Henry Aaron On June 14, 1952, Henry Aaron made his professional baseball debut here at Carson Park with the Eau Claire Bears. In his first two at-bats, he hit run-scoring singles in a game against St. Cloud, Minn.
Aaron is depicted here as the Bears' 18-year-old shortstop from Mobile, Ala., wearing No. 6.
He went on to hit .336 with nine home runs for Eau Claire, a class C minor league team. He made the all-Star team and was Northern League Rookie of the Year.
Two years later, in 1954, Aaron joined the Milwaukee Braves and hit the first of his major league record 755 home runs. He retired in 1976 with the Milwaukee Brewers. In 1982, "Hammerin' Hank" was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Eau Claire BaseballEau Claire has a long professional baseball history. The city fielded teams in the Northern League from 1933 through 1962. Many Eau Claire players went on to successful major league careers. The teams were known as the Eau Claire Bears until 1954, when they became the Eau Claire Braves to reflect their affiliation with the milwaukee Braves.
Baseball has been played in Eau Claire since about 1860. Carson Park baseball stadium, built during the federal Works Progress Administration, opened for play in 1937. Since then the stadium has been the home of Eau Claire baseball.
Dedicated August 17, 1994
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