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ATLANTA — On April 8, 1974, several dignitaries, including legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. and future President Jimmy Carter, gathered at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with much enthusiasm. Vin Scully and Craig Sager, an unknown up-and-comer, were among the numerous media personnel present when Hank Aaron dethroned Babe Ruth as baseball’s Home Run King.
“It seemed like the only people who weren’t there were the President of the United States and the Commissioner of Baseball,” Aaron writes in his memoir, If I Had a Hammer. “Nixon had a decent justification. Congress was pressuring him to produce the Watergate tapes.”
During the opening week of the 1974 season, the Braves and then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn clashed. Aaron tied Ruth’s record by hitting his 714th home run on Opening Day in Cincinnati. Kuhn urged that Aaron play the remaining two games of the series against the Reds. Atlanta’s owner Bill Bartholomay and manager Eddie Mathews were keen to give Aaron an opportunity to break the record in Atlanta.
Aaron only played seven innings in the series finale in Cincinnati, but he returned to Atlanta with the opportunity to give hometown fans a glimpse of one of sports history’s greatest moments.
Aaron quickly took care of business. After walking in his first plate appearance in Atlanta’s home opener, he came to the plate in the fourth inning and hit Al Downing’s fastball over the left-center-field fence at Fulton County Stadium.
Dusty Baker, Ralph Garr, Tom House, and some of Aaron’s other 1974 teammates will be visiting Truist Park on Monday night to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his record 715th home run. House caught the ball in Atlanta’s bullpen and sprinted to home plate, joyfully handing it to Aaron.
• Members of the 600 Home Run Club
“The main thing we had to do was collect everything after the game,” said Bill Acree, the long-time Braves clubhouse manager and traveling secretary. “Grab the ball. Grab the bat. “Get this and that.”
Acree joined the Braves’ ground crew when the team relocated to Atlanta in 1966. He was 18 years old when he was appointed visiting clubhouse manager in 1968. Five years later, he was running both clubhouses and serving as Atlanta’s equipment manager. However, at Mathews’ request in 1974, Acree left his duties at the visitors’ clubhouse to focus only on the home clubhouse.
Acree made a lot of amazing memories over his 50 seasons with the Braves. He literally made his imprint in numerous ways. In fact, if you shine a black light on Aaron’s 715th home run, you will see Acree’s signature.
When Aaron achieved 700 home runs during the 1973 season, MLB began marking the balls. Before each game, Acree would sign and number at least 12 balls using invisible ink. These precise balls would only be put into play while Aaron was at the plate.
The ball that Aaron hit to pass was marked 12-12-2-2. The Babe is situated on the Hank Aaron Terrace at Truist Park.
“It wasn’t the Braves’ ball, it wasn’t the Hall of Fame’s ball, it was Hank’s ball,” Acree said in a statement. “It was insured by Lloyds of London, and Hank traveled with it for many years. People in Japan were enamored with Hank. I’m not sure how much money they spent bringing him over there to travel with the ball for many years.”
Acree and the countless others who witnessed such a historic event 50 years ago still have fond memories.
“It was special, and it still is,” Acree added.
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