MILWAUKEE – Billye Aaron was a pioneer in her own right as the first African American woman in the South to regularly host a television show. It turns out she also made quite a baseball agent.
The 89-year-old widow of Hall of Famer Hank Aaron was back in Milwaukee on Monday for the 50th anniversary of her husband’s 755th and final home run, an all-time record that stood for more than three decades, and was memorialized with the dedication of a public mural at the Clinton Rose Senior Center in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood. Aaron hit that home run in a Brewers uniform, a development that might not have happened if not for Billye, as she tells it.
“We came back here because Henry wanted very much to end his career here in Milwaukee, where he was dearly, dearly loved, and because Bud Selig talked him into coming back,” she said, with Selig, the Brewers’ founder and MLB Commissioner Emeritus, on hand. “Henry told him, regrettably his best days were over and he had very little, if anything, else to offer Milwaukee.
“Gratefully, I accepted the offer for him.”
The rest is baseball history. Aaron played his final two seasons with the Brewers and hit his last 22 home runs, including the solo shot on July 20, 1976 at County Stadium that cemented the No. 755 in baseball lore.
Brewers fans can still visit the spot today, since a group of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee engineering students in 2007 used GPS, aerial photos, and video footage to determine the exact spot in what is now a parking lot outside American Family Field. A plaque marks the spot.
It’s one of so many reminders of Aaron’s lasting impact in Milwaukee, including the statue depicting him in his prime with the Milwaukee Braves and now the mural to mark the 50th anniversary of No. 755, which is the work of artists Rosy Petri and Moolah Bred. The Brewers also put together a display outside the press box during Monday’s game against the Mets with artifacts from Aaron’s tenure, including the County Stadium seat struck by his final home run, and a scorebook from that night.
Down on the field before the game, the Brewers honored the young winners of their “What 755 Means to Me” contest, which challenged kids to write an essay or film a video about Aaron’s impact on baseball, civil rights, and equality. It’s an impact that continues to this day. The Brewers recognized the top three finishers in the essay contest:
Seeing it all carried Billye Aaron back in time to the trade between the Braves and Brewers that brought her husband back to where his big league career had begun.
“I had never been to Milwaukee at the time,” she said. “I knew how much he loved this place, this community and these people. So I wanted to see Milwaukee. What is it that attracts him to Milwaukee, Wisconsin? And I too fell in love with Milwaukee, the Brewers and fans, and the Black community in particular.”
Choking back tears, she added, “We only spent two years here after we got back here, and he retired in 1976. But let me just say thank you to each of you for the love that you showed him, and for the legend that you continue on his behalf.”
