Slidin’ In To Home

Up until this year, summer meant baseball. “The national past time,” so named over a 150 years ago, is sorely missed. We all miss “the crack of the bat”.

Who invented baseball? Some say, for years, that Abner Doubleday came up with the idea when he scratched a diamond shape into the dirt and declared that’s where you will play the game. The exact measurement of this so-called diamond is a 90 foot square, but each ballpark has their own way of measuring the outfield. Imagine if football fields or basketball courts weren’t all the same size? What a mess, but somehow we accept all the different sizes of baseball fields we have.

Forty-six years ago on April 8, 1974, 53,775 fans filled the old Atlanta Braves stadium. Nearly 40 years prior, Babe Ruth hit his 714th home run and that record was the one “Hammering” Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves was chasing and wanted to pass. In the fourth inning of the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers game on April 8, 1974, Aaron came to the plate and hit number 715. The game was being broadcast nationally and it seemed as though the whole of the United States held their breath as the ball flew through the air, was almost caught, and then landed in the Braves’ bullpen. A roar came up from the record crowd, fireworks over the stadium and it seemed Atlanta was on fire again.

Hank Aaron ended his career with 755 home runs. He has remained a hometown hero. One quote of his that shows he really understands and loves the game is, “The triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Home runs win a lot of games, but I never understood why fans are so obsessed with them.” Indeed, Mr. Aaron, the triple play is a joy and thrill to watch.

Records are made to be broken and Aaron’s was, but his 715th home run was so special in more than one way. Can we ever have a baseball season again to rival that year?

Play ball!