Some athletes ruin their careers right before our eyes and others simply (and unfortunately) retire too late. There are also sports professionals who sell their souls for paychecks and ones who are poorer than you thought. And then, there was Hank Aaron who was an absolute icon. Sadly, in January 2021, the world said goodbye to the baseball legend when Aaron died at the age of 86. “Henry Louis ‘Hank’ Aaron … lived a life as an ambassador to the game,” CNN pointed out, while also noting that the cause of Aaron’s death had not yet been released.
The Atlanta Braves put out a statement (via CNN) regarding the death of their former player, saying, “It is with great sadness we share the passing of our home run king, Hank Aaron, who passed away peacefully in his sleep.” Major League Baseball also addressed the news, taking to Twitter to share messages from other professional players while also tweeting, “We are devastated by the passing of Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, one of the greatest players and people in the history of our game.”
While fans are also surely saddened by Aaron’s death, they can still look back fondly on his career which brought him both fame and fortune.
Hank Aaron died a legend and a millionaire
Baseball stars can make a lot (like a shocking and staggering amount) of money these days. Just take a look at outfielder Mike Trout who’s worth $60 million and brings in about $35 million a year, according to Celebrity Net Worth. MLB player Bryce Harper’s salary may be more in the $27 million range, but he’s worth $70 million in total. However, neither of their fortunes can match the kind of funds that Alex Rodriguez has thanks to the money he made both during his playing days and after he retired which has left him with a net worth of $350 million.
As for Hank Aaron, he was considered to be “[o]ne of the sport’s great stars despite playing for the small-market Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves throughout a major league career that spanned from 1954 to 1976,” according to ESPN. Leaving behind a legacy that included impressive stats and the fact that he “broke Babe Ruth’s hallowed home run mark less than a week into the 1974 season,” he also “finished [his playing days] with 755 career home runs, a mark that stood as the major league record until Barry Bonds broke it in 2007.”
While that kind of performance could have earned Aaron a massive amount of money if he was playing in the current MLB, he was still worth $25 million at the time of his death. That means that he was both a legend and a millionaire.
