Louisville Slugger Museum adds statue of Hank Aaron, home run king and civil rights leader

On the field, Hank Aaron was iconic. Off the field, he was heroic.

Now he's being celebrated.

Henry Louis Aaron, who battled racism as he surpassed Babe Ruth to become baseball's all-time home run king, has been immortalized with a statue at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, 800 W. Main St. The sculpture, which was unveiled in early June, is the latest figurine at the museum honoring baseball greats. The others include Ruth, Derek Jeter, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ted Williams.

"Henry has had such a storied history with us," said Andrew Soliday, the museum's marketing director. The statue is "a well-earned honor for him. He has a wonderful story to tell, especially one that is timeless. This is a story that we want to continue to tell in the walls of our museum because it's so important, not just for the city of Louisville but for us as a nation."

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Aaron, who died in January 2021, was Major League Baseball's home run king with 755 until he was passed by Barry Bonds in 2007.

As he approached Ruth's record of 714 homers in the 1970s, Aaron – who grew up poor in Mobile, Alabama, as the son of a shipyard worker – had to endure racist hate mail and death threats. 

"He was a Black man who was going after Babe Ruth, of course the white man's seemingly untouchable home run record," said Bailey Mazik, curatorial specialist at the museum. "That upset a lot of people."

Aaron played 23 seasons in the majors and was an avid supporter of civil rights organizations like the NAACP. In the 1990s, he co-founded the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation with his wife, Billye, to provide scholarships for students from marginalized communities. 

Aaron's statue was created by LifeFormations – an eclectic group of designers, artists and fabricators based out of Cincinnati. The work resembles figures seen at a wax museum, with skin tone, hair and a realistic uniform. 

"The figure was created from a custom-formed fiberglass body shell that is supported with an internal steel armature," said Brett Woodbury, principal of LifeFormations. "The figure’s skins are casts of silicone and finished with a proprietary paint and ‘hairing’ system. The other figures in the museum follow the same production methods."

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He added that the statue's attire is custom made to replicate the uniform Aaron wore for Atlanta in the 1970s.

Aaron – who signed a contract with Louisville Slugger as an 18-year-old and was the recipient of its annual Living Legend Award in 2009 – is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players in history. When he retired he had hit the most home runs in MLB history.

"He started playing in the Negro Leagues (Indianapolis Clowns) before he was signed on with the Braves organization," Mazik said. "(He) broke Babe Ruth's iconic home run record. ... Not only was he achieving all these amazing baseball milestones, but he was doing so while facing just incredible racism and death threats and instead of backing down or retiring from baseball he kept with it and really stood with civil rights."

Aaron "used his baseball stardom to be a leader in that movement."

Culture and diversity reporter Jason Gonzalez can be reached at jgonzalez1@gannett.com.