Let's be clear - Babe Ruth dominated the game like no one before or since. Ruth led the league in slugging 13 times in 14 years, and led the league in OBA 10 times. Ted Williams led the league in slugging 9 times and OBA 11 times.

     By comparison, the quiet man from Mobile led the National League in slugging percentage 4 times, but never led in OBA. Aaron was a lifetime .305 hitter, a number which is not in the top 100 all-time. His on-base average lifetime was .374, again not in the top 100 all-time - in fact, Aaron's lifetime on-base average is fully 100 points below Ruth's lifetime number and 109 points below Ted Williams all-time, major league leading OBA. Aaron's career slugging percentage was .555, which is 19th all-time; Ruth slugged .690 in his career, Williams .634, and even the relatively light-hitting Willie Mays slugged .557 over his career.

     But Aaron played for a long time, and played well for longer than anyone - he appeared in a record 24 All-Star games. He is the only player to hit at least 30 homers in 15 seasons and at least 20 homers in 20 seasons. He hit at least 40 homers eight times, with a career-best of 47. He led the National League in homers and RBI four times each, and he won three Gold Gloves in right field.

     By the time he finished his illustrious career, Aaron was the major league leader in total bases (6,856), had the most runs batted in (2,297) and the most extra-base hits (1,477). He ranks second in at-bats (12,364), tied for second with Babe Ruth in runs (2,174), and third in hits (3,771) and games played (3,298).  He is the first player to reach 3,000 hits and have 500 homers.

     The chase to beat the Babe heated up in the summer of 1973. Aaron received an estimated 3,000 letters a day, more than any American outside of politics; unfortunately, racists did much of the writing, threatening his life if he broke the Babe's record.

     The summer of '73 ended with Hammering Hank at 713 homers - he pounded a remarkable 40 in just 392 at-bats during the 1973 campaign, at the age of 39. In his first at-bat in 1974, Aaron homered off Cincinnati's Jack Billingham, tying Ruth. On April 8, 1974, the largest crowd in Braves history (53,775) came out to witness history. Aaron didn't disappoint.

     In the fourth inning, he ripped an Al Downing pitch into the Braves bullpen, where it was caught by reliever Tom House. As Aaron rounded second base, two college students appeared and ran alongside him before security stepped in. The new home run king was mobbed at home by his teammates.