How Many Home Runs Did Hank Aaron Hit? The Career Behind MLB’s Most Debated Record

Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs during his legendary Hall of Fame career. And depending on who you ask, it’s still the most important number in baseball history.

Barry Bonds is technically MLB’s all-time home run king, finishing his playing days with 762 taters. But if you ask random baseball fans who the “real” home run king is, you’ll probably get a good chunk of people still saying it’s Hammerin’ Hank.

That’s a reflection of what 755 represents and how it was built. Let’s get into more of the specifics around Aaron’s career and the significance of how he reached that number. 

Editor’s Note: New here? Grab the free MLB Home Run Almanac — all-time, single-season, and postseason leaders for all 30 franchises, updated through 2025. 

The Consistency Argument

One of the most amazing parts about Aaron hitting 755 home runs is that he never enjoyed a season with 50 or more home runs. His career high was 47, which he accomplished in his age-37 campaign. Bonds produced just one 50-homer season, but he ended up with 73 in 2001, while Ruth posted four 50-homer campaigns. 

After hitting 13 homers in 122 games as a rookie in 1954, Aaron rattled off 20 straight seasons with at least 20 home runs. He slugged at least 40 dingers eight times — including his age-37 and age-39 campaigns — and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting 13 times.

The right-handed slugger first cracked the top 10 as a 21-year-old and accomplished it for the final time as a 37-year-0ld. Considering that elite level of consistency, it’s hard to believe Aaron took home just a single MVP Award. It happened in 1957 in his age-23 season.

The other number that gets lost in the home run conversation is Aaron’s favorite number. He finished with exactly 44 dingers (his uniform number) four different times: 1957, 1963, 1966, and 1969. That’s an incredibly cool coincidence.

Hank Aaron’s 4 Single-Season Home Run Titles

Aaron led the National League in home runs four times. I think these occurrences are interesting because of how spread out they were throughout his career. This wasn’t a guy who dominated the power department for five years and faded back to more number production. 

His home run titles reflect the same consistency that defined everything about how he played. Aaron led the league in dingers in 1957, 1963, 1966, and 1967.

And don’t you love that some of the slugger’s biggest individual power displays didn’t lead to a single-season home run title? Aaron’s two biggest home run seasons (47 in 1971 and 45 in 1962) didn’t lead the league. Baseball, man. 

A Career-High Mark as a 37-Year-Old

I’ve already mentioned Aaron’s career high in homers a couple of times, but let’s go a little deeper for a minute. 

Hitting 47 homers in any campaign is impressive. But it’s twice as impressive when you do it in your age-37 campaign. This was the seventh time he finished a year with at least 40 homers, and it’s fun to look at some of Hammer’s splits to get a sense of his overall consistency. 

He hit 24 home runs with a 1.038 OPS across 81 first-half games. While his games played dropped to 58 after the All-Star break, Aaron still slugged 23 more taters to go along with a 1.129 OPS. The slugger didn’t produce a double-digit home run month in ’71, but he never slugged fewer than seven. 

So, it’s worth noting there was no prolonged slump from Hammer at any point. After posting a .949 OPS in April, he didn’t finish a single month with an OPS lower than 1.000. You love to see the steady and relentless production (as a 37-year-old!), in what turned out to be his best single-season performance in the power department. 

But despite all this, he still didn’t win the league’s home run title that year. That honor went to Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Willie Stargell, who belted 48 taters. 

The Chase That Culminated on April 8, 1974

You can’t tell the story of Hank Aaron’s home runs without talking about what it took to get there.

Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs had stood since he hung up his spikes for good in 1935. And for a long time, people assumed it’d never be touched. When it became clear that Aaron would be the one to do it, the response from a portion of the country was ugly.

Aaron received death threats by the thousands, needed a personal security detail, and slept in separate hotels from his teammates on the road during parts of that era. Despite everything he had to endure, he remained consistent and made history on April 8, 1974, after slugging career homer number 715 in front of a packed house at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

He’d finish the 1974 season with the Braves and played two more years with the Milwaukee Brewers before retiring with 755. That number stood until Bonds passed him in August 2007 — although that doesn’t come without a good bit of controversy and debate from those who think it shouldn’t count because of his ties to performance-enhancing drugs. 

The Supporting Numbers Behind Aaron’s Incredible Legacy

Talking home runs is typically one of the first things people discuss when it comes to Aaron’s legacy, and understandably so. But there’s a case to be made that it undersells how good he actually was when it comes to overall offensive production.

Aaron’s 2,297 career RBI are the most in MLB history. His 6,856 total bases are also the most ever, with Stan Musial a distant second at 6,134. While his 3,771 hits are the third-highest total ever, I love that he’d still have more than 3,000 career hits if you took away every single home run he ever hit as a big leaguer.

Aaron’s homers get the headlines, but it’s his full body of work that makes the case for him being among the greatest hitters ever.