You'll have to bear with me today, as we celebrate a milestone that just missed being Milwaukee-relevant. When the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season, Hank Aaron was sitting on 398 career home runs. On this day in 1966 he hit career homers #399 and 400 in the new Atlanta Braves' 8-1 win over the Reds.
Those homers were the first two of 44 on the season for Aaron, as he led the National League for the third time in his career. He also drove in 127 runs that season, also an NL-high. His .895 OPS that season was his lowest since his rookie year in 1954, but Aaron still finished eighth in the league MVP voting.
Aaron eventually returned to Milwaukee as a member of the Brewers in 1975. He hit his second home run as a Brewer and his 400th representing the city of Milwaukee on April 26 of that year.
With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- Nashville Sound Donovan Hand, who turns 26.
- 2009 Brewer Chris Duffy, who turns 32.
- 2011 Brewer Sean Green, who turns 33.
Today is also the 24th anniversary of an 8-6 Brewer win over the Orioles in 1988 that dropped Baltimore to 0-14. We covered that event in this space last year.