This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
This from-the-heart letter was written by future home run king Hank Aaron as he stood on the verge of baseball history. Aaron was 18 and playing for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues when he penned the letter while on the road in Eau Clair, Wisconsin on August 27, 1952. No one was more unaware than Aaron that in the next few years he would be tapped as the first player in the Sally League, then come to the Milwaukee Braves in 1954 and begin his quiet march to the immortality he'd achieve by breaking Babe Ruth's career home run mark. All Aaron knew at the time was that he was a homesick kid struggling to finish the season. In the two-page latter, on 6" x 8" yellow lined paper and addressed to a friend named Edward Scott back in Mobile, Alabama, Aaron wrote that he was offered a chance to play winter ball by Clowns' owner Syd Pollock, "But I want to come home first." He added, "I am still hitting the ball. But I been in a slump (and) we don't have a chance for first. All of our players are hurt." The letter is written in blue pen and signed, "From Hank Aaron," with the signature rating a solid 9. The condition of the letter is excellent, with only three light fold marks. Also included is the postmarked envelope, which bears the name of the Hotel Graver in Fargo, North Dakota and is in good condition.