Hank “The Hammer” Aaron spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career playing for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, and he finished the 1973 season one home run short of tying Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714. Aaron signed a one-year contract with the Braves in 1974, and after some controversy around sitting him during a three-game stretch against the Reds in Cincinnati so he could break the record at home, Aaron played two out of the three games and hit the record-tying home run on April 4th, 1974, on the first swing of his very first at-bat of the season. Aaron would hit the record 715th home run of his career in front of 53,775 fans at Fulton County Stadium on April 8th, 1974.

This presented, fully-executed players contract was signed by Hall of Famer Hank Aaron on December 13th, 1973. The one-year, Uniform Baseball Player’s Contract of the National League Of Professional Baseball clubs was between the Atlanta Braves and Hank Aaron. The contract was for $220,000, with $40,000 being paid in cash to Aaron on January 2nd, 1974. The first page of the contract sites the terms of the contract with the remaining language on the next pages is in regard to the stipulations of said contract. The last page of the contract was signed by Aaron in black ink, and was signed by Chubb Feeney, the National League President, and Eddie Robinson, a former MLB player and Executive Vice President of the Braves, in blue ink. The contract is in good condition and has some smudge marks on the front page and on the last page containing the signatures. The signed and executed contract comes with an LOA from PSA/DNA (AF05861).

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