The "If Only I Had Been There!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Date was April 8, 1974.  And, the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing the Atlanta Braves at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.  Do you have any idea as to what I am about to write about today?  I should start first with a bit of background into baseball history.  

George Herman Ruth "The Babe"

George Herman Ruth Jr. was a professional baseball player who was born on February 6, 1895 in nearby Baltimore, Maryland.  He was one of 8 children who got into quite a bit of trouble along the waterfront.  So, his parents sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic orphanage and reformatory where he lived for the next 12 years.  One of the monks introduced him to the sport of baseball.  He caught the eye of minor league scout Jack Dunn who then became Ruth's legal guardian and signed him to play for the Baltimore Orioles which at the time was a minor league team.  It was at that moment that he became known as "Babe" Ruth.  In his first year with the Red Sox, 1919, he hit 29 homers.  The following year, after being traded to the New York Yankees, he hit 54 and followed that with 59 home runs in 1921 and 60 in 1927.  After 10 seasons he was baseball's all-time home run leader.   He was so popular that when New York build Yankee Stadium in 1923 it was known and "the house that Ruth built." Over the course of his career he led the league in home runs 12 times, had the most total bases in a season,(457), highest slugging % for a season (.847) and hit 714 home runs.  And, he even took time off in 1927 to star with Anna Q. Nilsson in the First National silent production "Babe Comes Home."  But, my story really isn't about the "Babe".  

Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron

It is about a player by the name of Henry Louis Aaron who was born February 5, 1934.  He had seven siblings, one of whom was Tommie Aaron who ended up playing baseball with his brother.  Henry appeared briefly in the Negro American League before starting his major league career on April 13, 1954.  By his final Major League season he was the last Negro league baseball player on a major league team.  I loved watching him play and remember him only as a right fielder.  He was an All-Star for 21 seasons from 1955 to 1975 and was a Gold Glove winner for three seasons and the National League Most Valuable Player in 1957 when he led them to the the World Series Title against the NY Yankees.  I could go on and on with quite a few other awards, but the reason for my story is about his prowess in the area of hitting home runs for it was on April 8, 1974 that he hit his 715 home run to break "The Babe's" record.  During the end of the previous year he began to get bundles of mail, some wishing him the best of luck in trying to break the record, but also many hate letters.  Then during the offseason of 1973-1974 he began getting death threats.  

Home Run #715

One letter threatened to assassinate Aaron and warned him that he'd be the one wearing the red coat when he pulled the trigger.  Many didn't want him to break Ruth's sacrosanct home run record, but many also didn't want to see a black man break the record of a white man.  Mr. Lewis Grizzard was the sport's editor of the Atlanta Journal and was called a "n-lover" for covering Aaron's chase of Ruth.  One of the stories he wrote was Henry Aaron's obituary fearing Aaron would be murdered if and when he broke the record.  By the end of 1973 the US Postal Service presented Aaron with a plaque for receiving the most mail than any other person except politicians (930,000 pieces).  Well, on April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people arrived for the game which was a Braves record.  

Article on the front page of the Sports section of
the Lancaster New Era the following morning.

The game was also broadcast on national TV.  Then in the 4th inning "Hammerin' Hank" came to bat.  Al Downing was pitching for the Dodgers when Hank hit his record breaking #715.  Friend and teammate Ralph Garr was sitting in the Braves' dugout and Dusty Baker was knelling in the on-deck circle while Hank walked to the plate.  He told Baker, "I'm going to get this over with right now!"  Two pitches later the ball sailed over the left-field fence as a nation roared.  Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully made the call on TV:  "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 the record of an all-time baseball idol."  Baker and Garr instantly saw the tremendous burden lifted off the shoulder's of their best friend.  The hate mail slowed and the death threats stopped.  The fear dissipated.  And, luckily the guy in the red coat never appeared.  Henry Aaron brought the whites and blacks together that sunny day in 1974, if just for a moment in time.  They were brought together by the right man at the right time.  His homers record has been broken since, but for me it still is tops on my list!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Make sure you watch the following video and listen to announcer, Vin Scully make the call.  I am sorry I can't eliminate the ad that appears over the video!