Hank Aaron Ties Babe Ruth on Opening Day

On April 4, 1974, Hank Aaron took his first swing of the season and sent a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall at Riverfront Stadium, tying Babe Ruth's all-time home run record at 714.

The Braves had wanted to keep Aaron on the bench in Cincinnati, saving the historic moment for the home fans in Atlanta. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn intervened and ordered Aaron into the Opening Day lineup. Aaron responded with a three-run homer off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham in the first inning, and the 52,154 fans in Cincinnati rose to their feet.

Aaron had spent the entire offseason absorbing a level of public hostility that no ballplayer should have to endure. He received hundreds of thousands of letters, many of them threatening, many of them racist, all because he was a Black man closing in on a record held by a white icon. The FBI investigated several death threats. Aaron later said he could not eat, could not sleep, and carried a gun.

None of that was visible on the field. He waited for his pitch, then drove Billingham's fastball out of the park with the same compact, wrist-driven stroke that had defined his career. His teammates mobbed him at home plate. The Cincinnati crowd gave a long, genuine ovation.

The Braves lost the game 7-6 in eleven innings, and Aaron went hitless in his remaining at-bats. It did not diminish the moment. He had pulled even with Ruth, and the whole sport knew that number 715 was only a matter of days away.

Four days later, in Atlanta, it arrived.