Level: O

DRA: 38
Genre:
Biography
Strategy:
Visualize
Skill:
Cause and Effect
Word Count: 856

3.1.5

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books

1253779
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN H ARCO URT
 by Joanna Korba

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Paul Casale

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover Associated Press. 3 MLB Photos via Getty Images. 7 © Bettmann/CORBIS.
8 National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB Photos via Getty Images. 10 (t) © Bettmann/CORBIS. (c) © Bettmann/
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Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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ISBN-10: 0-547-25352-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-25352-7
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3_253527RTXE_LR1_5OL_RunKing.ind1 1 2/5/09 11:13:30 AM

 Early Years
In a tiny yard in Mobile, Alabama, a skinny
seven-year-old boy tossed a bottle cap into the air.
He swung his broom-handle bat. He had to be fast
to hit the cap before it fell to the ground.
The boy’s name was Henry Aaron, but his
friends called him Hank. (Like most nicknames,
Hank was shorter to pronounce.) Hank would
grow up to be one of the greatest home-run hitters
of all time.

2
 Back then young Hank was probably dreaming
about being a star in the Negro Leagues. It was
1941. At that time black players were not allowed
to play in baseball’s major leagues. Black ball
players had a league of their own.
But in 1947, a black baseball player named
Jackie Robinson changed all that. Soon, black
players became stars on major-league teams.

Jackie Robinson was the first black player in

major-league baseball.
3
 Hank Gets Noticed
By the time Hank was seventeen, he was
swinging the bat fast and hard. One night, a scout
saw Hank play in a neighborhood game. The
scout was looking for good players who had the
talent to play for the Negro Leagues.
Hank slammed a towering home run out of
the park. The scout liked what he saw. He asked
Hank to play in the Negro Leagues.

4
 Hank joined a Negro League team in Indiana.
He played so well that major-league ball clubs
heard about him. In June of 1952, he agreed to
play for a major-league team in Boston called
the Braves.
5
 Hank didn’t play for the Braves top team
right away. Every major-league baseball team has
minor-league farm teams. Players on farm teams
spend time improving their skills. If they’re good
enough, these minor-league players get called to
play on the major-league team.
Just two years later, in 1954, the Braves called
Hank to join them.

Hank played for a number of minor-league teams before

joining the Braves.
6
 The Major-League Years
By this time, the Braves were playing in
Milwaukee. The Milwaukee fans filled the
stands for nearly every game. They were the
best fans in baseball.
Hank never disappointed them. The
first time he came to bat for the Braves, he
slammed a home run.

Hank was a great hitter in Milwaukee.

7
 He played harder than any other player.
His efforts paid off. Hank won many
awards for his hitting and his fielding.

8
The Home-Run Record
Hank was a hero off the field, too. He often
spoke out against racism. Back then, major-league
teams had two sets of rules—one set for white
players and one set for black players. Hank knew
this wasn’t fair, and he said so.
Over the years, these rules changed. Hank’s
words had helped make a difference.

Hank spoke out against racism.

9
 In 1966, the Braves
moved again, this time to
Atlanta, Georgia. The
Atlanta ballpark was the
best place to hit home runs
in the majors. People said
that the warm climate in
Atlanta made the ball go
really far.
Hank changed his
batting style to take
advantage of the new ball
park. His new hitting style
worked, and his home runs
piled up fast. . . 200, 300,
400, 500, 600.
In 1972, he hit home
run number 649. Only one
player in baseball history
had hit more home runs—
Babe Ruth.

10
 Babe Ruth was baseball’s first home-run king.

The Babe was the most popular baseball hero

of all time. When he stopped playing, in 1935,
he had hit 714 career home runs. It was the most
famous record in baseball.
People started to wonder: Could Hank break
the Babe’s record?

11
 Some fans didn’t want the Babe’s record
broken by a black player. They wrote hateful
letters to Hank.
Hank tried to ignore them. Finally, he
told some sports writers about the letters.
Then something amazing happened.
People began sending letters of
encouragement to Hank. Thousands of
school kids from all over America wrote to
cheer him on.

12
Hank hits the home run that broke Babe Ruth’s record.

Number 715
April 8, 1974, was a rainy night in Atlanta.
The stands were packed with fans. Hank came to
bat for the second time. He slammed the second
pitch out of the park for his 715th home run. He
had broken Babe Ruth’s record. When Hank
touched home plate to score, he was mobbed by
his screaming teammates.
Hank was baseball’s new home-run king!
13
 A Community Hero
Hank ended his playing days in 1976. After he
left baseball, he wasn’t one to sit around and polish
his trophies. Hank wanted to help children. He
was especially interested in helping less fortunate
children get a chance for a good education. Hank
proved that it was just as important to be a hero
in his community as it was to be a hero on the
baseball field. Hank was not just a home-run hero.
He was a community hero, too.
“You are the future of this country,” he told a
group of kids in 2003. “Please, whatever you do,
don’t follow . . . lead!”

14
 Responding
Cause and Effect Hank
TARGET SKILL
Aaron hit his 715th home run in April, 1974.
This caused other things to happen for him.
Copy the chart below. Write what
happened.

Cause Effect

Hank Aaron hit his He broke Babe Ruth’s

715th home run in record for home runs.
April, 1974.
?

Write About It
Text to Self One of the biggest days in
Hank’s life was when he broke the home-run
record. Write a paragraph about a big day
in your life. Tell what you did that caused
other things to happen.

15

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 TARGET VOCABULARY

fans score
league slammed
polish stands
pronounce style

Cause and Effect Tell how one

TARGET SKILL
event makes another happen and why.

TARGET STRATEGYVisualize As you read, use

selection details to picture what is happening.

GENRE A biography tells about events in a

person’s life, written by another person.

16

3_253527RTXE_LR1_5OL_RunKing.ind16 16 2/5/09 11:14:15 AM

Level: O
DRA: 38
Genre:
Biography
Strategy:
Visualize
Skill:
Cause and Effect
Word Count: 856

3.1.5

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books

1253779
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN H ARCO URT