Hammering Hank

                                                                   (Associated Press photo)

After 21 seasons with the Braves, Atlanta’s Hank Aaron takes his final swing for them 50 years ago today – and the swing is a memorable one as he drills a home run to deep left field off Cincinnati’s Rawly Eastwick with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

The solo homer by Aaron pushes the Braves’ lead to 7-0 on their way to crushing the Reds 13-0 before a Wednesday night crowd of 11,081 at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadum.

The homer is the 733rd of Aaron’s career.

The homer also provides a perfect bookend for Aaron’s 1974 season, which starts on Opening Day with his 714th homer – the one that ties him with Babe Ruth atop the all-time list – against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Exactly one month after Aaron’s final homer for the Braves, Atlanta trades its future Hall of Famer and the forever face of its franchise to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Dave May and minor league pitcher Roger Alexander.

The trade is a homecoming of sorts for Aaron, who in 1954 makes his major league debut for a Braves team that is playing the second of its 13 seasons in Wisconsin before relocating in 1966 to Atlanta.

After the trade in the fall of 1974, Aaron will hit 22 home runs in two years with the Brewers before retiring after the 1976 season with a record 755 home runs and returning to Atlanta as the Braves’ director of player development.