Monday is the 50th anniversary of the great Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th home run in Atlanta. This feat not only broke a pro baseball record but also smashed the color barrier.
Aaron’s hit occurred on April 8, 1974, against Dodgers pitcher Al Downing before a sellout crowd of 53,775 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in a game that ended up a 7-4 victory for Atlanta.
“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,” legendary broadcaster Vin Scully said into the mic as Aaron trotted the bases.
The stadium absolutely erupted in glee when the ball sailed over the fence. Everyone knew they had just witnessed the greatest moment in sports to date.
“It was the greatest moment of my lifetime,” Braves player Ralph Garr said, according to USA Today. “I don’t care if you’re talking about the first time a man walked on the moon or anything that ever happened in this country. It was one of the greatest feats on earth. Nothing will ever top the night Hank broke the record.”
“Hank and Babe Ruth together in baseball history. What a blessing it was to witness it,” Garr added.
“He was such a marvelous human being,” Garr continued. “As great a ballplayer Hank was, Lord, he was even a better person. You couldn’t have a better human being than Hank. He led by example and treated everyone with the same respect. Black, white, young, old, everyone. He helped everyone.”
“Hank Aaron left a legacy not only for minorities but for everybody,” Garr insisted. “He was one of a kind. Someone else may come along and hit more home runs. Someone may have a greater career.”
“But I’m telling you, there will never be another man like him.”
Still, while we can look back now at Aaron’s feat as a huge moment for all Americans, it should also be remembered that overt, extreme racism was not yet quelled as a national plague, and there were plenty of loud, persistent threats aimed at Aaron’s life should he dare to break the home run record set by a white man.
Managers, players, and stadium security were looking for a “man in a red jacket” who was said to be preparing to kill Aaron if and when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record.
“We were scared to death,” said Aaron’s teammate Dusty Baker. “We didn’t know what was going to happen.”
“We were scared to death,” Baker added. “Me and Ralph couldn’t even watch the game. We kept looking for the guy in the red coat the whole game. Hank acted like it didn’t bother him. But I know there was pain. A lot of pain.”
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 700th home run against the Phils here. The 39-year-old outfielder is not just 14 home runs behind Babe Ruth’s home run record of 714. Aaron insisted the “magic threshold” of 700 was just another number.
Aaron admitted in 2014 that it was a tense time for him, not just with the pressure of sports achievement but also with race relations.
“I was being thrown to the wolves,” Aaron said of how he was being treated in 1974. “Even though I did something great, nobody wanted to be a part of it. I was so isolated. I couldn’t share it. For many years, even after Jackie Robinson, baseball was so segregated, really. You just didn’t expect us to have a chance to do anything. Baseball was meant for the lily white.”
“Now, here’s a record that nobody thought would be broken, and, all of a sudden, who breaks it but a black person,” he added.
Aaron went on to hit 40 more home runs that season and finished with a career of 755 homers, a record that has only been broken once by Barry Bonds, who achieved a record of 762 home runs in his career.
Indeed, the top home run records are so hard to beat that Aaron is still number two and Ruth number three on the all-time home run records list. Aaron still holds several other records. His 2,297 RBI and 6,856 total bases remain the big league’s greatest achievements.
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