Hank Aaron: More than Brave

Caption

Atlanta Braves' Hank Aaron eyes the flight of the ball after hitting his 715th career homer in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Atlanta, Ga., Monday night, April 8, 1974. Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 career home runs. Dodgers southpaw pitcher Al Downing, catcher Joe Ferguson and umpire David Davidson look on. Just in time for the 50-year anniversary of Hank Aaron's record 715th home run, Charlie Russo is making available video he shot of the homer.

Credit: AP Photo/Harry Harris, File

TRANSCRIPT:

Chuck Reece: It was 50 years ago, but I remember the night with absolute clarity. April 8, 1974. I was thirteen years old and glued to the television screen. Hank Aaron needed just one more homer to break Major League Baseball’s career home-run record, which had been held for almost 40 years by the legendary Babe Ruth.

I was breathless, edgy, clenching my teeth when Aaron stepped up to the plate in the fourth inning and stared down the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher, Al Downing. This is Milo Hamilton, who was the Braves play-by-play announcer on that night 50 years ago.

Milo Hamilton: “That ball is gonna be ... outta here!"

Chuck Reece: When Henry Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1934, Major League Baseball still banned Black players from the game. And it was his prowess with a ball and a bat that got him out of the South, where he’d suffered racism his entire life.

Hank had played 10 seasons for the Milwaukee Braves when the team announced it would move to Atlanta in 1966. Many casual baseball fans don’t know that after the announcement, Aaron was reluctant to come back to this region.

As the Atlanta History Center was putting up an exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of Aaron’s record-breaking homer, I visited one of the curators, Tim Frilingos. Tim showed me some letters that Atlanta leaders sent to Aaron, imploring him to come South. I read one from Leroy Johnson, who was the first African American elected to the Georgia state Senate since the 19th-century days of Reconstruction.

“Having been born and raised in the South,” Sen. Johnson wrote, “I can understand your fears and apprehensions relative to your moving to the South with the Braves baseball team.” Johnson concluded by telling Aaron that in Atlanta, he saw — and I quote — “a spirit and an atmosphere of change,” and he urged Aaron to move to Atlanta, so he could become a part of that change.

And when Henry Aaron and his wife Billye settled in Atlanta, that’s exactly what they did. The Aaron family’s legacy is all over this city. They joined the fight for civil rights. They founded philanthropies still help young people born into poverty to achieve their dreams — just like Hank achieved his, even against the tallest odds.

Breaking Babe Ruth’s record 50 years ago only emboldened Hank Aaron to do that kind of work. On the wall at the Atlanta History Center is a quote from Aaron’s autobiography. It says this:

“Once the record was mine, I had to use it like a Louisville Slugger. I believed, and still do, that there was a reason why I was chosen to break the record. I feel it’s my task to carry on where Jackie Robinson left off, and I only know of one way to go about it. It’s the only way I’ve ever had to deal with things like fastballs and bigotry — keep swinging at them.”

Milo Hamilton: There’s a new home run champion of all time, and it’s Henry Aaron!

Chuck Reece: Let’s all keep swinging, shall we? Come visit us at SalvationSouth.com.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. Salvation South Deluxe is a series of longer Salvation South episodes which tell deeper stories of the Southern experience through the unique voices that live it. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and wherever you get your podcasts.