Today In Brewer History: Hank Aaron Cashes In

It's easy to forget that players from past eras didn't make the kind of money that we're accustomed to seeing guys get today. Despite playing in the majors for 23 seasons, making 21 All Star appearances and hitting 755 home runs, Hank Aaron never made more than the $240,000 per year he received during his final two seasons as a Brewer. On this day in 1972 the Braves signed him to the most lucrative MLB contract ever handed out at that point: a three year, $600,000 deal.

It'd be easy but somewhat lazy to ignore inflation and point out that the $200,000 per year Aaron made in 1972, '73 and '74 is less than half of the league minimum in 2012 ($480,000). Even factoring in inflation, though, the deal was worth roughly $3.02 million in 2012 dollars, spread over three seasons. The Brewers have ten players that will make more than that in 2012 alone. Zack Greinke is making more than four times that.

Aaron played out all three years of the contract in Atlanta before joining the Brewers for the 1975-76 seasons.