As baseball mourns the loss of Hank Aaron, the importance of this award cannot be overstated. During his lifetime, Hank Aaron gifted virtually every key piece of memorabilia and trophy from his career to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This single award to our knowledge stands as the only significant career or single season award presented to Aaron by MLB that is in private hands! At the present time Hank Aaron’s name sits atop the career leader totals in extra base hits (1,477) and total bases (6,856) – but neither is as impressive as his record for career RBI. Over his many decades years in the game, Hammerin’ Hank drove in 2,297 of his team’s runs, a statistic that demonstrates Aaron’s unbeatable value as a team player who gets the job done when it counts. In recognition of that achievement, former Major League Commissioner Peter Ueberroth presented what is the only sanctioned MLB Award for this lifetime achievement to Hank Aaron in 1986. There has never been an all-time RBI record award given to any MLB player before or since Hank received this award at the Commissioner’s Office in New York City.  As the all-time RBI leader, Hank Aaron was tapped by Arby’s to be the face of their “Arby’s RBI Award,” subsequently known as the “Hank Aaron Trophy.” This partnership was held dear to Aaron as the fast-food chain donated $1000 for each RBI the leading NL and AL player recorded to Big Brothers/Big Sisters Of America, an organization the Hall of Famer supported throughout his life. Along with partnering with Arby’s on the RBI trophy, the Hall of Famer became owner of several Arby’s franchises and the most well-known of the brand’s celebrity owners.

After a quarter century, Arby’s relinquished its sponsorship of the RBI award. However, MLB quickly unveiled their rebranding of the annual Batting Championship Trophy as the “Hank Aaron Award.” This is Hank Aaron’s very own Arby’s Lifetime RBI Champion Award given to him by Peter Ueberroth in 1986. This impressive 24 ¼-inch tall trophy has a bronze relief portrait of Aaron on a home plate-shaped panel, mounted atop a xx high pedestal perched on a 11 ¼ x 11 ¼ x 2 ¼-inch marble base. A bronze plaque mounted on the front of the base reads, “Arby’s Lifetime RBI Champion Award Presented to Hank Aaron 2,297 RBI’s.” Each side of the marble base lists 5 of the runner up’s to Aaron on the lifetime RBI list. This already imposing award is made all the more prized by the addition of Hank Aaron’s signature on the back of the pedestal in strong, black marker. This piece comes with photographs documenting Hank Aaron signing this award.

Auction Notepad