Dan Schlossberg

Special for USA TODAY Sports

Hank Aaron reached the spring training camp of the Milwaukee Braves in 1954 at age 20. The power came slowly, increasing as the lean 6-footer used his wrists to supply a quick stroke.

He had 13 home runs as a rookie that year before his season was curtailed when he broke his leg on a slide. He doubled his home run production in the two successive seasons.

By 1957, he had matched his uniform number with 44 home runs — the first of five times he hit that many in a season — and led the National League with 118 runs, 132 RBI and 369 total bases. The Braves won the National League pennant, and then Aaron won both a World Series ring and his only most valuable player award, finishing ahead of Stan Musial.

He could have won more. Aaron finished third in the MVP race six times, including the years when he reached career peaks with 47 home runs (1971) and a .355 batting average (1959). He also finished third in 1956, 1958, 1963 and 1969.

The home run king's lone MVP award is not the only surprising tidbit about his career. Dan Schlossberg shares 24 more:

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2. Four score and ...

Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record in the fourth inning of the fourth game in the fourth month of a year that ended in four against a pitcher (Al Downing) wearing the same No. 44 for the Los Angeles Dodgers that Aaron wore for the Braves. By 1974, he had led his league in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage four times each.

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3. Dynamic duo

Aaron and Eddie Mathews hit more home runs than any other teammates. They hit 863 during the time they were Braves from 1954 through 1966, the last year Mathews played for the club. Mathews, like Aaron, earned a Hall of Fame plaque by crashing the 500-home run club (he finished with 512).

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4. Super siblings

Hank and Tommie Aaron hit more home runs than any brother combination. Adding Tommie's 13 to Hank's 755 yields 768, more than the totals of Joe, Vince and Dom DiMaggio (573); Ken, Clete and Cloyd Boyer (444); and Felipe, Jesus and Matty Alou (269).

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5. Fearsome foursome

The first four teammates to hit consecutive home runs in a game were Mathews, Aaron, Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas, against the Cincinnati Reds on June 8, 1961.

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6. Long distance

During the Milwaukee Braves' 7-1 win against the New York Mets at the Polo Grounds on June 18, 1962, Aaron homered into the distant center-field bleachers — a feat accomplished previously in the major leagues only by Lou Brock and Adcock.

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7. Similar scenario

When Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh hit his 715th home run on Oct. 11, 1976, the on-deck hitter was Davey Johnson, the same man who was in the hole when Aaron hit his 715th. The only other man to be a teammate of both home run kings was Jack Lind, who played for the Milwaukee Brewers during Aaron's two-year tenure (1975 to 1976) with the then-American League club.

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8. Trading places

Aaron beat Oh 10-9 in a home run hitting contest in Japan on Nov. 2, 1974, but Oh became the world home run king when he hit his 756th home run on Sept. 3, 1977.

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9. Shining stars

Aaron played in 24 All-Star Games, a record shared by Willie Mays and Stan Musial. A quirk of fate helped: the leagues played two All-Star Games, ostensibly to help the players' pension fund, from 1959 to 1962.

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10. Almost, but not quite

Aaron nearly earned All-Star Game MVP honors on July 25, 1972, when the game was played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Aaron's two-run homer in his home ballpark against longtime nemesis Gaylord Perry gave the National League a short-lived 2-1 lead and prompted baseball writers to select him as the game's MVP. When the AL tied it before losing 4-3 in 10 innings, the writers reconsidered and selected Joe Morgan for his game-winning single for the NL.

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11. Say what?

Although Aaron lost several home runs to rainouts, he lost another to an umpire's call. On Aug. 18, 1965, Aaron homered on a Curt Simmons changeup to break a 3-3, eighth-inning tie against the Cardinals in St. Louis. Umpire Chris Pelekoudas ruled that Aaron's foot had been out of the batter's box and called him out. The Braves went on to win 5-3.

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12. Missed Triple quest

A Triple Crown threat who never won one, Aaron has two batting titles to accompany his four home run titles and four RBI championships but never won all three Triple Crown legs in the same year.

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13. Three's company

Aaron was part of the first 40-homer trio in baseball history. It happened in 1973, when Davey Johnson hit 43, Darrell Evans 41 and Aaron 40 to move within one of Ruth's record. The 1996 and 1997 Colorado Rockies were the only other teams with a trio of 40-home run hitters.

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14. Speedy sluggers

Aaron, Mays and Barry Larkin are the only Hall of Famers who hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases in the same season. Aaron did it in 1963, when he had 44 homers and 31 steals.

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15. Coming home

Like Mays, Aaron started and ended his career in the same city but with a different team. He started with the 1954 Milwaukee Braves but ended with the 1976 Milwaukee Brewers, while Mays started with the 1951 New York Giants and ended with the 1973 New York Mets.

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16. Numbers game

Aaron didn't always wear No. 44. He was handed the left-field job and uniform No. 5 as a rookie after incumbent Bobby Thomson broke his leg sliding. But he switched to double digits (No. 44), which he considered a good luck symbol, after establishing himself in his first season.

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17. Quirky zodiac

Aaron and Ruth were born one calendar day apart. When Hank was born on Feb. 5, 1934, the next day was Ruth's 39th birthday.

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18. 'Bad Henry'

Hall of Famer Don Drysdale nicknamed Aaron "Bad Henry" because he was so good. Drysdale yielded 17 of Aaron's homers, more than any other pitcher.

19. Feeling blue

Aaron liked the color blue. Although red was traditionally used in Braves uniforms, the team changed to a blue-dominated motif in 1972 after Aaron said he was partial to that color. He was wearing the blue-and-white uniform when he broke Ruth's record in 1974.

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20. Singles hitter?

Take away Aaron's 755 home runs and he still has 3,016 hits. He hit 2,294 singles.

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21. In a pinch

Six men pinch-hit for Aaron: Lee Maye, Mike Lum, Marty Perez and Johnny Blanchard with the Braves, and John Briggs and Mike Hegan with the Brewers.

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22. Stalwart defense

Often overlooked because he played the same position (right field) as Roberto Clemente, Aaron won consecutive Gold Gloves from 1958 to 1960.

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23. Holding steady

Over a career that stretched 23 years, Aaron averaged 37 home runs per 162 games.

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24. Think twice

Aaron started and finished his Braves career as a left fielder. He spent his first (1954) and last (1974) years in Atlanta there. During his final two seasons, Aaron was a designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers.

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25. Seriously?

Aaron was left off the ballot by nine Hall of Fame voters in his first year of eligibility for Cooperstown (1982). He received 97.8% of the vote to earn enshrinement.

Former Associated Press sports writer Schlossberg is the author of 36 baseball books, including Hammerin' Hank! The Henry Aaron Story.