45 Years Ago Today; Hank Aaron hits home run 715, beating Babe Ruth's record

[Dennis Donovan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron#Breaking_Ruth's_record



Breaking Ruth's record
Aaron himself downplayed the "chase" to surpass Babe Ruth, while baseball enthusiasts and the national media grew increasingly excited as he closed in on the 714 career home runs record. Aaron received thousands of letters every week during the summer of 1973, including hate mail; the Braves ended up hiring a secretary to help him sort through it.

Aaron (then age 39) hit 40 home runs in 392 at-bats, ending the 1973 season one home run short of the record. He hit home run number 713 on September 29, 1973, and with one day remaining in the season, many expected him to tie the record. But in his final game that year, playing against the Houston Astros (managed by Leo Durocher, who had once roomed with Babe Ruth), he was unable to achieve this. After the game, Aaron stated that his only fear was that he might not live to see the 1974 season.

He was the recipient of death threats during the 1973–1974 offseason and a large assortment of hate mail from people who did not want to see Aaron break Ruth's nearly sacrosanct home run record. The threats extended to those providing positive press coverage of Aaron. Lewis Grizzard, then sports editor of the Atlanta Journal, reported receiving numerous phone calls calling journalists "nigger lovers" for covering Aaron's chase. While preparing the massive coverage of the home run record, he quietly had an obituary written, afraid that Aaron might be murdered.

Sports Illustrated pointedly summarized the racist vitriol that Aaron was forced to endure:

Is this to be the year in which Aaron, at the age of thirty-nine, takes a moon walk above one of the most hallowed individual records in American sport ... ? Or will it be remembered as the season in which Aaron, the most dignified of athletes, was besieged with hate mail and trapped by the cobwebs and goblins that lurk in baseball's attic?

At the end of the 1973 season, Aaron received a plaque from the US Postal Service for receiving more mail (930,000 pieces) than any person excluding politicians. Aaron received an outpouring of public support in response to the bigotry. Newspaper cartoonist Charles Schulz created a series of Peanuts strips printed in August 1973 in which Snoopy attempts to break the Ruth record, only to be besieged with hate mail. Lucy says in the August 11 strip, "Hank Aaron is a great player ... but you! If you break Babe Ruth's record, it'll be a disgrace!" Coincidentally, Snoopy was only one home run short of tying the record (and finished the season as such when Charlie Brown got picked off during Snoopy's last at-bat), and as it turned out, Aaron finished the 1973 season one home run short of Ruth. Babe Ruth's widow, Claire Hodgson, denounced the racism and declared that her husband would have enthusiastically cheered Aaron's attempt at the record. As the 1974 season began, Aaron's pursuit of the record caused a small controversy. The Braves opened the season on the road in Cincinnati with a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Braves management wanted him to break the record in Atlanta, and were therefore going to have Aaron sit out the first three games of the season. But Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ruled that he had to play two games in the first series. He played two out of three, tying Babe Ruth's record, April 4, 1974, in his very first at bat—on his first swing of the season—off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham, but did not hit another home run in the series.


The fence outside of Turner Field over which Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run still exists

The Braves returned to Atlanta, and on April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people showed up for the game—a Braves attendance record. The game was also broadcast nationally on NBC. In the fourth inning, Aaron hit home run number 715 off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing. Although Dodgers outfielder Bill Buckner nearly went over the outfield wall trying to catch it, the ball landed in the Braves' bullpen, where relief pitcher Tom House caught it. While cannons were fired in celebration, two college students sprinted onto the field and jogged alongside Aaron for part of his circuit around the bases, temporarily startling him. A very youthful Craig Sager actually interviewed Aaron between third and home for a television station, WXLT (now WWSB-Channel 40) in Sarasota. As the fans cheered wildly, Aaron's parents ran onto the field as well. Braves announcer Milo Hamilton, calling the game on WSB radio, described the scene as Aaron broke the record: "Henry Aaron, in the second inning walked and scored. He's sittin' on 714. Here's the pitch by Downing. Swinging. There's a drive into left-center field. That ball is gonna be-eee ... Outta here! It's gone! It's 715! There's a new home run champion of all time, and it's Henry Aaron! The fireworks are going. Henry Aaron is coming around third. His teammates are at home plate. And listen to this crowd!" Meanwhile, Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully addressed the racial tension—or apparent lack thereof—in his call of the home run: "What a marvelous moment for baseball; what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia; what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron. ... And for the first time in a long time, that poker face in Aaron shows the tremendous strain and relief of what it must have been like to live with for the past several months." On October 2, 1974, Aaron hit his 733rd home run in his last at bat as a Braves player. Thirty days later, after Aaron decided not to retire, the Braves traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for Roger Alexander and Dave May. The trade re-united Aaron with former teammate Del Crandall, who was now managing the Brewers. On May 1, 1975, Aaron broke baseball's all-time RBI record, previously held by Ruth with 2,213. That year, he also played in his last and 24th All-Star Game (25th All-Star Game selection) ; he lined out to Dave Concepción as a pinch-hitter in the second inning. This All-Star Game, like the first one he played in 1955, was before a home crowd at Milwaukee County Stadium.

Aaron hit his 755th and final home run on July 20, 1976, at Milwaukee County Stadium off Dick Drago of the California Angels, which stood as the MLB career home run record until it was broken in 2007 by Barry Bonds. Over the course of his record-breaking 23-year career, Aaron had a batting average of .305 with 163 hits a season, while hitting an average of just over 32 home runs a year and knocking home 99 runs batted in (RBIs) a year. He had 100+ RBIs in a season 15 times, including a record 13 in a row.


The Braves' jersey Hank Aaron wore when he broke Babe Ruth's career home run record in 1974

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[Vinnie From Indy]

1. I was a little kid when this happened and I still remember it vividly.

I had stayed home sick from school and, because NBC was televising the game nationally, I got to see him hit 715.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Me too! I was 8.

It was a huge deal!

[bullwinkle428]

11. I thought it was a night game - I recall watching it live as a 9-year-old too!

[LenaBaby61]

3. I was in my living room ....

With my late Father, age 13, Listening to/watching Vin Scully broadcasting the game.

Here it is all these years later, and I didn't know then how deep the racial hatred directed towards Hank & family was. My late parents told me "Baby, you'll understand it all much better when you're grown and REALLY out in that world out there."

They never steered me wrong on anything concerning LIFE.

[LenaBaby61]

4. Hank is a ....

Living legend, and wonderful human being. God Bless him/his family and his elderly frightened, southern parents for going through all of that racial hatred they endured just because Hank had the nerve to break a white man's home run record not that very long ago when you think about it 🤔

[argyl]

5. Hammerin' Hank. He was something.

He broke another of Ruth's home run records in 1966. Between 1954 and 1966 Aaron and teammate Eddie Matthews combined for a total of 863 homers. Aaron hit 442 and Matthews hit 421. That put them ahead of the tandem of Ruth and Gehrig.

And no way did I have that little stat handy; I ran across it on Google.

[Takket]

6. To true baseball fans he is still the HR champ

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Something doesn't add up.

His first All-Star game was 1955. They write that he played in 24 (selected for 25). That would put the 24th in 1978, not 1975. Then they say he had a 23 year career, last playing in 1976.

I don't think they play more than one All-Star game a year, but I don't follow sports so what do I know?

So I looked him up on Wikipedia, and thence to All-Star game and it turns out there were two a year from 1959 to 1962 (four extra).

[maveric]

12. They used to play two a year. Late 50s-early 60s.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Thx already in mine "two a year from 1959 to 1962 (four extra)". All the same I appreciate your post

[MaryMagdaline]

8. This seems like yesterday. Atlanta was going nuts!

[edbermac]

9. I remember those idiots who ran onto the field.

That was HIS moment, not yours.

[gratuitous]

10. It was a chilly evening in Atlanta

After the momentous home run, the crowd thinned out very quickly, as I recall. Aaron was subsequently elected to the Baseball Writers Hall of Fame being named on 97.8% of the ballots. Which is to say, not unanimously.

[robbob]

14. I loved the comment from the Babes widow...

About how he would have been cheering Hank on. To which I would add: Babe Ruth set a record that held up for almost 40 years; that’s plenty to be proud of. The racial hatred that exists in the USA is absolutely appalling.