May 17, 1970: Hank Aaron Is the 1st Player to 3,000 Hits & 500 Homers

Left to right: Stan Musial, unknown umpire,

Hank Aaron, Braves owner Bill Bartholomay

May 17, 1970: Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves singles home a run against Wayne Simpson of the Cincinnati Reds, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. It is the 3,000th hit of his career, making him the 1st player in Major League Baseball history to have both major career hitting milestones: 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

Aaron beats Willie Mays to this distinction by 62 days. Later in the game, he hit his 570th home run, and finished the game 3-for-5 with 5 RBIs. But the Reds carried the day, which went 15 innings. It was pitcher Don Gullett, batting for himself because he was the last unused man on the Cincinnati roster, who singled home the winning run, and the Reds won, 7-6, completing a doubleheader sweep.

The Reds had won the 1st game, 5-1, with Jim Merritt outpitching Pat Jarvis. Five days earlier, Jarvis had pitched against the Chicago Cubs, and gave up the 500th career home run of Ernie Banks. The Cubs won that game, 4-3 in 11 innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Over the 2 games, Aaron went 3-for-9 with a home run, 2 walks and 3 RBIs; Pete Rose went 2-for-9 with 2 home runs, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs; and Johnny Bench went 3-for-11 with a home run and and 3 RBIs.

Aaron joining the 500 Home Run Club in 1968, only 34 years old, was the first sign that maybe he would be the player to break Babe Ruth's record of 714 career home runs. Up until then, the player who seemed most likely to do it was Mays, who had surpassed Mickey Mantle as such when he surpassed Mantle on the home run list in 1964.

Among those on hand to congratulate Aaron on his milestone was Stan Musial, who, until then, was the last player to reach 3,000 hits. He finished his career with 475 home runs.

The list of players who have done 3000/500 is more surprising for who is not on it than it is for who is on it. The greatest hitter who ever lived? Most people will say either Ruth or Ted Williams. Ruth hit 714 home runs, a record that lasted until Aaron surpassed him with 755, but he finished with 2,873 hits. I suspect that if someone had told him that, one day, 3,000 hits would be considered a big deal, he would have gone for it.

As for Williams, he closed his career by hitting a home run in his last at-bat, his 521st homer. But, because he missed the equivalent of 5 seasons serving in 2 different wars, his career hit total was 2,654. Barry Bonds, who would use steroids to surpass Aaron's record and finish with 762 home runs, had 2,935 hits. Mantle's many injuries did not prevent him from hitting 536 home runs, but they did limit him to 2,415 hits.

Musial had 3,630 hits, but, as I said, fell short of 500 home runs, at 475. Carl Yastrzemski had 3,419 hits, but 452 home runs. Dave Winfield had 3,110 hits, but 465 home runs. Frank Robinson hit 586 home runs, but fell short of 3,000 hits, with 2,943. Mel Ott hit 511 home runs, but had 2,876 hits.

Here's the players who have done both:

1. May 17, 1970: Hank Aaron. He finished with 3,771 hits, including 755 home runs. In other words, without counting his home runs, he still had over 3,000 hits.

2. July 18, 1970: Willie Mays. He finished with 3,283 hits, including 600 home runs.

3. September 6, 1996: Eddie Murray. He is the only player, so far, to get his 3,000th hit first, and his 500th home run second. He finished with 3,255 hits, including 504 home runs.

4. July 15, 2005: Rafael Palmeiro. He finished with 3,020 hits, including 569 home runs. He would have finished with more, but he failed a steroid test, got benched, got released, and was not signed by anyone else, essentially blackballed from baseball.

5. June 19, 2015: Alex Rodriguez. He finished his career with 3,115 hits, including 696 home runs. But he, too, was exposed as a steroid user.

6. May 14, 2018: Albert Pujols. He finished his career with 3,308 hits, including 703 home runs.

7. April 23, 2002: Miguel Cabrera. As of May 17, 2022, he is still active. (UPDATE: He retired after the 2023 season, with 3,174 hits, including 511 home runs.)

So, out of 22,000 or so men who have played Major League Baseball since it began in 1871, only 7 have both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs -- and only 5 have done so honestly.

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May 17, 1970 was a Sunday. Basketball player Hubert Davis and New Kids On The Block singer Jordan Knight were born.

These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell appeared as a pinch-hitter, and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.

* The Kansas City Royals swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 and 8-4 at Comiskey Park. Both games went to extra innings. In the opener, Joe Keough doubled Amos Otis home in the top of the 10th. In the nightcap, the Royals scored 4 runs in the top of the 11th, including a home run by Pat Kelly.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 0-for-4. Ernie Banks also went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a groundout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 5-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 8-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Claude Osteen pitched a 4-hit shutout. Willie Mays went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie McCovey went 0-for-2 before getting the rest of the game off.

* A doubleheader was split at the Oakland Coliseum. The California Angels won the 1st game, 7-1. The Oakland Athletics won the 2nd game, 6-5. Greg Garrett walked Bert Campaneris with the bases loaded, forcing Sal Bando home, in the bottom of the 10th inning. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 1-for-8 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Senators were rained out at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. The game was made up on June 29. The Senators won, 5-3. The Senators scored 3 runs, including a home run by Aurelio Rodríguez, off Mike Cuellar in the bottom of the 8th to come from behind, making Jim Shellenback the winning pitcher. Frank Howard also hit a home run. For the O's, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson each went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 2. The Phils swept, 6-1 and 3-2.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 3. The Red Sox swept, 2-1 and 5-4. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 4-for-7 with a home run, 2 walks, and an RBI.

* The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Yankee Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 6. The Tigers won the 1st game, 2-1. Mike Kilkenny outpitched Mel Stottlemyre. Al Kaline went 1-for-4, then got the 2nd game off.

The Yankees won the 2nd game, 7-5. Stan Bahnsen and Joe Niekro started, but Ron Klimkowski was the winning pitcher, and John Hiller was the losing pitcher. Roy White and Bobby Murcer hit home runs.

There was 1 other score to report: Game 2 of the American Basketball Association Finals was played at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. The Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Stars, 114-111. The Stars went on to win the title in 6 games.

The NBA Championship had been decided 9 days earlier, with the New York Knicks beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the Finals. The NHL Championship had been decided 7 days earlier, with the Boston Bruins sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals in 4 straight. And football was out of season.