ATLANTA — With one swing of the bat on a magical night in Atlanta 50 years ago, Hank Aaron made baseball history.
At 9:10 p.m. on the evening of April 8, 1974, the Atlanta Braves slugger became the career home run king, slamming a 1-0 fastball off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing into the left-center field bullpen at Fulton County Stadium. Home run No. 715 in the fourth inning allowed Aaron to pass Babe Ruth’s career record that had stood since 1935, tying the game at 3-3 and capping a four-run rally for the Braves. Atlanta would win the nationally televised game, 7-4.
There was an 11-minute delay to celebrate the homer, as the crowd of 53,775 roared its approval.
Aaron died on Jan. 22, 2021, at the age of 86. Aaron was an all-around athlete, a 21-time All-Star selection and a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1982.
But that moment in 1974 still resonates. Not only did the home run end a grueling chase, it also allowed Aaron to bask in triumph despite hate mail that found its way into the Atlanta locker room.
On the night of April 8, in front of a national television audience on NBC, Aaron’s star shone brightest.
Singer Pearl Bailey sang the national anthem before the game. Aaron’s father, Herbert, threw out the first pitch.
Here are two iconic broadcast calls of Aaron’s home run, starting with Braves announcer Milo Hamilton.
“He’s sitting on 714. Here’s the pitch by Downing. Swinging. There’s a drive into left-center field! That ball is gonna be … outta here!” Hamilton yelled. “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!”
And here is the call by Vin Scully, the longtime Dodgers broadcaster:
“There’s a high drive into deep left-center field ... (Bill) Buckner goes back … it is gone!”
Scully was silent for 22 seconds after the ball cleared the fence so listeners could soak in the moment.
“What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia,” Scully finally said. 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, who was met at home plate, not only by every member of the Braves, but by his father and mother.”
Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey attempted to slap hands with Aaron as he rounded the base. Dodgers second baseman Davey Lopes was the first to shake Aaron’s hand -- “the kind of shake third-base coaches give home run hitters,” author Howard Bryant wrote in his 2010 book, “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron” -- and then swatted the Braves slugger on the backside with his glove hand.
As Aaron rounded second, a pair of 17-year-old University of Georgia students -- Britt Gaston and Cliff Courtenay -- scaled the first-base stands and ran onto the field, providing a convoy for Aaron as he continued his home run trot.
Aaron gently nudged the two teens aside and continued toward home plate, where he embraced his father and then was hugged by his mother.
Gaston and Courtenay spent the night in jail.
“We were in a holding cell at the stadium for about 30 minutes, then they took us to the Decatur Street jail,” Gaston told The Post and Courier in 2010. “It was a pretty rugged place.”
They were both charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing, but the charges were dropped.
Gaston’s father, who was also at the game that night, bailed his son and Courtenay out of jail for $100 each, according to the newspaper.
Tom House, the Atlanta pitcher who caught the specially marked ball -- although 1974 was years before the memorabilia craze, the Braves’ front office staff had the foresight to mark the ball to prevent fraud -- hustled from the bullpen toward home plate to present the baseball to Aaron.
Finally, the pressure was off.
“All he said was ‘I’m going home now,’” longtime Atlanta sportswriter Wayne Minshew said. “That was it. ‘I’m going home.’”
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