The Postal Service will release its stamp honoring baseball great Hank Aaron on Wednesday, July 31.
Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron (1934-2021) became famous for shattering baseball records and breaking down racial barriers.
Aaron spent 21 years as a member of the Braves organization — first in Milwaukee, where he led the team to the 1957 World Series title — then later in Atlanta, where he hit home run No. 715 on April 8, 1974, breaking Babe Ruth’s seemingly unattainable record.
Despite retiring nearly 50 years ago, Aaron still holds the Major League records for most runs batted in, total bases, and All-Star Game appearances. He closed his career with the Milwaukee Brewers and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.
Throughout Aaron’s playing career — and later as a Major League Baseball front office executive — he pushed for more African Americans in management positions in baseball and in professional sports in general.
In 2002, Aaron was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
In 2005, he was awarded the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which established the Hank Aaron Humanitarian in Sports Award in his honor.
The stamp is a digital portrait of Aaron as a member of the Atlanta Braves in a right-handed batting stance.
The stamp pane features a digital painting of Aaron watching his record-breaking 715th home run, based on a 1974 photo by Harry Harris.
Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps and pane using original art by Chuck Styles and typography by Kevin Cantrell.
The stamp will be dedicated during a ceremony at Truist Park Stadium in Atlanta.
It will be available at Post Offices and usps.com.