On June 14, 1952, Henry Aaron made his professional baseball debut at Carson Park with the Eau Claire Bears and, in his first two at-bats against St. Cloud, Minn., hit run-scoring singles. He is depicted as the Bears' 18-year-old shortstop from Mobile, Ala., wearing No. 6. Aaron hit .336 with nine home runs for Eau Claire, a class C minor league team, made the all-Star team, and was Northern League Rookie of the Year. Two years later, in 1954, he joined the Milwaukee Braves and hit the first of his major league record 755 home runs, retiring in 1976 with the Milwaukee Brewers. In 1982, "Hammerin' Hank" was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Eau Claire has a long professional baseball history, fielding teams in the Northern League from 1933 through 1962, with many players going on to successful major league careers. The teams were known as the Eau Claire Bears until 1954, when they became the Eau Claire Braves to reflect their affiliation with the Milwaukee Braves. Baseball has been played in Eau Claire since about 1860, and Carson Park baseball stadium, built during the federal Works Progress Administration, opened for play in 1937 and has since been the home of Eau Claire baseball.