves to a World Series victory over the Yankees. He led the league in home runs and RBIs and batted .322 en-route to being named the league's MVP. And he hit .393 with three home runs in the World Series.

Even though the Braves' teams of recent years haven't been as powerful as those of the late 50's, it has not been for lack of hitting on Hank Aaron's part. He has over 3,000 hits, has scored over 2,000 runs, and has knocked in over 2,000 runs, in addition to being the only player other than Babe Ruth to hit more than 700 home runs--a pinnacle many baseball experts thought would never be equalled again.

This is Henry Aaron's story of how he went from a $50-a-week shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns to being a $200,000-a-year superstar. After twenty major league seasons, this is how Aaron feels about the game which has put him in the national spotlight: "we've gone this road together, baseball and me, and it has done something for me and I think I have done something worthwhile for baseball. I want to stay in baseball because I love it, because it is the one business I know, and because the living is good in baseball."