September 24, 1957: Henry Aaron smashes first career grand slam for Braves

The great jazz trumpet player Bill Dixon refused to do encores. He allegedly said, “When I have finished playing, I have nothing left; there has been no reserve.”1 The same cannot be said of Henry Aaron. On Tuesday night, September 24, 1957, Aaron performed what is perhaps the greatest encore of his storied career. The previous night, Aaron had clinched the National League pennant for the Braves when he belted an 11th-inning walk-off two-run homer against St. Louis Cardinals rookie reliever Billy Muffett. The National League champs celebrated late into the evening.2

The next night, Braves skipper Fred Haney put his starters back onto the field to play the second game of the three-game series against the Cardinals, the next to last series of the regular season. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, the 23-year-old Aaron smacked a grand slam against “Toothpick” Sam Jones, the first of his 16 career grand slams. It was Aaron’s 44th homer of the season and capped what was perhaps the greatest season of his career. Aaron led the major leagues in home runs (44), runs batted in (132), and total bases (369).3 He was second in the majors in runs scored (118). He won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award.

But back to the encore. On September 24 a crowd of 30,661 turned out to watch the Braves face off against the Cardinals. The game featured five future Hall of Famers.4 For Braves fans, it must have been a happy-go-lucky environment since the team had already secured its spot in the World Series. Cardinals second-year manager Fred Hutchinson put 31-year-old hurler Sam Jones on the mound. Jones, the first African American to pitch a no-hitter in the major leagues,5 was known for his sweeping curveball. Teammate Stan Musial once said Jones had the best curveball he had ever seen.6

Jones had pitched fairly well in 1957. He entered the contest having won 12 games, including 10 complete games, and a sub-4.0 earned-run average. Jones and Aaron were not the best of friends. In fact, earlier in September, when the Cardinals were still vying for the National League pennant, Aaron leveled “bean ball” charges against Jones and the other members of the St. Louis pitching staff.7

The Braves started one of their aces, Warren Spahn, who entered the game already having won 20 games that season. The 36-year-old Spahn made quick business of the Cardinals in the top of the first inning. In the bottom half, second baseman Red Schoendienst, leading off, made it to first on an infield hit, after which he was replaced by pinch-runner Felix Mantilla.8 The next hitter, shortstop Johnny Logan, singled to center field and slugger Eddie Mathews walked, loading the bases for Aaron.

Jones suddenly found himself in the unenviable position of having to face one of the National League’s most fearsome hitters with the bases loaded and nobody out. According to one account, Jones threw Aaron “a bad pitch – high and outside,” and Aaron crushed it.9 Exactly where the ball landed is disputed. Aaron biographer Howard Bryant says the ball landed in the left-field stands.10 But contemporary newspaper articles say the ball landed in the right-field stands.11

After Aaron cleared the bases, Jones faced left fielder Wes Covington. When Jones’s first two pitches to Covington missed the strike zone, Hutchinson pulled him and summoned 31-year-old rookie Frank Barnes. Barnes pitched six complete innings, giving up no runs on five hits. In the seventh inning, veteran reliever Morrie Martin replaced Barnes and gave up two runs. The Cardinals’ only run came in the third inning when Del Ennis singled to left field, driving in Musial, who had doubled to right-center.

Aaron went hitless in his other four at-bats in the game. But his first-inning grand slam was a signature moment – and not just for Aaron. The four-run blast helped his teammate, Spahn, secure his 21st victory of the season, including his 18th complete game, both of which led the National League in 1957.

Aaron continued to dominate in the World Series against the New York Yankees, which the Braves won in seven games. He hit safely in every game, batting .393 with an OPS of 1.200. He led both teams in hits (11), home runs (3), and runs batted in (7). But for the masterful pitching performance of Lew Burdette, Hammerin’ Hank almost certainly would have won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award.12

HENRY AARON GRAND SLAMS13

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MLN/MLN195709240.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1957/B09240MLN1957.htm

NOTES

1  While the original source of this quote appears to be unknown, it is widely attributed to Dixon. See Abhijit Mondal, “Bill Dixon – 18 Cool Quotes,” Medium.org, April 2, 2023, https://medium.com/quotes-of-quote/bill-dixon-18-cool-quotes-quotes-of-quote-fc8ac2921fff.

2  According to SABR author Alan Cohen, the Braves celebrated at the Wisconsin Club until 5:00 A.M. See Alan Cohen, “Aaron’s Walk-Off Home Run Gives the Milwaukee Braves the Flag,” in Gregory H. Wolf, ed., From the Braves to the Brewers (Phoenix: Society for American Baseball Research, 2016), 64 .

3  The 132 RBIs were his career high.

4  In addition to Aaron, the game’s future Hall of Famers included Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Red Schoendienst, and Stan Musial.

5  Jones no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 12, 1955, while pitching for the Chicago Cubs. See https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-12-1955-toothpick-sam-jones-becomes-first-african-american-pitcher-to-toss-mlb-no-hitter/.

6  “The Black Aces: A Baseball Pitching Fraternity With a Multitude of Storylines,” The Athletic, February 28, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5273672/2024/02/28/black-aces-baseball-pitching-mlb/.

7  Jerome Holtzman, “The Way to Fame,” in Henry Aaron and Dick Schaap, Home Run: My Life in Pictures (Tampa: Total Sports Publications, 1999), https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-way-to-fame-517feeda514a, accessed May 25, 2025.

8  Schoendienst left the game “ostensibly after aggravating a leg injury.” Jack Herman, “Card Bow; Aaron Raps Grand Slam,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 25, 1957: 17. He did, however, played the full game the next afternoon.

9  Associated Press, “Spahn Defeats Cardinals 6-1 for 21st Win,” Janesville (Wisconsin) Weekly Gazette, September 25, 1957: 16

10  Howard Bryant, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron (New York: Random House, 2010), 275 (Kindle ed.).

11  Associated Press, “Aaron’s Grand Slam Gives Spahn His 21st,” Racine (Wisconsin), September 25, 1957: 15; “Aaron’s Grand Slam Homer Dumps Jones,” Waukesha County Freeman (Waukesha, Wisconsin), September 25, 1957:12; Associated Press, “Still Celebrating, Henry Aaron Hits First Grand Slam,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), September 25, 1957: 25.

12  Burdette was virtually unhittable in the series. He won Games Two, Five, and Seven, all of which were complete games and two of which were shutouts (Games Five and Seven). He allowed only two earned runs over 27 innings.

13  https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/home_run.php?p=aaronha01.