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On this day in 1952 the Boston Braves signed outfielder and Negro Leaguer Hank Aaron to his first affiliated contract. Soon after he began his career with the C-level Eau Claire Bears, a short detour on his route to superstardom.
The Braves had moved to Milwaukee by the time Aaron made his MLB debut in 1954, appearing in 122 games in his age 20 season. From there I'm sure you know the rest: Aaron set MLB records with 755 career home runs, 2297 RBI and 6856 total bases. He appeared in the All Star Game in 21 of his 23 big league seasons, won an MVP and three Gold Gloves.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd like to wish a happy birthday today to 1987-91 Brewer Greg Brock. He turns 56 and we covered his birthday in this space two years ago.
Today is also the 33rd anniversary of Cecil Cooper going 0-for-4 in a game in 1980, snapping his 22-game hitting streak. We covered that event in this space last year.