Hank Aaron was a legendary slugger. But just how good was he? There are a few ways to quantify it.
He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, receiving 97.8% of the vote in 1982. The right-handed hitter was also a 25-time All-Star during his 23-year career (and no, that’s not a typo—MLB had two All-Star Games per year for a short period).
But you’ll be shocked at what’s most impressive in my eyes…that’s right, it’s his elite consistency in the home run department. I know—just shocking!
While his 755 homers are no longer at the top of baseball’s all-time home run leaderboard (now held by Barry Bonds with 762), he still owns plenty of distinctions with that number. Aaron was just the second player ever (and the first right-handed hitter) to hit 700 homers. Those 755 taters are still the most ever by someone stepping into the right-handed batter’s box.
He’s also far and away the Braves’ all-time home run record holder, slugging 733 dingers during his time with the club. Eddie Mathews is a distant second (493 homers).
But how did a guy who only led the league in homers four times—and never hit more than 47 in a single season—find himself at the top of the all-time leaderboard?
Elite consistency, that’s how. The following two records held by Aaron say everything that needs to be said about how good he was.
Related: The Ultimate Guide for Career Home Run Leaders
Hank Aaron’s Elite Consistency on Display
Most Seasons with at Least 30 Home Runs
It always surprises me when I remember Hank Aaron won just a single MVP Award during his Hall of Fame career. It came in 1957 as a 23-year-old. Despite not taking home the hardware as often as one would expect, he was always in the conversation.
From 1955-73, Aaron finished within the top 20 of MVP Award voting every single season. This included 13 different top-10 finishes. Accomplishing this is easier when you can essentially pencil someone in to slug 30-plus homers each year.
That’s a number Hammerin’ Hank met or surpassed 15 times as a big leaguer (1957-63, 1965-67, and 1969-73). While he held this record first, he now shares it with Alex Rodriguez, who also registered 15 different seasons of 30-plus homers.
But wait…there’s more!
Most Seasons with at Least 20 Home Runs
Surpassing the 30-homer plateau more than just about anyone in baseball history certainly makes it easier to also have the most seasons of 20-plus homers. That’s what happened here, but Aaron had to do a little extra work to have these honors all to himself.
He did it 20 times, which just edges out Barry Bonds (19 times) for the record. In addition to the years of 30-plus taters mentioned above, he also went for 20-plus in the following years: 1955-56, 1964, 1968, and 1974.
Now, putting all these occurrences together makes it even more impressive because this streak lasted for 20 consecutive seasons. After hitting 13 dingers as a rookie in 1954, he slugged 20-plus homers for 20 (!) straight years before the streak ended in 1975. He hit 12 dingers during his age-41 season and another 10 in ’76 before hanging up his spikes.
And just in case you’re wondering, nobody has ever had that long of a homer streak before. He broke Babe Ruth’s record, who’s still in second place with 16 straight seasons of 20-plus homers (1919-34).
Beyond Home Runs: Aaron’s Complete Legacy
While I’ve focused on Aaron’s incredible home run consistency, it’s worth noting his all-around excellence as a hitter. He finished his career with 3,771 hits (third all-time), 2,297 RBI (most all-time), and 6,856 total bases (most all-time by a significant margin). He also maintained a lifetime .305 batting average and .374 on-base percentage.
Aaron’s achievements are even more remarkable considering he played much of his career in an era that favored pitchers, before the offensive explosion of the 1990s and 2000s. He never struck out more than 97 times in a season, demonstrating excellent plate discipline along with his power.
The consistency that defined Aaron’s home run prowess extended to all aspects of his game. He won three Gold Gloves for his defensive skills in right field and stole 240 bases over his career, including 31 in 1963 alone. Few power hitters in baseball history have displayed such a complete skillset.
When evaluating baseball’s greatest sluggers, Aaron’s year-after-year reliability stands as perhaps his most extraordinary achievement. While others may have had higher single-season peaks, no one maintained excellence quite like Hammerin’ Hank.
All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.
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