Major League Baseball loses legend as Hank Aaron dies at 86

MLB has lost one of its icons.

Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who hit a record 755 home runs as a model of record-setting consistency, died Friday at age 86, according to his daughter.

"Hammerin' Hank" arrived in the majors at age 20 in 1954 and never left as he was a legend even after his 23-year career as a Brave and a Brewer was over. He surpassed Babe Ruth's 714 home runs on April 8, 1974, and that mark stood until Barry Bonds topped it with his 756th on Aug. 7, 2007. Aaron retired from the game holding 23 records still holds the all-time RBI mark (2,297) in a career that never included any 50-homer campaigns and had just two batting titles and a single MVP award. He won a World Series ring at age 23 with the Braves in Milwaukee (1957) and played in the Series again the following year but never again. He won three Gold Glove awards and was a 25-time All-Star before he was a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 1982.

“Hank Aaron is near the top of everyone’s list of all-time great players," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "His monumental achievements as a player were surpassed only by his dignity and integrity as a person. Hank symbolized the very best of our game, and his all-around excellence provided Americans and fans across the world with an example to which to aspire. His career demonstrates that a person who goes to work with humility every day can hammer his way into history -- and find a way to shine like no other."

When it comes to cardboard, it all starts with his Rookie Card found in the 1954 Topps set -- and he's had more than 5,000 baseball cards made since then. A steady signer for years, Aaron appears on nearly 1,800 different certified autograph cards -- from his first major-manufacturer auto in 1991 Upper Deck and his latest cards throughout several 2020 Topps releases.

"There always was a great comparison between Willie Mays and Hank Aaron," former teammate Ernie Johnson said. "I think a Los Angeles writer said it best when we were playing out there, and the guy wrote, 'Hank Aaron does everything that Willie Mays does, but his cap doesn’t fall off.'"

Since 1999, The Hank Aaron Award is given to the top hitter in each league -- and when the All-Century Team was announced that year he finished third behind only Lou Gehrig and Ruth. In 2002 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President George W. Bush.

"He was a beacon for our organization first as a player, then with player development, and he was always with our community efforts," Braves Chairman Terry McGuirk said. "His incredible talent and resolve helped him achieve the highest accomplishments, yet he never lost his humble nature. Henry Louis Aaron wasn't just our icon but one across Major League Baseball and around the world."

Read more about Aaron's life and career in this piece from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

GALLERY | Hank Aaron's Topps baseball cards, 1954-76 (excludes leader cards ... click for closer look)