Baseball · 1974 · Atlanta, USA
715
Chasing Babe Ruth's career home run record through thousands of pieces of racist hate mail, Hank Aaron hits number 715 in front of his own crowd in Atlanta.
No. 715
Career home run
Al Downing
Pitcher
Babe Ruth (714)
Previous record holder
Hank Aaron began the 1974 season one home run behind Babe Ruth's career total of 714, a record that had stood for nearly four decades and that plenty of people had decided would never be broken. Through the closing months of 1973, as he closed in, the hate mail arrived in volume, along with death threats from people opposed to a Black player surpassing Ruth. The Braves put personal security on him and his family.
On 8 April 1974, in front of his home crowd at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Aaron drove a pitch from the Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Al Downing over the left-field fence for career home run number 715. Two fans got onto the field and ran part of the way round the bases alongside him. Vin Scully, calling it for the Dodgers, said nothing at all for a long moment and let the noise of the crowd carry the broadcast.
Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs, and the record held until Barry Bonds passed it in 2007. What sits alongside the number is what he had to be sent in the post to reach it, and how little of it he ever let show.
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