Today in Sports History: May 17

In 1970, former Milwaukee Brewers right-fielder, Hank Aaron, became the ninth player in Major League Baseball to record 3,000 hits. 

Aaron played with the Brewers from 1955-65, where he was then traded to the Atlanta Braves from 1966 until 1974. He was then re-traded to the Brewers finishing his career from 1975 until 1976. 

He led the Milwaukee Braves to the World Series Championship in 1957 and participated in the All-Star game 25 times. He was the NL MVP in 1957 and won the Rawlings NL Gold Glove in 1958, 1959, and 1960. He was the NL Player of the Month twice and the NL Player of the Week four times. He also won the Lou Gehrig award in 1970 and was an AL All-Star in 1975. 

1957 was his best season as he hit .322 with 44 home runs and 132 RBI which was the same season he led the Braves to their first World Series since 1914. He remains baseball’s all-time leader in RBI, 2,297, and total bases, 6,856. 

Later in his career, in 1976 the Milwaukee Brewers retired his uniform number and in 1977 the Atlanta Braves did the same. He was then elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 for his outstanding career. Unfortunately, Aaron passed away on January 22, 2021. We remember his incredible career.