Remembering No. 715
— -- Do you remember where you were on April 8, 1974, when Hank Aaron hit No. 715? A few ESPN writers and analysts shared their memories of the moment 40 years ago when Aaron passed Babe Ruth to become the all-time home run king. You can share your story using the Twitter hashtag #Aaron715.
Jim Bowden
Jim Caple
Jerry Crasnick
Tim Kurkjian
Buster Olney
I was early to bed on April 8, 1974, and when I got up in the morning to go to the barn for chores, I found a handwritten note from my Mom on the kitchen table, with the checkered tablecloth, that Aaron had broken the record. I remember she noted that the crowd had cheered.
Steve Wulf
My own view of Hank Aaron's 715th home run came courtesy of a black-and-white TV in my Fort Lauderdale, Fla., apartment, but as I watched him circumnavigate the bases through the snow of my reception, I flashed back to my own living-color encounter with The Hammer the month before. I had just started as a reporter for The Fort Lauderdale News, and I went up to the Braves' spring training camp in West Palm Beach to ask him a question that had plagued me for years, dating back to the 1969 publication of The Baseball Encyclopedia. The very first name in that epic reference book was Henry Louis Aaron, and I was struck by the cosmic coincidence of the first player in the alphabet being the best player in history. Oh, you could argue for other players, but the merger of accident with accomplishment confirmed his place in the pantheon, at least in my mind.
Armed only with a pen and notebook and patience, I shadowed Hank that day. He was, of course, in high demand, and I was a lowly scribe from an out-of-town newspaper, so I had to wait around for hours. Finally, at the end of the workout, I followed him back to his stall in the Braves' locker room and introduced myself. I asked him, with all the profundity that a 23-year-old could muster, "Have you ever given any thought to the significance of being first in major league history in both the alphabet and home runs?" Hank looked at me, shook his head and said what amounted to, "Oh shoot." Then he walked away. In the years since, he has been passed in home runs by Barry Bonds and in the alphabet by David Aardsma. But he's still at the top in my book.