hopped off of the school bus — I had to take the bus because junior high (middle school) was in Blencoe, a town of two hundred people about 8 miles south of Onawa — and began the several-block walk home in the cool spring air blanketed with warm sunshine.
I could see, about three blocks in front of me, my brother was racing toward me at a rapid clip. He had a sheet of paper clenched tightly in his hand, and he was shouting something. I couldn’t hear him at first, but then the wind quieted down and Barry stopped in front of me, making an abrupt halt.
“He did it! He did it!” Barry exclaimed.
I knew exactly he was talking about, but I was surprised because usually it takes longer than the opening day of the baseball season for miracles to happen.
Hank Aaron, one of baseball’s most respected sluggers, on the first at-bat of the season — on his first SWING of the season — blasted a home run off of pitcher Jack Billingham of the Cincinnati Reds. Hank, of course, was a Brave.
That home run was the 714th of his career, thus tying him with Babe Ruth for the all-time HR record. He had ended the previous season locked in at 713 … and the whole winter took impossibly, unquestionably, aggravatingly way too long. I read magazine after magazine, book after book, all articles and chapters on Hank Aaron.
I believe he still has the record for total RBIs and maybe second on runs scored. Hank never hit more than 47 hrs in a season, and that being just twice (well, one at 47 and one at 45). But Hank was consistent at a high level. He hit more than twenty HRs a year for twenty straight years. He had a lifetime batting average of .305, leading the National League with a .355 average in 1959. Besides hitting, he was also fast — multiple seasons with at least 30 hrs and 30 stolen bases — and he was a good outfielder, getting several Golden Glove awards for his defensive work.
On top of all that, Hank was a nice guy. He was calm, reserved, and confident. Like Jackie Robinson, Hank had to stand up — and keep silent — when the crowd was hurling insults and threats in his direction, back in the late fifties (Hank started in the majors in 1954).
I went to a Braves game once (1972). Hank hit a homer in the bottom of the ninth. It wasn’t enough to beat the Cubs that day, but it was enough for me. I saw him hit a home run! What a thrill that was.
So back to April 4th, 1974. That was fifty years ago! Hank had tied the Babe.
Happy fiftieth anniversary on your 714th homer, Mr. Aaron.
When would be the next home run, the record-breaker?
I’ll give you the answer on April 8th, if not before. But that was a great day (well, evening) too.
Cheers, y’all
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