Moonshot

While we were all entranced by the Total Eclipse last Monday, baseball fans had another reason to celebrate – April 8 marked the 50th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run breaking the longtime record held by Babe Ruth.  My first memory of Hank Aaron is on Opening Day, April 4, 1974. I was an ecstatic 15-year old that afternoon as my teacher rolled a television set into our ninth grade classroom so my classmates and I could watch our Reds face off against the Braves at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. We watched as Aaron came to the plate in the first inning and hit Reds pitcher Jack Billingham’s first pitch over the left field wall.  It was Hank’s 714th career home run, tying Ruth’s all-time mark.  Aaron would go on to break the record four nights later with a home run off Al Downing of the Dodgers before Hank’s home Atlanta fans and a national television audience.

What I knew about Hank Aaron when I was 15 was his baseball greatness.  He was a true hitter and slugger, and certainly his career totals reflect that – 755 HRs (ranked 2); 2,297 RBIs (1), 6,856 total bases (1), 3,771 hits (3), and 1,477 extra-base hits (1).  What I didn’t realize then was how much Aaron suffered personally while setting the records.  His life growing up in Mobile, Alabama, was one of poverty and segregation. He saw baseball as a way out, and in many ways it failed him. His minor league career was marred by the constant threat of racial slurs and death threats. In 1954 when he joined the Milwaukee Braves as a big leaguer, MLB was struggling in its attempt to introduce black players into the game. The personal ridicule continued. In fact, prior to that first week of the 1974 season when he broke the Ruth record, he had spent the offseason as a recipient of racial epitaphs and death threats. He broke Ruth’s record in 1974 not only as a great home run hitter, but as a survivor.

The long ball in baseball has an interesting history.  Most of the early home runs were inside the park because ballparks had very large outfields. When fences were built and dimensions became reasonable, the rule was that the ball had to land in the bleachers beyond the fence in fair territory or still be visibly fair when last seen. MLB called it “fair when last seen” by the umpires. Indeed, Babe Ruth’s record-setting 60th home run in 1927 was somewhat controversial since it barely landed in fair territory in the bleachers. Bill Jenkinson, author of “The Year Babe Ruth  Hit 104 Home Runs” maintains in his book that the Babe lost somewhere between 50 and 80 home runs during his career because of this rule.

The era of home runs began with Babe Ruth joining the Yankees in 1919. Prior to that, he also starred as a pitcher with the Red Sox. In fact, he won two World Series games on the mound for Boston in 1918 when he was unceremoniously sold to New York for $100,000 in that offseason. Ruth wanted to play every day as an outfielder. He left the pitching rubber after the 1918 season with a record of 94-46 and an ERA of 2.28.  In 1919 Ruth broke the MLB single-season home run record.  It was the beginning of a string of 15 years with the Yankees where he led the New Yorkers to seven AL pennants and four world championships.  Ruth’s lifetime hitting totals include a .342 batting average, 714 HRs, and 2,873 RBIs.

A big part of the Ruth legend is the famous “Called Shot” in the 1932 World Series.  In the third game of the Series, at Wrigley Field, Charlie Root was on the mound for the Cubs as Ruth stepped into the batter’s box in the fifth inning. Ruth took two strikes, and then stepped out of the box, gesturing toward the outfield fence.  He stepped back in and launched a 490 foot home run into temporary seating beyond the centerfield bleachers. Root, one of the Cubs winningest all-time pitchers, would throw only one more pitch in the game, a home run ball to Lou Gehrig, who batted cleanup in the game’s box score.  The Ruth-Gehrig twosome formed the core of the “Murderer’s Row” of Yankee baseball in that era.

Ruth’s 60 dingers during the 1927 season was a longstanding record until another Yankee, Roger Maris, began launching HRs in the early 1960s. Maris accomplished much in his eleven year career -- the AL MVP in 1960 and 1961, a four-time All-Star, and an AL Gold Glover in 1960. On the last regular season game in 1961, Maris hit #61, breaking Ruth’s season record.  It was a little controversial though since it came during the 162nd game of the season.  When Ruth set the record, teams played only 154 games during a season. Until the Maris record was shattered in 1998 by Mark McGwire, many baseball experts opined that Ruth still held the record.

I remember the 1998 home run chase well. You could not turn on ESPN without seeing Mark McGwire of the Cardinals or the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa at the plate trying to launch another tater. McGwire eventually broke Maris’ 61 with a 70 HR season while Sosa did too with 66.  Big Mac went on to record 583 career HRs and an exceptional .394 on-base percentage. Slammin’ Sammy bettered McGwire with 609 career HRs. Both careers though were damaged by charges of using performance-enhancing drugs. Interestingly, how they been received post-baseball seems to turn on a simple sorry. McGwire in 2010 admitted to use; Sosa never has.

Of course the subsequent breakings of both the single season and career HR marks by Barry Bonds are similarly tarnished.  In 2001 Barry set the season record with an incredible 73 goners. When he retired in 2007, Bonds had tallied the all-time home run number of 762.  Aside from his power at the plate, Bonds was an outstanding player – eight Gold Gloves; 514 stolen bases; and a career batting average of .298. It’s unfortunate that all of his stardom will be forever scarred by his role in baseball’s steroids scandal.

You might have noticed that there were references throughout this piece on the different names for home runs – long ball; tater; goner; and dinger. Since we celebrated Hammerin’ Hank’s 715th on the day of the Total Eclipse last Monday, the one I leave you with is Moonshot! May the 2024 season continue to have some memorable Moonshots!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach