Transcription: 715: Aaron tops Ruth before home fans on national TV
ATLANTA (AP) - Henry Aaron, undaunted by the swirl of controversy surrounding his quest for baseball immortality, became the game’s all-time home run king Monday night when he smashed the 715th of his illustrious career.
The 40-year-old Atlanta Braves superstar left behind the ghost of the legendary Babe Ruth when he connected’ for the historic clout in the fourth inning off left-hander Alt. Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Aaron hammered a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence just to the right of the 385-foot marker and circled the bases for the 71 Sth time accompanied by a massive fireworks display.
A sellout crowd of 52,870 rose as one for a standing ovation and Aaron’s Atlanta teammates poured out of the dugout and out of the left field bullpen to greet him.
After Aaron touched home plate, teammates lifted him and carried him a few steps before the slugger broke away and trotted to a special box adjacent to the Atlanta dugout where he embraced his wife, Billye, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Aaron of Mobile, Ala.
He stayed with his family about two minutes before returning to the field and holding aloft the historic ball.
The ball carried about 400 feet and did not get into the seats. It was brought back to Aaron by Atlanta relief pitcher Tom House.
The legendary Ruth, who died in 1948, had hit 714 home runs, the last three in J 935 in a game against Pittsburgh on May 25.
Ruth played for 22 seasons, got into 2,503 games and had 8,399 at-bats.
The soft-spoken Aaron’s record shot came in his third game of his 21st season. It came on his ll,295th at-bat and in his 2,967th game.
“Just thank God it’s all over,” Aaron told the cheering crowd.
Moments later, black Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, representing Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, presented Aaron with a $3,000 diamond-studded wrist watch commemorating the occasion. The watch had the figures 715 imprinted in gold on it.
Irwin was booed loudly by the crowd. The displeasure was aimed at Kuhn, who had ordered the Braves to play Aaron in Cincinnati Sunday against the club’s wishes.
As soon as the ball left the park, huge block numerals “715” were flashed on the center field message board -about 25 feet to the right of where the home run landed.
Then the message board flashed “Hank.”
Downing, a 32-year-old veteran of 13 major league seasons, returned to the Dodger dugout during the on-field ceremonies for Aaron after the historic home run.
It was only Aaron’s third home run off Downing, beginning his fourth year in the National League. The others came last season - No. 676 in Los Angeles on April l5 and No. 693 in Atlanta on June 29.
Aaron had ended his highly publicized chase of Ruth on opening day in Cincinnati with his first swing of the 1974 season. It came off right-hander Jack Billingham, and was a three-run, first-inning blast.
Aaron struck again Monday night with his first swing of the nationally televised game. He had walked on five pitches in the second game and scored on an error.
His first run of, the night set a National League record at 2,063, moving him ahead of fellow Alabama native Willie Mays, who retired last year.
