DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/06/07
The day Hank Aaron hit his 755th and final home run, there were 10,000 fans at Milwaukee County Stadium.
He was playing out his twilight year in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform, in the city where he first rose to fame with the Braves before they'd moved to Atlanta. Aaron was the designated hitter that day on a Brewers team that was in last place and playing another last-place team in the California Angels.
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| Richard Arndt posed with Hank Aaron's 755th home run ball in a New Mexico bank vault in 1996. | ||
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It was July 20, 1976. The pitch was a hanging first-pitch slider from reliever Dick Drago. The solo shot over the left field fence made it 5-1 in the 7th inning.
Nobody knew that would be Aaron's last home run. But a member of the Milwaukee grounds crew named Richard Arndt knew there was always a chance. And for one time in his life, he felt he was in exactly the right place at the right time. Arndt, who grew up a Braves fan in Madison, Wis., a secured home run ball No. 755 and sold it 23 years later for some $650,000.
He spoke with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently, as Barry Bonds was closing in on 755. But to Arndt, 60, a social worker in Albuquerque, Aaron will always be the home run king.
Arndt discusses what that July day was like and more, in his own words:
How he became a groundskeeper
"In 1972 I put in an application to work on the grounds crew as a part-time job here in Albuquerque for the [Class AAA] Albuquerque Dukes. And then I had an opportunity to go to Milwaukee at the end of the '75 season. They were looking for somebody who was bilingual to work up as a counselor in the department of vocational rehabilitation. They needed somebody who could speak Spanish with the people who were going up there to work in the fields. ... At that time we had one child and I went over to Milwaukee County Stadium and put in an application."
His responsibilities that day
"Three of us had to sit out there by the left field foul pole. My responsibility was to jump over a fence and open up a gate. Another member of the grounds crew then got in his little cart and went out to the center field bleachers to bring in the relief pitcher."
Whether he thought an Aaron home run might come his way
"I believe it was the previous one he hit, 754, the Brewers were playing the Texas Rangers in a doubleheader the Sunday afternoon before the All-Star break. Hank Aaron hit the game-winning home run [in the second game]. That ball bounced about 5-10 feet in front of where I was sitting. An employee for the Brewers grounds crew got that ball. ... This fellow shows up and shows us this ball that Hank signed. We were all wondering, 'Gosh, how lucky could he get?' I told these guys 'I'm going to bring my glove because I'm going to catch one of these home runs."
What happened when Aaron hit 755?
"It must have gone 10 or 15 feet right over my head. It was a line drive. It hit the end seat right beside a concrete walkway that would take you up the steps. And instead of ricocheting off, it fell right in there and it stayed. I ran and grabbed it just before anybody else got there. ... About four of us were pretty close, and I just happened to get there first."
The Brewers wanted the ball for Aaron
"I just felt like 'Gosh I had retrieved the ball,' and I thought I'd have the right to at least present it to him, rather than have it given to him by some other member of the Brewers organization. ... [After being told to meet Aaron by the dugout] I was fully anticipating that I was going to meet with Hank. Well Hank wasn't there. It turned out that I was introduced to the Brewers' equipment manager. He said 'Hank is busy. He's packing. They're getting ready to go to a road trip. We'll give you another ball that he'll sign for you and one of his bats and then when he comes back we'll take a picture of you with him.' I was a little disappointed because I was expecting I was going to meet with Hank, not the equipment manager. And so I said 'Well, let me think about it.' "
His thoughts, with the ball in his pocket, tidying up the bullpen
"I had no way of knowing that this was going to be his last home run, but I just said 'Here's a home run ball that Hank hit, and I don't know what it's worth, but it was something that I had got.' I've told people for once in my life I was probably in the right place at the right time. Just happened to be. You can call it God's will or you can call it coincidence I don't know, but it just worked out that way. ... If Hank had been there, if he had said 'I'd like to get that ball back,' I don't think I would have refused. It was just disappointing that I didn't meet with him."
What happened when he did not turn the ball over?
"The next morning, I got a call from my supervisor stating that I was being fired for taking Brewers property. ... And then out of my last check, they took $5. So at that point, people said the ball was definitely mine because that's the value that they put on the ball. It was on the check stub under 'miscellaneous deduction.' "
His first meeting with Aaron
"After a game [later that summer] I went down beneath the stadium where he parked his car, and I waited for him to come out. ... I approached him and I said 'Hank would you please sign this ball,' I handed him the ball, and I said 'Would you mind putting 755 on it?' At that point, he said, 'No, no, no I won't do that.' He said 'You were supposed to have given me this ball back.' I said 'Well, it just didn't work out the way the plan was.' So he gave me the ball back. He could have put it in his pocket right there. I have to give him credit."
The first offer for the ball from Magnavox
"Hank was doing promotional work with them and they wanted the ball because, as they set up a new Magnavox dealership around the country, they wanted to have some of his memorabilia for demonstration purposes. They offered me $1,000 and they were going to give me a color TV set. $1,000 in 1976 to us, my wife was expecting — that sounded like a great deal. And I was very seriously thinking about doing that, but finally I decided no, I'm just going to keep the ball. ... We came back down [to Albuquerque] and I put the ball in a safety deposit box in a local bank and pretty much forgot about it. I never really looked at it. I had it in kind of a little plastic bag inside a safety deposit box."
Getting Aaron to unknowingly sign the 755 ball at a card show in Phoenix
"I don't know why that is such a controversial thing. ... but I took it over to Phoenix. He was going to be over there at a card show. I stood in line with probably several hundred other people and I approached him and had him sign the ball and that was it. I just thought that would probably help authenticate it and who knows how many thousands of baseballs Hank has signed. I really don't think that added that much value to the ball. I think I may have paid maybe $10 or $15 or $20 for his signature. I didn't tell him like I had in Milwaukee that this is 755. I thought about saying it, but I felt like if I say that I'm probably going to create a riot here because I don't know how he's going to respond and there's all these people behind me who are going to be very upset if Hank gets mad and doesn't want to sign autographs."
Turning down Aaron's offer made through his agent to buy the ball for $5,000, and another offer through a memorabilia guru
"People told me: this ball is valuable. Hang onto it. Nobody is ever going to break this record. Nobody is ever going to hit 756 home runs. The longer you keep it the more valuable it is. Well it probably cost me $20 a year to keep it in a safety deposit box in Albuquerque. It wasn't like I had to have an expensive insurance policy on it, but I decided that I was going to keep it."
Selling the ball for $650,000 to a portfolio manager in Connecticut in 1999 and agreeing to donate 25 percent of net proceeds to Aaron's Chasing the Dream charity
"I have a lot of respect for Hank and if it's going to Chasing the Dream, I don't mind helping. ... Uncle Sam got a good percentage, so did the state of New Mexico. I gave money to my two children and money to the church. I bought some property in Wisconsin. I might build some sort of a retirement home there. I still feel loyal to the state."
Bonds' chase
"I'm sad to see the record broken. Hank will always be the home run champion to me. And I don't think Barry Bonds will have the record for very long. I think Alex Rodriguez will break the record."
The legacy of the 755 ball
"It gives me a close connection forever with one of my childhood heroes."
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