Hank Aaron

Pre-professional Career

Henry Louis Aaron was born in a part of Mobile, Alabama called Down The Bay. It was a poor area of town populated mostly by minorities. His family later moved to a better part of Mobile called Toulminville, where he was brought up and attended school. In Central High School, Aaron played shortstop and third base and was an outstanding hitter though he batted cross-handed. His team won the Negro High School Championship two years running. In high school, he also excelled in football.

Related Topics:
Mobile, Alabama - Down The Bay - Minorities - Toulminville - Central High School - Shortstop - Third base - Negro High School Championship - Football

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Aaron's last two years of high school were spent at Josephine Allen Institute, a private high school. Aaron was so proficient a ballplayer at this young age that before his fifteenth birthday he was playing on a semi-pro team, the Pritchett Athletics, as their shortstop and third baseman. He made $3 a game. He tried out for the Dodgers but did not get to show his abilities to the scouts there. He then started playing with the semi-pro Mobile Black Bears for $10 a game.

Related Topics:
Josephine Allen Institute - Pritchett Athletics - Dodgers - Mobile Black Bears

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His mother wanted Aaron to attend college in Florida. But with the promise to finish high school, on November 20, 1951 he was signed by scout Ed Scott to play for the Negro American League champion Indianapolis Clowns after the Black Bears played an exhibition against the Clowns the previous year. Aaron helped lead the Clowns to victory in the 1952 Negro League World Series.

Related Topics:
Florida - November 20 - 1951 - Ed Scott - Negro American League - Indianapolis Clowns - 1952 - Negro League World Series

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