SR11,1,32 Whereas, Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron was born on February 5, 1934, in Mobile,
3Alabama; and

SR11,1,64 Whereas, Henry "Hank" Aaron who, when his family could not afford baseball
5equipment, undeterred by poverty, learned to play the sport by hitting bottle caps
6with sticks; and

SR11,1,97 Whereas, Henry "Hank" Aaron, who after much discipline and hard work
8earned the nickname the "Hammer," would go on to play baseball for the
9Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League; and

SR11,1,1210 Whereas, on June 14, 1952, Henry "Hank" Aaron, signed a contract to play
11baseball for the Boston Braves and began playing for their farm team, the Eau Claire
12Bears; and

SR11,1,1413 Whereas, on April 13, 1954, he made his major league debut for the Milwaukee
14Braves, becoming the last Negro League player to play in the major leagues; and

SR11,2,3

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1Whereas, he spent the majority of his 23 major league seasons playing with the
2Milwaukee Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers, during which time he led the Braves
3to the 1957 World Series title; and

SR11,2,54 Whereas, he hit 755 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record
5and was thought to have been one of the most complete players of his era; and

SR11,2,96 Whereas, he courageously endured bitter racial discrimination, hate mail, and
7death threats in the course of breaking that record and overcame Jim Crow laws
8requiring him to make separate living arrangements during the season, even in
9Milwaukee; and

SR11,2,1110 Whereas, in spite of those hurdles, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of
11Fame in 1982, his first year of eligibility, receiving 98 percent of the vote; and

SR11,2,1412 Whereas, he has spent much of his post-playing career promoting programs to
13encourage minority participation in baseball and, in 2002, received the Presidential
14Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor; and

SR11,2,1815 Whereas, the adoption of this senate resolution is supported not only by the
16senate, but also by members of the assembly, including specifically Representatives
17Sheridan, Schneider, Young, Grigsby, Vukmir, Sinicki, Mason, Fields, Benedict,
18Turner, and Hintz; now, therefore, be it