Aaron's first collectible?

[Bob Lemke]

This is going up on my blog on Thursday

Eau Claire Bears_1952.jpg

I don’t know if this is actually the first time Henry Aaron was mentioned in a national sports publication, but the earliest such mention that I can recall seeing was this item in the June 18, 1952, issue of The Sporting News.

Under the headline “Clowns Sell kid Shortstop flash to Boston Braves,” Chicago baseball writer Russ J. Cowens, who frequently covered Negro Leagues goings-on for TSN, wrote, “The pace-setting Indianapolis Clowns lost a promising young infielder last week, but came up with two recruits who loom as potential stars.

“The Clowns, who added to their lead in the Negro American League by splitting four games while the Kansas City Monarchs were dropping three, sold Henry Aaron, 17-year-old rookie shortstop, to the Boston Braves, who are to assign him to a farm club. Aaron was slugging the ball at a .427 pace, led the league in doubles with seven, and in homers with eight. He also was the top man for runs batted in with 26.”

The two “potential stars” that the Clowns signed to replace Aaron were Tom Cooper, “a former student at West Virginia State College, and Herbert Benson, a first baseman.”

On the morning of June 9 that season, the Clowns had played to a 17-8 record to lead the NAL.

This early mention of Henry Aaron reminded me that I have squirreled away in my “archives” what I now realize may be the first collectible item ever issued of Aaron.

aaron inset.jpg
It is an 8” x 10” black-and-white team-issued glossy photo of the 1952 Eau Claire Bears.
Aaron is shown seated at the left end of middle row. The Bears were a Boston Braves farm team and Aaron’s first club in Organized Baseball.

Three other future Major Leaguers are shown in the team photo – two of them managers. Aaron’s future outfield teammate Wes Covington is pictured in the back row, third from right. Also in the photo are Bears manager Bill Adair, who had a 10-game stint as manager of the Chicago White Sox, and Johnny Goryl, who played for the Cubs 1957-59 and the Twins 1962-64, managing the Twins in 1980-81.

The 1952 Eau Claire Bears finished third in the Class C Northern League in 1952. Aaron led the team (and was third in the league) with a .336 batting average. His nine home runs in 87 games were only fourth best on the team (Covington led with 24).

Some people claim that Aaron is pictured in an earlier program of the Indianapolis Clowns. I have seen a picture, but I don’t believe it to be Aaron.