BASEBALL; Milwaukee says, 'Sorry, Hank'

Yankee Stadium is informally known as the "House that Ruth Built," but that's as close as any current ballpark comes to bearing a player's name. Earlier this summer a move was afoot in Milwaukee to have County Stadium renamed for Hank Aaron, the home run king who began his career there. The proposal was flatly rejected by the Milwaukee county Board of Supervisors, who voted it down 4-0.

"With all due respect to Hank," said James Koconis, one of the supervisors, "I believe the stadium should be a tribute to the taxpayers. After all, we haven't named the courthouse after a judge."

Just four of today's 26 major league parks are named after individuals, three for the men who built them (Comiskey, Wrigley, and Busch) and one for an attorney instrumental in returning a National League club to New York (Shea).

The only stadium ever to carry a diamond hero's name may have been Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium, former home of the Phillies and Athletics. In 1953, three years after Mack ended a 50-year managing career with the A's, shibe Park was renamed for him. The Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955, and the Phil lies to Veterans Stadium in 1971.

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