#30 Hank Aaron

It's Henry Aaron! In 1958 Hank was 24 years old. He already had, at least once, led the league in hits, runs, doubles, homers, RBIs, and total bases. And he was getting fitted for his 1957 World Series ring. Talk about sitting on top of the world!

He was on his way to a second consecutive NL title with the Braves. In 14 Series games his stat line was: 3/9/.364/.417 which isn't too shabby. I posted the following list on his entry in my '59T blog. cribbed from Baseball Reference's Bullpen page:

•     1953 MVP South Atlantic League Jacksonville Tars
•     24-time All-Star (1955-1975)
•     NL MVP (1957)
•     3-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1958-1960/RF)
•     2-time NL Batting Average Leader (1956 & 1959)
•     4-time NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1959, 1963, 1967 & 1971)
•     3-time NL OPS Leader (1959, 1963 & 1971)
•     3-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1957, 1963 & 1967)
•     2-time NL Hits Leader (1956 & 1959)
•     8-time NL Total Bases Leader (1956, 1957, 1959-1961, 1963, 1967 & 1969)
•     4-time NL Doubles Leader (1955, 1956, 1961 & 1965)
•     4-time NL Home Runs Leader (1957, 1963, 1966 & 1967)
•     4-time NL RBI Leader (1957, 1960, 1963 & 1966)
•     20-Home Run Seasons: 20 (1955-1974)
•     30-Home Run Seasons: 15 (1957-1963, 1965-1967 & 1969-1973)
•     40-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1957, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1971 & 1973)
•     100 RBI Seasons: 11 (1955, 1957, 1959-1963, 1966, 1967, 1970 & 1971)
•     100 Runs Scored Seasons: 15 (1955-1967, 1969 & 1970)
•     200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1956, 1959 & 1963)
•     Won a World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957
•     Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1982

And here is a list of the records he holds:

Most home runs, right handed batter, career, 755 Most home runs, one club, career, 733 (Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves) Most home runs, brothers, 768 (Hank, 755, Tommie, 13) Most extra-base hits, career, 1467 Most extra-base hits, right handed batter, career, 1467 Most extra-base hits, National League, career, 1429 Most at bats, right handed batter, career, 12364 Most hits, right handed batter, career, 3771 Most intentional walks, right handed batter, career, 293 Most plate appearances, right-handed batter, career, 13940 Most RBI, career, 2297 Most RBI, right handed batter, career, 2297 Most RBI, National League, career, 2202 Most total bases, career, 6856 Most total bases, right handed batter, career, 6856 Most total bases, National League, career, 6591 Most seasons with 100 or more runs, 15 Most seasons with 100 or more runs, consecutive, 13 (tied) Most seasons with 150 or more hits, consecutive, 17

This card supposedly has 'variations'.... there are copies out there that appear to be blue rather than green. But whether they are truly print variations or merely the result of color fading is a matter of conjecture.

Lastly...that cartoon. 👀😯

#351 Braves' Fence Busters

This my first posting of the 'multi-player specials' were scattered through Series 4 & 5. The Braves were defending World Champs in '58 and appear on three of the nine specials. This one obviously revolves around two Hall of Famers, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews. 

Filling out the lineup of Milwaukee sluggers are catcher Del Crandall and first baseman Joe Adcock. Interestingly Adcock was coming off an 'off'' year. He was fifth on the Braves in homers in 1957 with a dozen. He was behind Aaron (44), Mathews (32), outfielder (and personal fave of mine) Wes Covington (21) and Crandall (15). Adcock missed a large portion of the '57 season and to be fair to Topps he did hit 38 dingers in 1956 so it wasn't like they stuck a scrub on the card.

My first thought was that this is a shot from Wrigley but now I'm thinking the photo was taken in the Polo Grounds. At least that's my semi-educated guess. The place had those 'windows' behind the upper deck seating and I think I can spy the high-rise apartment buildings of Coogan's Bluff that sat outside the stadium.

It's a neat card which is why I didn't mind overpaying a bit for a good copy. Hank+Mathews+those Braves' unis combine to make this one a winner.