Former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter — a Plains, Ga., native and longtime fan of the Braves who was in attendance when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record — passed away on Sunday at the age of 100.
“The Atlanta Braves are deeply saddened by the passing of President Jimmy Carter,” the team said in a statement. “President Carter was a testament to the best America, and Georgia, can produce. He served both his country and home state with honor his entire life.
“While the world knew him as a remarkable humanitarian and peacemaker, we knew him as a dedicated Braves fan and we will miss having him in the stands cheering on his Braves. Our deepest condolences to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.”
President Carter counted Aaron as a personal hero and a dear friend, calling him a “breaker of records and racial barriers” and “one of the greatest baseball players of all time” when the legendary slugger passed away in 2021. When Aaron hit his 715th career home run on April 8, 1974, Carter — then the governor of Georgia — was sitting in the front row. He would be elected the 39th president of the United States a little over two years later.
On the field after the record-breaking homer, Aaron received a new car from the Chamber of Commerce, and Carter gifted him a Georgia license plate with “HR 715” on it.
“They gave him the Cadillac. I gave him the tag for it,” Carter recounted on the 40th anniversary of Aaron’s homer in 2014.
President Carter also threw out the first pitch before Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, which the Braves won 1-0 to clinch the first championship since the franchise moved to Atlanta. Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn — also a native of Plains — were frequent visitors at Braves games and in 2016 were caught on the Kiss Cam at the ballpark. Rosalynn Carter received the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside her husband in 1999 at the Carter Center in Atlanta.
