Hank Aaron Becomes Baseball's Highest-Paid Player

On February 29, 1972, Hank Aaron signed a three-year contract with the Atlanta Braves worth $200,000 per season, making him the first player in baseball history to earn that annual figure. Aaron stood at 639 career home runs at the time, trailing Babe Ruth's all-time record by 75. "It was what I expected and what I asked for," Aaron said. Within two years, he surpassed Ruth, hitting his 715th home run on April 8, 1974. Aaron retired with 755 home runs, a record that stood for 33 years.

Leap Day has produced its own small collection of baseball figures. Pepper Martin was born on February 29, 1904, in Temple, Oklahoma. Known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage," Martin played for the St. Louis Cardinals throughout the 1930s and became the face of the Gashouse Gang, the rowdy Cardinals squad famous for practical jokes and hard-nosed play. In the 1931 World Series, Martin almost single-handedly dismantled the Philadelphia Athletics, batting .500 with five stolen bases in a Cardinals upset. His daring baserunning and fearless play at third base and in the outfield made him one of the most popular players of the Depression era.

Al Rosen, born on Leap Day in 1924, won the 1953 American League MVP Award with the Cleveland Indians, falling one batting average point short of the Triple Crown. He hit .336 with 43 home runs and 145 RBI that season. Rosen retired at 32 due to injuries but later became a successful front-office executive with the Yankees, Astros, and Giants.

Also on this date, in 1956, the Cleveland Indians were sold to a group led by general manager Hank Greenberg for $4 million.