ABOVE PHOTO: Hank Aaron holds aloft the ball he hit for his 715th profession dwelling run, towards the Los Angeles Dodgers in Atlanta, Ga., Monday night time, April 8, 1974. Simply in time for the 50-year anniversary of Hank Aaron’s report 715th dwelling run, Charlie Russo is making out there video he shot of the homer.(AP Photograph/Bob Daugherty, File)
By Charles Odum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Hank Aaron refused to be intimidated by racist hate mail or threats throughout his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s dwelling run report.
Aaron’s teammates, together with Dusty Baker, nervous on his behalf at the same time as the long run Corridor of Famer circled the bases following his record-breaking 715th homer on April 8, 1974. Baker, who was on deck, and Tom Home, who caught the homer within the Atlanta bullpen behind the left-field wall, will return Monday for the 50-year anniversary of the homer.
After sprinting from the bullpen to ship the ball to Aaron at dwelling plate, Home discovered Aaron’s mom giving the slugger an enormous hug.
“You possibly can see each of them with tears of their eyes,” Home instructed The Related Press. “… It was a mom and son. Clearly, that was cool.
It was additionally mother defending her boy from at the moment all people thought anyone would really attempt to shoot him at dwelling plate.
“So there have been all type of issues. I gave him the ball. I stated, ‘Right here it’s, Hank.’ He stated ‘Thanks, child.’”
Baker referred to Aaron as a father determine or large brother who appeared out for him as he started his enjoying profession with the Braves. Baker and different teammates, together with Ralph Garr, tried to look out for Aaron in the course of the dwelling run chase.
“We at all times felt the necessity to defend him, at all times felt that want,” Baker stated final week. “I feel we have been extra afraid for him than he was really afraid as a result of he by no means confirmed any worry of the threats or no matter. It looks like it drove him to a better focus degree than ever earlier than was attainable.”
Baker retired as Houston’s supervisor following the 2023 season.
Bob Hope, then the Braves media relations director, stated Aaron wouldn’t be deterred by the threats issued late within the 1973 season as he approached Ruth’s report of 714 profession homers.
“One time the FBI wished to come back meet with him on a Sunday and requested him to not play as a result of they felt that they had official demise threats on him,” Hope stated.
“We went all the way down to the clubhouse and sat down with him and Hank simply stated: ‘What sort of assertion would that be? I’m a baseball participant. You guys do what it’s worthwhile to do to maintain issues safe, however I’m enjoying baseball.’ And I assumed that was very reflective of his character all through.”
Hope stated most fan mail Aaron obtained was constructive. “The hate mail was not nice, however there wasn’t almost as a lot as you’re led to imagine,” Hope stated. “It was only a very, very small share of the followers have been inflicting that drawback.”
Hope and Baker remained near Aaron after Aaron’s profession and till his demise in 2021 at 86.
“One of many honors of your life that you just don’t need is when Hank died, at his funeral, Dusty and I have been the one two nonfamily pallbearers,” Hope stated. “Once I realized that on the funeral, it was nearly overwhelming.”
Wonya Lucas, Aaron’s niece and the daughter of Invoice Lucas, who with the Braves in 1976 turned Main League Baseball’s first African American normal supervisor, stated she will be able to keep in mind “Uncle Hank” remaining sturdy in the course of the chase. She stated that stayed fixed even when threats led to police vehicles displaying up at Aaron’s dwelling and Aaron’s oldest daughter, Gaile, having to return dwelling from faculty.
“I definitely understood the gravity of the scenario and the way the temper shifted might be a great way to place it,” Wonya Lucas stated Friday.
“However I do additionally keep in mind his quiet energy, and regardless of all these situations I described I felt protected within the dwelling as a result of I felt he gave us a way of consolation.”
To mark the 50-year anniversary of Aaron’s 715th homer, the Atlanta Historical past Heart will open a brand new exhibit to the general public, by way of the Henry Louis Aaron Fund, celebrating Aaron on Tuesday that can stay open by way of the 2025 All-Star Sport in Atlanta. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is predicted to attend a preview of the exhibit on Monday.
Aaron’s bat and the ball he hit for the report homer, owned by the Baseball Corridor of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and usually not open to public viewing, shall be on show at Truist Park’s monument backyard on Monday.
The Hank Aaron Invitational is designed to encourage highschool gamers from numerous backgrounds to play at greater ranges. Alumni of the Hank Aaron Invitational embody Cincinnati pitcher Hunter Greene, who participated in 2015, and Braves outfielder Michael Harris II, who performed in 2018.
Main League Baseball additionally helps different initiatives, together with the Andre Dawson Traditional, designed to advertise range within the sport.
“For me, simply having anyone that appeared like me that may very well be that profitable and do the issues he’s performed, the street he paved for gamers like me, that’s fairly big,” Harris stated Friday.
Regardless of these efforts, the variety of Black gamers on main league rosters has declined. A examine performed by The Institute for Variety and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida revealed African American gamers represented simply 6.2% of gamers on MLB opening day rosters in 2023, down from 7.2% in 2022. Each figures from the institute’s newest reviews have been the bottom because the examine started in 1991.
A current spike within the variety of African American first-round draft picks offers hope that MLB’s efforts, together with the Hank Aaron Invitational, could make a distinction.
