Hank Aaron's Solar Eclipse April 8, 1975
Two Things Baseball Fans Don't Know About Home Run 715
"At ten minutes after nine in Atlanta, Georgia, Henry Aaron has eclipsed the mark set by Babe Ruth." Vin Scully, April 8, 1975
Yes, Scully, the legendary broadcaster who accompanied the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, actually used the word 'eclipsed' in his call of the home run. (2:29 min mark - listen to the call below).
Fitting on this 50th anniversary of home run 715 that today, April 8, 2024, will be marked by a total solar eclipse.
Trivia: What fans don’t know about Hank Aaron and Al Downing
Look closely at the photos from April 8, 1975.
The unknown is not that two towering men who overcame tremendous obstacles to reach the major league faced each other in Los Angeles on this soon-to-be historic night.
The overt racism that each faced during their years in major league baseball is well documented. The angry, ugly phone calls Aaron received in the months prior to breaking the record are also well known.
In fact, Scully makes direct mention of the tone and tenor of the times and the history of racism in professional sports.
The connection that is almost always overlooked: both men played for the Milwaukee Brewers during their careers, and on this night, each wore number 44 - Downing on the mound and Aaron at the plate.
Hank Aaron “Couldn’t Have Been A Nicer Man - Al Downing, Los Angeles Dodgers
The New York Times sub-headline read, "Forever linked to a legend, Al Downing says Aaron, the Hall of Famer who died on Friday, "couldn't have been a nicer man."
Of Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs — a total surpassed only by Barry Bonds — it was the 715th that defined him. It was that home run that pushed Aaron past Babe Ruth as the sport's career leader, and the abuse he took to get to that point became a huge part of his legacy.
Al Downing had the distinction of allowing No. 715 on April 8, 1974. A left-handed starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Downing left a 1-0 fastball up and over the plate. Aaron, as he had done so often, pounced on the pitch, driving it into the bullpen in left-center field at Atlanta Stadium. NYTimes January 23, 2021
What about Vin Scully’s call of the home run? He noted the significance, that “a Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South.” Were you considering that context at the time? Al Downing - NYTimes January 23, 2021
What I heard from Scully was somebody replaying those quips, those sound bites. But he was absolutely right in what he was saying. It was unusual because you weren’t too far past the time when the races couldn’t mix on the athletic field. When I say we weren’t too far past, I’m talking about like ’68, ’69. That’s how recent. So all of a sudden, you looked in ’74 and you have this Black guy here in Atlanta, and you have all these white people in the stands standing up and clapping for him. It was totally unheard-of.
Prior to the start of the 1971 season, the Brewers traded Downing to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Andy Kosco. In his first season in the National League (NL), Downing won twenty games, and pitched a league-leading five shutouts. He earned NL Comeback Player of the Year honors as well as finishing third in NL Cy Young Award balloting behind Ferguson Jenkins and Tom Seaver. Source: Wikipedia
About The Author And Podcast Host
Tom Levine, leveraging a 25-year tenure in capital markets, leads Zero Hour Group and Native Angelino Real Estate, offering a suite of consulting, strategic analysis, and real estate services.
An alumnus of USC Marshall School of Business and the Claremont Colleges with a term at the London School of Economics. Additionally, he holds a CADRE broker's license (#02052698) and the designation certified Short Sale Specialist under the National Association of Realtors.
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