Ron Gant

Did You Know?

• Gant was born in Victoria, Texas, to George Gant, a chemistry professor, and Alice Hardeman, a special education teacher.
• He played football and baseball in high school and turned down college scholarship offers from Texas and Oklahoma to play professionally.
• During the 2005 MLB season, Gant worked as a color commentator for the Atlanta Braves on TBS and later as an analyst on SportSouth and the MLB Network.

Playing career

Gant was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the 1983 MLB draft, 100th overall. After winning the Bill Lucas Award as the Braves' Minor League Player of the Year in 1986, he joined the team as a September call-up, collecting 22 hits in 83 at-bats with two home runs. The following season, the rookie was an everyday player for the Braves, who finished 54–106. Following a disappointing sophomore year, Gant was sent to the minors to learn outfield play.

He returned to form in 1990, batting .303 with 32 home runs and 84 RBI, earning National League Comeback Player of the Year honors from The Sporting News. At that time, only Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds had achieved two consecutive 30–30 seasons; Barry Bonds later surpassed this with three straight. In 1992, Gant hit .251 with over 100 strikeouts and 23 fewer hits in 14 fewer at-bats, though his RBI total rose to 105. The Braves lost the 1991 World Series to the Minnesota Twins in seven games; Gant batted .267 with four RBIs.

During Game 2, a controversial play occurred when Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek tagged Gant, who claimed Hrbek pulled his leg off the base. New York Times writer Claire Smith noted that Hrbek appeared to lift Gant's leg off the bag, and the Braves' bench emptied during the argument.

Personal life

In 1992, Gant was in a Georgia bar fight with Connie Mack IV, a descendant of the baseball legend. Mack broke his ankle, but a jury cleared Gant of responsibility. Then, in February 2005, Gant’s SUV hit a pickup truck in Fulton County, killing the other driver. That June, Gant and his wife helped Georgia authorities set up a sting that caught six people in a mortgage fraud plot tied to the sale of their Alpharetta home; the scheme could have made over $800,000. By 2015, Gant was living in Suwanee, Georgia, with his five children—one son and four daughters.