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Hank Aaron question

cooby May 29 2007 07:21 PM

The ESPN announcers just said that Hank Aaron hit his last homerun on July 20 (I forget the year). I've been wracking my brain but I dont remember why---does anybody remember why his last HR was in the middle of a season?

seawolf17 May 29 2007 07:23 PM

He only played 85 games in 1976... he must have retired mid-season. Interestingly, #754 was a walk-off in the bottom of the tenth.

OlerudOwned May 29 2007 07:24 PM

Glancing quickly at retrosheet, he played pretty sparingly in the final 2 months of the season. I'd assume he just started breaking down.

Rockin' Doc May 29 2007 07:29 PM

Hank Aaron's last home run was on July 20, 1976 off Dick Drago of the Angels in Milwaukee. I'm guessing he didn't hit any more because he was 42 years old and he simply didn't hit anymore. His final game was on October 3, 1976. Does anyone remember whether he spent toime on the DL that year?

Frayed Knot May 29 2007 08:10 PM

Doesn't look like there were [url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=aaronha01&t=b&year=1976]any gaps big enough[/url] to indicate time spent on the official DL -- just eased off into the sunset it seems.

cooby May 29 2007 08:15 PM

Thanks, LF. You know what else? I had completely forgotten that he spent his final two seasons with Milwaukee, but I remember writing in my diary way back then about how disappointed I was with the Braves for letting him go there. Funny what triggers memories.

Rockin' Doc May 29 2007 08:20 PM

Hank returned to Milwaukee and ended his career where it began, much like Willie returning to New York to end his career as a Met.

Frayed Knot May 29 2007 08:22 PM

Remember also that he started his career in Milwaukee when the Braves were still there (just one year too late to have been a [u:b9de2f5f58]Boston[/u:b9de2f5f58] Brave in fact) and that the Brewers were an AL team in those days. So Aaron's return there was a combination of going back to his original fans and having the chance to use that new-fangled DH rule. Also the Brewers owner - guy by the name of Selig - saw the pr value in the whole thing.

cooby May 29 2007 08:25 PM

Yeah, now that I'm old enough to understand (older than he was!) I can see the reasons well enough. Back then though I just thought the Braves were being insensitive.