If you are a baseball fan and not aware of the legendary Hank Aaron, then you are probably living under a rock. People who claim to be die-hard fans of Major League Baseball and have no idea about Hammerin’ Hank are either showing off or are pure liars.
The world knowns Hank Aaron was one of the most competitive, courageous, and extraordinary baseball players. While defying the odds, Aaron continued excelling in his game, reaching the true height of stardom. Even the severe backlash, hatred, criticism, and extreme racism remarks never held him back.
However, being a human, these torturous times left a bad taste in his heart, forever. With all these struggles, Hank Aaron played his game with a class, with no scandal ever in his life. For these reasons, all of his sports cards’ collectibles are worth thousands of dollars. Sports card collectors love and respect him, hence the worth of his cards is always at an astonishing level.
Do you know anything about the 1955 Topps Hank Aaron baseball card? Despite not being his rookie card, the worth of it is still classy. We will cover that later in the blog!
The Prominent Baseball Career of Hank Aaron
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron was a professional American baseball player. Nicknamed “Hammer” or “Hammerin’ Hank”, he played as a right fielder for two different teams. He played a total of 23 seasons in the Major League Baseball. Among the 23 seasons, 21 were played with Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the NL (National League). He played only two with Milwaukee Brewers in the AL (American League).
During his first year of eligibility in 1982, Hank Aaron got inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with a whopping 97.8% votes. The Sporting News in 1999 ranked Aaron at the fifth position in their list of “100 Greatest Baseball Players”.
Hank Aaron started his career by signing with Indianapolis Clowns of Negro American League for $200 a month. Within three months of extraordinary gameplay, Aaron received two offers from MLB giants, one from Boston Braves, and another one from New York Giants. He signed with the Braves for an extra $50 they were paying him.
Gaming Statistics
Throughout his career, Henry “Hank” Aaron had a batting average of 0.305 whereas, 3,771 were the hits. With a record-breaking 755 home runs, Hank Aaron got highlighted in the world of baseball. He had an RBIs of 2,297.
Major League Baseball Records
Hank Aaron had a total of 2,297 career runs batted in, with 6,856 career total runs, followed by 1,477 career extra-base hits. These are his prominent and most celebrated MLB records.
Awards and Accolades
During his career, Aaron became part of the All-Star 25 times. He was also part of the World Series Champion. In 1957, Hank Aaron was named “Most Valuable Player” in the National League.
Aaron won Gold Glove Award thrice, became batting champion twice, home run leader four times, and runs batted in (RBIs) leader four times. Today, he is part of the Braves Hall of Fame, American Family Field Walk of Fame, and Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor.
In 2001, he received “Presidential Citizens Medal”. He later in 2002 received the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” as well. The same year, Henry Aaron was honored with the “Lombardi Award of Excellence”. Princeton University in 2011 awarded him with an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.
In 2015, Hank Aaron became the recipient of “The Portrait of a Nation Prize”. This prize is given on the basis of exceptional achievements in the fields of business, civil rights, science, entertainment, and sports. The Emperor of Japan also awarded Aaron with the “Order of the Rising Sun”. Even a trail connecting American Family Field with the Lake Michigan was named “Hank Aaron State Trail” to honor him.
Tributes and Honors
Recently, the President of the United States, Joe Biden paid a tribute to the legendary baseball player by calling him “An American Hero”. Former Presidents of the US such as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama also paid their tributes to honor Hank Aaron during their time.
In 2021, when Boston Braves won the World Series, they paid a rich tribute to their legendary player. They honored Hank Aaron in “Brave’s World Series Championship Ring”. This ring has a total of 755 diamonds (honoring his 755 career home runs), and 44 emeralds cut diamonds (honoring his jersey number with Boston Braves).
Hank Aaron and His Home Run Record
Henry “Hank” Aaron is widely recognized for the incredible and nail-biting home run chase. He broke the baseball record of a white man while being a black man. This is in itself a record, to be honest!
However, the journey towards such a record was not easy. Instead, it was filled with terror, threats, drama, and hate. Initially, the record for being the home run king was held by George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. He had a record of 714 home runs, before retiring from baseball. For more than 3 decades, the record remained unchallenged.
But it was Henry Aaron who dared to challenge the record. When Aaron hit his 712th home run, the world started to expect that he would break Ruth’s record. This caused a stir, a rise in hatred towards the Milwaukee Brewers player. The reason? A black guy!
The Height of Racism
It was not the first time Aaron became a target of racism. When he was part of Indianapolis Clowns in Negro American League, he faced worth sort of racism. As a team, he went out for breakfast, where the restaurant owner smashed the dishes after the black players finished the food. The restaurant owner displayed hatred towards the black community and broke the dishes so that no other human can have a meal on platters used by blacks.
The vicious cycle of hate continued to grow. During his chase for a career home run, he suffered another painful trauma. It was impossible to think that a black man can snatch the title of home run king from a white man. Hank Aaron not only received hatred, and racist comments, but also death threats. It became impossible for him to walk out alone without security.
Despite all of these crises, when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, the issues increased. While some people were praising him, there were some people who were spewing acidic hate toward him. When Babe Ruth’s widow displayed support for Aaron, the wave of hate slowed down.
1955 Topps Hank Aaron Baseball Card
Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron has always been a celebrated player. Despite hatred, he always had a strong base of fans. His sports cards have been welcomed with love, and respect, and have an exceptional monetary value.
Many fans believe that the 1954 Topps Hank Aaron card is famous and more valuable than others. It is Aaron’s rookie card, and the rookie cards are always worthful. But the thing is, 1955 Topps Hank Aaron is different and crispier in design.
Difference Between 1954 Topps Card vs 1955 Topps Card
The 1955 Topps card features the Hall of Famers appealing headshot, identical to the 1954 Topps card. The difference is the orientation of the sports card. The 1954 Topps Hank Aaron card is in the vertical orientation. Whereas, the 1955 Topps Hank Aaron card is wider and available in horizontal orientation.
The 1954 Topps card has Hank Aaron in a fielding position. While the 1955 Topps card has Aaron in the glorious batting pose. The background of the 1954 Topps card is somewhat orange. Whereas, the 1955 Topps card features yellowish background, giving a sparkling effect to the headshot of the player.
Front Look of 1955 Topps Baseball Card of Hank Aaron
There are a lot of similarities between the 1954 and 1955 Topps cards. The 1955 Topps card is wide and horizontal, with the same headshot of Hank Aaron as that of the 1954 Topps card. The background color is much cooler, more interesting, and more striking than the 1954 one. Hank Aaron is seen in action, swinging his baseball bat after hitting the ball hard.
The right side of the card has Aaron’s headshot, while the action image is on the left side. There is the official logo of the Braves in a small circle at the top left side of the card. Below is a red rectangular box with Hank Aaron’s name and his position on the team. Above it is the signature of the veteran legendary player. The background of the card is yellow, which fades when moving to the left side.
Back Look of 1955 Topps Baseball Card of Hank Aaron
The backside of the card has a faded red color and green at the end. Above is a rectangular red box featuring the “Henry Louis Aaron” name with his position on the team. Below is some general information about his height, weight (at that time), the bats, throws, home, and born date. This is pretty similar to the information featured in the 1954 Topps card.
What’s different is the records shared at the backside. The 1954 Topps card has Aaron’s minor league batting record, along with his fielding record. The 1955 Topps card, on the other hand, has details about Aaron’s minor and major league batting records. The fielding record is the same in both cards.
There is also some interesting information as well. Such as, Henry Aaron jumped from Class B baseball to being a full time Boston Braves outfielder in the Major League Baseball. The card also shares that Aaron was the sensation of the league with the most RBIs, .362 batting average, great runs, hits, and doubles.
There is a trivia question as well, labeled as “True” or “False” as a fun element.
Interesting Facts About 1955 Topps Hobby Box
The 1955 Topps hobby box contained a total of 206 sports cards. It was the smallest card issued by Topps Company. Before this, their hobby boxes had more cards. For instance, the 1954 Topps hobby box had 250 cards.
Each card in the hobby box measures 2 5/8 inches x 3 3/4 inches. The 1955 Topps sports card box is the first hobby case that welcomed the use of horizontal format cards. Each card in the hobby box had two images of the player.
The main image, which is typically the headshot of the player. And along with it is the action image of the same player. Either as a fielder or in batting action.
On the backside of the cards, there are details about each player. And each card has a colorful official logo of the team every player is associated with.
Monetary Worth of 1955 Topps Card
There is no PSA 10 i.e., gem mint condition card. However, there are 26 PSA 9 graded cards in mint condition. In 2020, a PSA 9 condition 1955 Topps Hank Aaron card was auctioned for $15,600.
There are 277 PSA 8 condition cards in near-mint style. Recently, the card was sold for $6,300 in a grand auction ceremony. A card of the same condition was auctioned for $7,466 in 2021 as well.
Final Verdict
The 1955 Topps Hank Aaron baseball card is one of the most fan-favorite sports cards. It features a headshot of Hank Aaron with a beautiful and confident smile. Even though the card is worth a few thousand dollars but the investors believe that sooner or later the cards will reach the value of thousands of dollars, if not millions.
Henry “Hank” Aaron was one of the greatest and most powerful baseballers of his time. To date, it’s hard to find a strong and resilient gem like him. He played a fair game throughout his life. He had never been part of controversies. And most importantly, he paved a path for all the black players to reach the upper management. A position, black players never thought could come true anytime.