. @MikeLupica on @CNN this morning told @craigmelvin that Hank Aaron hoped that baseball historians could find at least 8 home runs from his year with the Indianapolis Clowns, now that @MLB has announced that Negro League stats will be considered Major League stats. (THREAD)

There's a very simple reason for that: Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron on the All-Time Home Runs list for @MLB, finishing with 762 HRs to Aaron's 755 HRs. Finding 8 HRs from his year with the Clowns would put Aaron back at the top of the Home Run list. I believe they're there.

Here are Aaron's stats for the first part of the 1952 (per the Pittsburgh Courier). At this point, he had 5 home runs.

Aaron was picked up by the Boston Braves just days later (apparently without another home run). However, he was loaned back to the Clowns in September to play against the Birmingham Barons for the Negro League World Series.

Now things get a little complicated. The 1952 series was eventually won by the Clowns, but there's no record of how many games were played. But one thing is clear... The news clip above is from Sept 15. This clip is from Oct 1—and says Aaron "has averaged a home run per game."

The clip also says that "the Clowns are now leading in the series." So they have played at least three games. (Probably more, but at least three.) To have averaged "a home run per game" for at least three games, Aaron would at minimum have hit another 3 HR. That's 8 HR for 1952.

That latter stat is unlikely to be good enough for @MLB, but it does mean that the home runs exist. #SABR historians could do a major service to Aaron's legacy by tracking down those numbers.

UPDATE: This clip from Sept 20 notes that Aaron had a HR for the Clowns the night before—and says the series was even "at three games each." In order for the Clowns to be leading by Oct 1 and Aaron to have had a home run per game, he would have hit at least 7 HRs in the series.

One other thing to note... @MLB has said that they will count stats from the Negro American League (which included the Clowns) from 1937-48. So counting Aaron's HRs in 1952 would also require expanding that date. https://twitter.com/Cwhitty41/status/1352677016072577027?s=20

But also worth pointing out: The main reason for not counting the later dates is lack of stats, not the breaking of the color barrier. After all, when Aaron was acquired by the Braves in 1952, there were 16 @MLB teams and still just 20 black players.

So... This clip after the '52 series says that Aaron had 5 HRs total.

That would mean:

Aaron: 760 regular season HRs, 11 postseason, 771 total

Bonds: 762 regular season HR, 9 postseason, 771 total

Unless you count the '52 series as regular season—which would give Aaron 765.

Whatever @MLB decides, @MikeLupica says that Henry Aaron hoped that baseball historians could find him "8 or 9" HRs from his time with the Indianapolis Clowns. These two clips alone confirm 10. I wish I'd thought of this while Hammerin' Hank was still with us. #RIPHankAaron

Another footnote: Aaron was 17 years old when he played for the Clowns and then signed with the Braves mid-season. In considering his future prospects, Aaron worried, "I'm not a long ball hitter." And the writer thought it was unlikely that the Braves would call him up.