A Day in July Sports History: Hank Aaron Hits his Final MLB Home Run

Posted by DavidGreen
Jul 23, 2019

Introduction

This month, 43 years ago, Hank Aaron hit his final home run in Major League Baseball. It was on July 20th, 1976 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At this point in his long and legendary career, he was the designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Brewers vs. Angels

The Brewers were hosting the California Angels for a night game at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although it was a beautiful 73 degrees in Milwaukee, attendance for the historical day was fairly low. There were only 10,134 fans in the stadium for this baseball game which happened to be a mere 21 percent of the venue’s capacity.

In 1976, Aaron was 42 years old, and this was his 23rd and final season playing Major League Baseball. Prior to this game he was hitting .246 and had only 9 home runs. His numbers were dropping as his age increased.

Aaron was batting fourth in the lineup that day, and was off to a rough start early on in this game. The Angel’s right handed starter, Gary Ross, got Hammerin’ Hank to fly out to left field in his first at bat in the bottom of the first inning. In the third inning Ross got him to fly out to second base. Aaron’s third at bat was against right handed relief pitcher, Dick Drago, who struck out the hall of famer in the fifth inning.

The Home Run

Drago just gave up a home run to the Brewer’s first baseman, George Scott. The Milwaukee Brewers were up 4 – 1 over the California Angels when Aaron once again came to the plate for his fourth at bat of the game in the seventh inning. He crushed the ball over the left field wall for his 755th career home run which ultimately was the last home run of his MLB career.

The Milwaukee team ended up winning this game 6 – 2. A member of the Brewer’s groundskeeping crew, Richard Arndt, ended up retrieving Aaron’s last home run ball. Arndt eventually sold that baseball https://latestsportsbonuses.com/bet-on-baseball for $650,000.00 in 1999.

Home Run Records

This was his 21st season with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Hammerin’ Hank hit his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth’s long time standing home run record.

Then on August 7th, 2007 while playing for the San Francisco Giants, Barry Bonds creamed a pitch to hit his 756th career home run in order to pass Aaron’s home run record. Bonds ended his MLB career with 762 home runs. Due to Bonds’ use of performance enhancing drugs (steroids) he is often not considered the true home run champion of Major League Baseball. Hank Aaron is often referred to being the real home run king of the MLB.

Career Accomplishments and Awards

Aaron was a 25-time All Star. He became a World Series Champion in 1957 with the Milwaukee Braves. He was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1957 as well. He won three Gold Glove Awards (1958, 1959, 1960), and was the National League’s batting champion twice (1956, 1959).

Aaron led the National League in home runs 4 times (1957, 1963, 1966, 1967), and he led the National League in runs batted in 4 times as well (1957, 1960, 1963, 1966). The Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers have retired his number 44. He is in the Braves Hall of Fame and is honored in the Miller Park Walk of Fame. He was selected to the Major League Baseball’s All Century Team. In 1982 Hank Aaron was enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Career Statistics

Year	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	HBP
1954	MLN	NL	122	509	468	58	131	27	6	13	69	2	28	39	0.28	0.322	0.447	0.769	104	209	3
1955	MLN	NL	153	665	602	105	189	37	9	27	106	3	49	61	0.314	0.366	0.54	0.906	141	325	3
1956	MLN	NL	153	660	609	106	200	34	14	26	92	2	37	54	0.328	0.365	0.558	0.923	151	340	2
1957	MLN	NL	151	675	615	118	198	27	6	44	132	1	57	58	0.322	0.378	0.6	0.978	166	369	0
1958	MLN	NL	153	664	601	109	196	34	4	30	95	4	59	49	0.326	0.386	0.546	0.931	152	328	1
1959	MLN	NL	154	693	629	116	223	46	7	39	123	8	51	54	0.355	0.401	0.636	1.037	182	400	4
1960	MLN	NL	153	664	590	102	172	20	11	40	126	16	60	63	0.292	0.352	0.566	0.919	156	334	2
1961	MLN	NL	155	671	603	115	197	39	10	34	120	21	56	64	0.327	0.381	0.594	0.974	163	358	2
1962	MLN	NL	156	667	592	127	191	28	6	45	128	15	66	73	0.323	0.39	0.618	1.008	170	366	3
1963	MLN	NL	161	714	631	121	201	29	4	44	130	31	78	94	0.319	0.391	0.586	0.977	179	370	0
1964	MLN	NL	145	634	570	103	187	30	2	24	95	22	62	46	0.328	0.393	0.514	0.907	153	293	0
1965	MLN	NL	150	639	570	109	181	40	1	32	89	24	60	81	0.318	0.379	0.56	0.938	161	319	1
1966	ATL	NL	158	688	603	117	168	23	1	44	127	21	76	96	0.279	0.356	0.539	0.895	142	325	1
1967	ATL	NL	155	669	600	113	184	37	3	39	109	17	63	97	0.307	0.369	0.573	0.943	168	344	0
1968	ATL	NL	160	676	606	84	174	33	4	29	86	28	64	62	0.287	0.354	0.498	0.852	153	302	1
1969	ATL	NL	147	639	547	100	164	30	3	44	97	9	87	47	0.3	0.396	0.607	1.003	177	332	2
1970	ATL	NL	150	598	516	103	154	26	1	38	118	9	74	63	0.298	0.385	0.574	0.958	149	296	2
1971	ATL	NL	139	573	495	95	162	22	3	47	118	1	71	58	0.327	0.41	0.669	1.079	194	331	2
1972	ATL	NL	129	545	449	75	119	10	0	34	77	4	92	55	0.265	0.39	0.514	0.904	147	231	1
1973	ATL	NL	120	465	392	84	118	12	1	40	96	1	68	51	0.301	0.402	0.643	1.045	177	252	1
1974	ATL	NL	112	382	340	47	91	16	0	20	69	1	39	29	0.268	0.341	0.491	0.832	128	167	0
1975	MIL	AL	137	543	465	45	109	16	2	12	60	0	70	51	0.234	0.332	0.355	0.687	95	165	1
1976	MIL	AL	85	308	271	22	62	8	0	10	35	0	35	38	0.229	0.315	0.369	0.684	102	100	0