“I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn’t throw it past me, none of them.” - Hank Aaron
Apr. 8, 1974 - Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth’s home run record
As the 1974 season began, Hank Aaron’s pursuit of the record caused a small controversy. The Braves opened the season on the road in Cincinnati with a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Braves management wanted him to break the record in Atlanta, and were therefore going to have Aaron sit out the first three games of the season. But Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ruled that he had to play two games in the first series. He played two out of three, tying Babe Ruth’s record in his very first at bat — on his first swing of the season — off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham, but did not hit another home run in the series. The fence over which Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run still exists outside of Turner Field.
The team returned to Atlanta, and on April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people showed up for the game—a Braves attendance record. The game was also broadcast nationally on NBC. In the fourth inning, Aaron hit career home run number 715 off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing. Although Dodgers outfielder Bill Buckner nearly went over the outfield wall trying to catch it, the ball landed in the Braves’ bullpen, where relief pitcher Tom House caught it. While cannons were fired in celebration, two white college students sprinted onto the field and jogged alongside Aaron for part of his circuit around the bases, temporarily startling him. As the fans cheered wildly, Aaron’s parents ran onto the field as well.
Feb. 26, 1935 - The New York Yankees released Babe Ruth
Ruth signed with the Boston Braves for $20,000 and a share in the team’s profits.
“The Sultan of Swat” was known for his hitting brilliance as he set career records in his time for home runs (714 since broken), slugging percentage (.690), runs batted in (RBI) (2,213 since broken), and on-base plus slugging (OPS) (1.164). Ruth originally entered the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder. He subsequently became one of the league’s most prolific hitters and with his home run hitting prowess, he helped the Yankees win seven pennants and four World Series titles.
Ruth retired in 1935 after a short stint with the Boston Braves, and the following year, he became one of the first five players to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
“Most ball games are lost, not won” - Casey Stengel
Babe Ruth, the jokester.
via Sports Illustrated vault
Jan. 6, 1976 - Ted Turner purchased the Atlanta Braves for $12 million
The franchise was valued at $450 million in 2007. Incidentally, Turner was just recognized as the King of U.S. Landowners with 2 million acres.
“My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.” - Hank Aaron
“The pitcher has got only a ball. I’ve got a bat. So the percentage of weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.” - Hank Aaron
Aug. 16, 1954 - The debut of Sports Illustrated
The first issue of Sports Illustrated debuted with Milwaukee Braves slugger Eddie Matthews on its cover.
When the magazine was first released, there was no sports magazine available in the country with a national audience. Sports Illustrated quickly changed the face of sports news with a long list of innovations including: color photographs, scouting reports, in-depth sports reporting, sports cards inserts and high school Player of the Month awards.
Two major differences would separate this magazine from all the other sports journals. First, Sports Illustrated was directly aimed at the American middle-class consumer and budding television-sports spectator; second, and perhaps more important, SI was a property of the Henry Luce media empire that included Time and Life, and so SI was guaranteed the financial backing and time required to find its audience.
Most covers by athlete, 1954-2011
Michael Jordan - 57
Muhammad Ali - 38
Tiger Woods - 24
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 22
Magic Johnson - 23
Tom Brady - 19
Kobe Bryant - 17
Michael Jordan - 57
Muhammad Ali - 38
Tiger Woods - 24
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 22
Magic Johnson - 23
Tom Brady - 19
Kobe Bryant - 17
Aug. 13, 2006 - Greg Maddux sets MLB record by making at least 25 starts in 20 straight seasons
In pitching 8 shutout innings against the Giants, Greg Maddux sets a major-league record becoming the first pitcher to make at least 25 starts in 20 consecutive seasons. Maddux had shared the record of 25 in 19 straight with Cy Young, Warren Spahn and Tom Glavine.
Aug. 11, 1951 - first baseball game broadcasts in color
New York’s WCBS broadcasts the first major league baseball game, in color. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1. The first color broadcast of the NFL was on the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia on Sept. 29, 1951.
July 20, 1976 - Hank Aaron hit his 755th and final home run in the majors.
Aaron hit the home run off of Dick Drago of the California Angels in front of his home crowd at Milwaukee County Stadium. His first career home run occurred over 22 years earlier, on April 23, 1954.
Aaron’s home run record lasted for over 31 years, until Barry Bonds broke it in August of 2007. After breaking the record, Bonds would go on to hit only six more home runs in his career, setting the new record at 762.
July 14, 1968 - Hank Aaron hit his 500th career home run.
Curt Simmons once said, “Trying to throw a fastball by Henry Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster.” Someone forgot to tell San Francisco pitcher Mike McCormick that and during the third inning Hank Aaron made him pay, smacking his 500th career home run to become the eighth player in history to reach the milestone.
Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron (born February 5, 1934), nicknamed “Hammer,” or “Hammerin’ Hank,” is a retired American baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 through 1976. Aaron is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth on their “100 Greatest Baseball Players” list.
