Tommie Aaron Obituary

Baseball Almanac presents the actual word-for-word transcript from the obituary of Tommie Aaron, taken from and courtesy of The New York Times.

"As you know, Tommie (Aaron) is no longer with us. He meant a lot to me. I think if he played with another ballclub, I think he probably would have had a better major league career. The media was always comparing us. I'm sure, by me being successful, it put a lot of pressure on him. He couldn't play up to his potential." - Hank Aaron in The Sporting News (April 8, 1999)

Tommie Aaron Obituary

Appeared in The New York Times on August 8, 1984

Tommie Aaron Obituary

Tommie AaronIs Dead at 45;
Brother of Home-Run Leader


ATLANTA, Aug. 17 (AP) — Tommie Aaron, the younger brother of Henry Aaron, baseball's home-run leader, died of leukemia at Emory University Hospital Thursday. He was 45 years old and had served on the Atlanta Braves coaching staff since 1978.

Aaron, who also played for the Braves in Milwaukee and Atlanta, had been treated for leukemia after it was discovered in 1982 following physical exams of Brave personnel during spring training.

He reported tot raining this spring, but left the team before the regular season to seek further treatment. He returned to the Braves infrequently and handled defensive positioning before he was replaced July 20 by Eddie Haas.

Aaron had been in the Braves' organization since 1958, when he signed as a first baseman. He managed at Savannah, Ga., and Richmond from 1973 to 1978 after playing seven years in the majors, compiling a .229 average with 13 homers and 94 runs batted in. Henry Aaron hit a record 755, homers in his major league-career.

In addition to his brother, Tommie Aaron is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and three children, Efrem, Tommie Jr. and Veleeta.

Tommie Aaron Obituary



Tommie Aaron and Hank Aaron each hit a home run during the same inning of the same game on July 11, 1962 — a feat not seen since 1932 when Lloyd Waner & Paul Waner did it.

Did you know that the first game where the two brothers each homered (not in the same inning as above) was played on June 12, 1962 versus the Dodgers?

The thirteenth / final home run of Tommie Aaron's major league career was hit on July 20, 1970 during the ninth inning, against the Chicago Cubs, in Atlanta Stadium, two men were on base and the pitcher was Ken Holtzman.