If you really think about it, 1974 was a doozy of a year as far as America was concerned. If all you want is a cursory glance at what was going on in this country 50 years ago, then that’s easy: Wikipedia has you covered. While it’s concerning that Ted Bundy makes multiple appearances on here, it’s also a sign of just how off-the-wall that year was.
Richard Nixon got caught red-handed in the Watergate scandal and resigned! Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman to regain the World Heavyweight title in a historically massive upset! Speaking of massive upsets, the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team’s reign of terror over college basketball finally came to an end after Notre Dame ended their 88-game winning streak and then N.C. State ended their 8-year title streak in the Final Four! The CIA got caught illegally spying on American citizens!
However, I think you know what you’re all here for. In a baseball season that saw the Oakland A’s confirm themselves as a dynasty with their third-straight World Series win and Cleveland baseball fans prove to the world why you shouldn’t sell beer at baseball games for ten cents, there was no bigger story than what happened at the very beginning of the season in April. That was when Henry Aaron resumed his quest to grab hold of the most hallowed individual record in baseball history: The all-time home run record, which sat at 714 home runs from Babe Ruth.
Now, you would think that in an ideal world, a player of Henry Aaron’s caliber and a person of Aaron’s character would be universally loved and adored as he chased baseball immortality. Unfortunately, the perfect world that we’re still chasing after here in 2024 definitely didn’t exist in 1974 so Aaron went into that ‘74 season wondering if he’d even live to see it. Aaron was receiving so much “fan” mail in 1973 that he had already hired a secretary to sift through it all. I do not envy what he or his secretary Carla Kopkin had to read for the better part of two seasons because once it became clear that Aaron was eventually going to pass Ruth, the worst people in this country decided to turn the racism dial all the way to 11.
While there might be some people who were shocked that the racism being sent towards Hank’s way could’ve been possible, I can definitely see it being feasible. This was 1974, which meant that it hadn’t even been 30 years since Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line back in 1947. For all the achievements and accolades that players like Robinson, Aaron and other incredibly talented Black players would accomplish over their time in baseball, there was still a generation of people who were brought up to hate them for simply having the wrong skin color and were teaching the generation behind them to do the same thing as they grew up. As long as that was going on, what Aaron had to go through during his chase for the record was sadly inevitable.
At the same time, that’s what makes it all the more incredible that he just continued to keep on mashing dingers in the midst of everything. It would’ve been totally understandable for Henry Aaron to give in to all the pressure, decide that this isn’t worth it and call it a career while he still had his health and well-being. It’s inconceivable to imagine a man of Aaron’s stature simply giving up but if anybody would’ve had a good reason to just pack it in, it was someone who was facing such a nasty maelstrom of hatred and bigotry over baseball, of all things.
Fortunately for all of us, Aaron’s long-held determination to bring about change both in baseball and in this country itself plus the massive support from the well-meaning people rooting for him who won out over the despicable racism and intense vitriol that he faced and he kept right on pushing towards the record. In the midst all of the insanity swirling around him during this journey, Aaron kicked off the 1974 season on Opening Day by tying Babe Ruth’s record with his 714th career home run.
Perhaps the rapturous reaction from the fans in Cincinnati should’ve been a sign that things were going to be okay for him once he eventually got around to breaking the record — whether it was in Atlanta or elsewhere. The fans at Riverfront Stadium appropriately reacted to his 714th home run as if he was a folk hero standing right in front of them, live and in the flesh instead of some infidel who was trying to ruin not just America’s Pastime but America in general. In fact, it was actually similar to how the fans in Atlanta reacted to Aaron’s final appearance in right field in the 1973 season, which is when Braves fans gave him a five-minute standing ovation to send him off into the offseason. Either way, Aaron’s exasperation and fatigue in 1974 was palpable as evidenced by the fact that he ended his remarks during the pause in the game by saying “I’m just glad that it’s almost over.”
No further home runs for Henry Aaron during that opening series in Cincinnati meant that the stage was set for Monday, April 8, 1974. It was the home opener for the Atlanta Braves against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the old Atlanta Stadium was packed full of expectant fans who were ready to witness history. Aaron’s first at-bat that night with the weight of the entire baseball world on his shoulders ended up in a walk from Al Downing in the second inning. The fans (and most importantly, Aaron himself) wouldn’t have to wait much longer to finally get it over with. In his second at-bat of the night, Aaron got a high fastball from Downing and drove it to left-center on his way to instantly becoming baseball royalty.
Even though the ball was over the fence, I can definitely understand Henry Aaron’s heart rate going up even higher than where it was when he hit the homer once he realized that a couple of fans were running towards him on the basepaths. Considering what he’d received in the mail, it had to have flashed in his mind that this was some weirdo following through on their promise to “let him have it” if he dared to break The Babe’s record. Instead, the two fans were simply overcome with joy and wanted to give Aaron a pat on the back and I can only imagine the relief that went through his body once he realized they were friends and not foes.
Again, I can totally understand Henry Aaron’s reaction to finally breaking the record being more of relief instead of unbridled joy. It was hard enough dealing with the pressure just in terms of baseball. It was a completely other thing to have to deal with all of the other nonsense as well. However, Henry Aaron was both the perfect player and the perfect man for dealing with both the baseball pressure and the pressure of human nature. He had proved it in his career up to that point and he continued to prove it long after he left the Braves, retired and continued to blaze trails as a massive figure in the Black community.
50 years into the future, things are still kind of wacky here in the United States. Today’s political climate makes Watergate look downright quaint in comparison. We’ve gotten to the point where even Dollar Dog nights are getting cancelled. The Oakland A’s have been razed to the ground for no good reason. The CIA is still illegally spying on American citizens. There are still issues with racism in this country. One thing that hasn’t changed (even with Barry Bonds becoming the all-time career leader in home runs) is the admiration that both the baseball world and the American public in general has for Henry Aaron. The man is truly an icon and it was abundantly clear when nobody had a single bad thing to say about him once he eventually passed away.
You’re going to hear a lot about Henry Aaron today and tonight once the game gets underway. My hope is that everybody absorbs all the information you can get like a sponge — whether you’re a new fan who is just getting an idea of the history of this great game or you’re a fan who believes that they’ve seen it all at this point in your life. We can all still do well by taking lessons from the life that Henry Aaron led and the 50th anniversary of his greatest on-field achievement is as perfect of a time as ever to keep on giving the icon his flowers.
