Hank Aaron's 715th home run re-enacted
On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth and becoming baseball's all-time home run king -- a record that held until 2007. On the 40th anniversary of the iconic homer, ESPN.com presents a live re-enactment of Aaron's record-breaking achievement.
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Welcome to our live blog as we chronicle Hank Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record. Jayson Stark and I are on hand at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for the Braves’ home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves enter the game 1-2 after their three-game series in Cincinnati to start the season, while the Dodgers are 3-0 after sweeping the Padres. But that's all secondary to the real story of the night -- Aaron's first shot at HR No. 715 at his home ballpark.
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It's been a rainy day in Atlanta, and it's come down hard at times. But the rain has subsided for now. Still, it's lousy baseball weather; the temperature is in the 40s. But I bet these fans won't care too much about the weather if they get to see history tonight.
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Here’s a shot of Aaron warming up in the outfield earlier this evening. Behind him beyond the left-field fence is a billboard, donated by local businessman and TV station owner Ted Turner, that indicates where Aaron currently stands in the HR chase: 714.
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The Braves have dubbed it Hank Aaron Night at the ballpark, and a rather elaborate pregame ceremony began at 7 p.m. At the moment it's a festival of choirs, with the Atlanta Children's Choir, the Jonesboro High School choir and the Morris Brown College choir all performing in addition to the Third Army Band.
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Several dignitaries are at the ballpark to be a part of what could be a historic night. Among those attendance are Sammy Davis Jr., Gov. Jimmy Carter, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and Georgia Congressman Andrew Young. Davis has been involved in a movie project about Aaron’s life: The Hank Aaron Story.
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The media isn't too pleased with Braves manager Eddie Mathews at the moment. He closed the clubhouse an hour before game time, which is a violation of the agreement between the BBWAA and the league. The clubhouse is supposed to remain open until 30 minutes before the game, and he can't unilaterally make that kind of decision. He'll be hearing about that.
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The Braves are pulling out all the stops, doing a version of "This Is Your Life" for Aaron. There's a red, white and blue map of the U.S. painted on the grass in center field. Braves radio announcer Milo Hamilton is introducing family, friends, scouts and former managers as sort of a timeline biography of Aaron's life.
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They are each taking a spot on the map: John Mullen (Indianapolis), an old Braves exec who signed Aaron from the Clowns; Donald Davidson stood on Boston, where the Braves were located when they signed Aaron; Charlie Grimm, his first big league manager, is standing on Milwaukee; Ed Scott, his manager with the Mobile Black Bears, is standing on Mobile, Ala. Very cool tribute.
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Braves PR director Bob Hope, left, told me that the Braves have issued an average of 400 press credentials PER DAY. There are reporters here from Japan, South America and England, and that's highly unusual. Who would have known baseball's all-time home run record was such a global fascination.
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The media has filled the club level of the stadium AND the press box. There's such a crush of media here that the Braves have had to open the football press box for the spillover. Photographers are positioned all along the fence down both foul lines. The network anchors are here. And Aaron, who's not a big fan of the spotlight, has been doing major interviews in 15-minute segments before and after the game each day in addition to pregame and postgame press conferences. What an event!
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The stadium is near capacity, and the Braves are expecting the largest crowd ever for a Braves game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, close to 54,000 who have come hoping to witness history. To put that in perspective, there were only 17,836 here when Aaron hit No. 713 on Sept. 29, the second-to-last day of the '73 season.
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The city of Atlanta has taken the threats very seriously and has assigned Calvin Wardlaw, who is an off-duty Atlanta police officer, to be Aaron's bodyguard. He is a constant presence, escorting Aaron to and from the ballpark and even making sure he's tucked into bed at night.
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Given the racism he has encountered in the past year, Aaron has leaned heavily on the inspiration of his idol, Jackie Robinson, and his ability to endure and excel in the face of bigotry. Hank said, "I think the thing that he went through gave me the strength and the courage to fulfill my dream."
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The crowd is starting to get excited, knowing that the next batter coming to the plate will be Aaron, with a chance to make history with one swing. Meanwhile, it's begun to rain again, and umbrellas are sprouting up like colorful mushrooms around the ballpark.
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Maybe No. 715 won't be the only history Aaron makes tonight. That run was the 2,063rd of his career, breaking Willie Mays' National League record. Here are the all-time MLB leaders: Ty Cobb 2,246; Ruth 2,174; Aaron 2,063; Mays 2,062; Stan Musial 1,949.
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Even though Mays retired after last season, he and Aaron will always be intricately linked as players, because they are almost exact contemporaries. Mays' career began in 1951, and Aaron debuted in 1954. Initially, Mays had been the one chasing Ruth's record, but as his numbers began to decline, Aaron was still hammering HRs at a rapid pace. Aaron officially passed Mays on the HR list when he hit No. 649 on June 10, 1972.
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Before people start voting for Mays on that poll question, they might be interested in the take of another great player from the same generation, a guy named Mickey Mantle. He said the best player of that time has been Aaron: "As far as I'm concerned, [Hank] Aaron is the best ballplayer of my era. He is to baseball of the last 15 years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He's never received the credit he's due."
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If there’s anything you ever wanted to know about Aaron, you’ll find it in the Hank Aaron media guide, which is the creation of Hope’s PR staff. It’s dozens of pages long, and opens with the following words: “The Greatest Sports Story in America Is Taking Place in Atlanta.” The media guide is one of a kind in that no team has ever produced one on one player. But the Braves have been doing it for the past two seasons.
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In the visiting clubhouse after the game, Downing talked about the fateful pitch: "It was a fastball down the middle of the upper part of the plate. I was trying to get it down to him, but I didn't. He's a great hitter. When he picks his pitch, he's pretty certain that's the pitch he's looking for. Chances are he's gonna hit it pretty good. When he did hit it, I didn't think it was out because I was watching Wynn, and Buckner. But the ball just kept carrying and carrying."
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Forget the fact that we baseball writers are writing on deadline. Mathews closed the Braves clubhouse for an hour after the game to celebrate the moment together as a team. “I stood up on a table and said what I thought about Hank," Mathews said, "which was that he was the best ballplayer I ever saw in my life. Then we had champagne and everybody toasted him.”
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For Aaron, tonight's home run was a crowning achievement. But to stop there would fall well short of grasping the significance of No. 715. He has played his entire career in the relative small-market obscurity of Milwaukee and Atlanta. He's played in the shadow of Mays and Mantle and Roberto Clemente. He's played with less flair, less outward emotion, less dramatic urgency. He's never been the most charismatic or quotable personality. He's never been a celebrity hound or finger-pointer or troublemaker.
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What Hank Aaron has always been is a modest man with rare talent as a ballplayer who in the midst of intense scrutiny and racially charged virtiol quietly chased a record held by the game's greatest icon. Much to the chagrin of ignorant bigots everywhere, Aaron did it with class, dignity, courage and skill. And on this night, standing in the heart of Georgia with all of America watching, he hit one more home run than any other human being, black or white, ever has in the history of Major League Baseball. No. 715 doesn't just mark the arrival of a home run champion. It's the coronation of an American hero named Henry Louis Aaron.
