On This Day in Sports: April 23, 1954
On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron hit the first home run of his major-league career for the Milwaukee Braves. The drive came in St. Louis against Cardinals right-hander Vic Raschi, the same pitcher who had allowed Aaron’s first major-league hit eight days earlier. At age twenty, Aaron was beginning a journey whose scale no one in the park could yet measure.
Aaron had opened the season after an injury to veteran Bobby Thomson created space in the Braves outfield. His early at-bats included the predictable adjustments of a young hitter facing major-league pitching, but his quick hands and compact swing were already evident. The homer off Raschi supplied the first durable marker of what would become extraordinary consistency.
Unlike sluggers whose careers were defined by a few overwhelming peaks, Aaron accumulated power year after year. He would hit at least 30 home runs in fifteen seasons, while also collecting 3,771 hits and a record 6,856 total bases. The first homer mattered not because it announced a chase, but because it began the steady sequence that eventually made one possible.
Twenty years later, Aaron passed Babe Ruth with career home run No. 715 and ultimately retired with 755. Looking back from that summit gives the St. Louis swing special meaning. Before the pressure, celebration and national attention, there was simply a young outfielder turning on a pitch from an accomplished veteran and watching his first major-league home run leave the park.
Aaron was twenty years old.
The home run came against Vic Raschi.
The game was played in St. Louis.
Raschi also allowed Aaron’s first major-league hit.
Aaron finished with 755 career home runs.
He accumulated a record 6,856 total bases.
Explore more "On This Day in Sports"
Discover more landmark games, records, championships, and turning points from sports history. Each day revisits the athletes, teams, and moments that shaped competition and culture.