April 8, 1974. Opening day at the old Atlanta Stadium (before the name was changed to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron had finished the previous season with a lifetime total of 713 home runs and was poised to tie, then break Babe Ruth’s lifetime record of 714.
The Braves opened on the road in Cincinnati in ’74, and Braves management had floated the idea of having Aaron sit out the games in Cincy so he could both tie and break the Babe’s record in front of the home crowd. But Commissioner Bowie Kuhn would have none of that; he ordered Aaron to play, and as a result, the record was tied at Riverfront Stadium. (Then Kuhn didn’t even bother coming to Atlanta for the Braves opening series, the jerk!)
In the meantime, Bill, Scott, Tom, and I had been making plans. As soon as advance tickets for opening day went on sale, we pounced. Aaron’s homers generally went to left center field. We bought four tickets in the first row in the outfield for each game in that opening series with the Dodgers in the area where we thought the homer would go. Earlier in the week, Sammy Davis, Jr. had announced he would give $50,000 to the person who caught Aaron’s 715th homer, so that he could then give the ball to Aaron. On our way into the stadium, the four of us made a solemn pact that if any of us caught the ball, we’d divide the money four ways.
It was a cold April night, with a hint of rain in the air. Aaron’s first at bat was uneventful. He walked in the second, and the crowd didn’t like it. “Pitch to him, dammit!” someone a few rows behind us yelled. The fact that he eventually scored on a Dusty Baker double and a Bill Buckner error (and in the process, set the National League record for runs scored) was less than satisfying.
In the fourth inning, with Darrell Evans on base, Al Downing’s first pitch to Hank was a ball, and a chorus of boos rained down on the Dodger pitcher. It was as though Downing had thought, “let’s get it over with,” because his next pitch was a slider over the middle of the plate. Aaron swung, and the ball came right at us! But it didn’t quite make the stands. It cleared the fence and landed in the Braves bullpen right below us. Braves reliever Tom House retrieved the ball (thus saving Sammy Davis, Jr. $50,000) In the meantime 53,000 people in the stadium went crazy. I’d never seen anything like it. I guess the ovation lasted a good five minutes, with strangers high-fiving and hugging. Two college kids jumped out of the stands, met Aaron at second base, and ran to third with him before they were muscled off the field. Presentations and speeches followed.
And then probably 40,000 of the 53,000 people left! It was a crummy night, but I always thought it was incredibly lame of those mere spectators (they certainly weren’t fans!). It was a shame, because what followed was a dandy baseball game. Aaron’s homer had tied the game at three. The Braves scored two more runs run in the fourth after play resumed to pull ahead 5-3. But LA scored a run in the top of the sixth to pull within one. The Braves followed with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull ahead 7-4, and that’s how the game finished. Aaron grounded out twice after breaking Ruth’s record.
Tonight, they will show that moment from thirty years ago over and over on TV. I’ll point to the front row in left center and say, “That’s where we were sitting – that’s us!” I’ll call Tom, Bill, and Scott and remind them (as if they could forget) where we were. I’m the only one of the four of us still living in Atlanta.
Were any other Dopers at that game? Who’s old enough to even remember it?
And, yes, Bonds has only 96 more to go before he breaks Aaron’s record. We’ll see…