You voted in our bracket of best Wisconsin athletes, and here's your winner
For many sports fans, one of the best parts of March Madness is that it transitions smoothly into baseball season. And so has our bracket of greatest Wisconsin athletes.
With 2,095 votes for our championship match, Hank Aaron brought in 68.4% of the vote to bypass Giannis Antetokounmpo for the honor of the greatest Wisconsin athlete. Give Giannis time to catch Hammerin' Hank, but perhaps it's hard to compete with 14 seasons in Milwaukee (12 as a Milwaukee Brave, two as a Milwaukee Brewer), all-star appearances in 12 of those years and 420 of his 755 career home runs.
Aaron, regarded as one of the greatest players in baseball history, played for the Braves from 1954 to 1965, then returned to the Brewers for the 1975 and 1976 season. The MVP of the 1957 season (when the Braves won the World Series) won three Gold Gloves as an outfielder and batted .320 during his Milwaukee Braves tenure with a .943 OPS.
More:Baseball legend Hank Aaron, who began and ended his big-league career in Milwaukee, dies at 86
Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP who led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship, is in the middle of his story's creation, though he's already fashioned a Hall of Fame career.
How the Best Athlete in Wisconsin Sports History bracket came together
Our bracket was a little different, pitting athletes against each other to settle classic micro-arguments before advancing to the later stages. So Giannis first had to topple Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the first round, and Aaron topped his fellow Milwaukee Braves luminary, Warren Spahn.
Along the way, Aaron also bypassed speedskating legend Eric Heiden and Olympian Suzy Favor-Hamilton to win the Wild Card region, then defeated Packers region winner Bart Starr in the Final Four before getting to Giannis, who beat Oscar Robertson and Robin Yount in the Brewers/Bucks region before toppling College region champion J.J. Watt in the Final Four.
Here's how it went down:
Brewers/Bucks region
Robin Yount def. Paul Molitor
Ryan Braun def. Prince Fielder
Giannis Antetokounmpo def. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Oscar Robertson def. Sidney Moncrief
(second round) Robin Yount def. Ryan Braun
(second round) Giannis Antetokounmpo def. Oscar Robertson
(regional final) Giannis Antetokounmpo def. Robin Yount
College region
Butch Lee def. Bo Ellis
Dwyane Wade def. Frank Kaminsky
J.J. Watt def. Joe Thomas
Ron Dayne def. Alan Ameche
(second round) Dwyane Wade def. Butch Lee
(second round) J.J. Watt def. Ron Dayne
(regional final) J.J. Watt def. Dwyane Wade
Packers region
Aaron Rodgers def. Brett Favre
Reggie White def. Ray Nitschke
Bart Starr def. Forrest Gregg
Don Hutson def. Jim Taylor
(second round) Reggie White def. Aaron Rodgers
(second round) Bart Starr def. Don Hutson
(regional final) Bart Starr def. Reggie White
Wild Card region
Hank Aaron def. Warren Spahn
Eric Heiden def. Bonnie Blair
Arike Ogunbowale def. Sonja Henning
Suzy Favor-Hamilton def. Molly Seidel
(second round) Hank Aaron def. Eric Heiden
(second round) Suzy Favor-Hamilton def. Arike Ogunbowale
(regional final) Hank Aaron def. Suzy Favor-Hamilton
Final Four
Hank Aaron def. Bart Starr
Giannis Antetokounmpo def. J.J. Watt
(championship) Hank Aaron def. Giannis Antetokounmpo
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hank Aaron voted best athlete in Wisconsin sports history, say readers
