What happend to Hank Aaron after July 20, 1976?

Question

What happend to him after July 20, 1976 when he hit 755 until his last bat appearance October 3, 1976?

what is the rest of the story?

Answer 1

Aaron played in 23 more games that season, but only sporadically -- he was a worn-down, 42 year old man. 18 of those 23 games were starts, but always as the designated hitter. I don't see any break in playing time long enough to look like a DL visit, but he had aches and pains; he just wasn't the best choice for the Brewers to play all the time.

Aaron took the field one last time, on 01-August; after entering as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth, he played LF in the ninth and tenth, making one play, a fly ball putout. Otherwise, he played DH or pinch-hit exclusively.

After his last homer (which of course no one knew was his last), he had eleven more hits in his bat, three of them doubles. He also scored five runs, tying him with Ruth at 2174, then good for second place. In his final game, which was also the last game of the Brewers' season, he singled with two out in the bottom of the sixth, and was pinch-run for by rookie Jim Gantner. Aaron has said he was a bit peeved by that, as it denied him the chance to score (the next batter struck out, but Aaron certainly would have batted one more time) and break the tie with Ruth, but this was not to be. They are forever tied (unless some ancient clerical error not yet discovered shifts Ruth's total), and currently in fifth place (Henderson and Bonds having passed them since).

And, who knows? Maybe he could have had the Ted Williams ending. I can't imagine what manager Alex Grammas was thinking; the season was over, the Brewers mired in sixth (last) place with no chance at fifth -- why not let Aaron stay in? Dumb. Grammas ran the Brewers the next year to a similar last-place finish, was dumped, and never managed in the majors again. But he probably worked cheap (and was worth it), which is how Brewers owner Bud Selig liked things to be.

The groundskeeper, Richard Arndt, who retrieved Aaron's 755th home run ball offered to give the ball to Aaron in person and was refused by team management, who demanded he surrender the ball as team property. He chose not to, and was fired -- an overreactive act for which Selig, as team owner no doubt involved, has never been questioned on. Arndt kept the ball for years in a safety deposit box, and had Aaron (at a paid appearance) autograph it without disclosing the significance of the ball. Arndt sold the ball in 1999 to financial manager Andrew Knuth, who still owned it as of May 2006.

Answer 2

Besides being a successful business owner in Atlanta, he had a minor league ballpark in Mobile, Alabama named for him. Hank Aaron Stadium was opened in 1997 and is the home field of the Mobile Bay Bears of the Double-A Southern League. Getting to that park also exposes you to some other baseball history. After you exit I-65, you have to drive up Satchel Paige Drive to get to the park.

Answer 3

He lives in Atlanta, Georgia and is doing well. He owns a car dealership. He shows up for promos and occasionally makes statements to the local press. His most recent press was that he would not be present for Bonds record breaking homer. For the most part he leads a quiet life and seems to shun attention.