Jan-23---Interview-About-the-Past--Hank-Aaron

My sister and I are driving to the grocery store when I casually ask: “Did you hear that Hank Aaron passed away yesterday (1/22/21).” Tears come to her eyes and she says, “Oh, no.”

“Why are you tearing up?”

“It’s just that Hank Aaron was special to me back in time when I still loved baseball.”

“I never knew that; how so?”

“You know ‘back in the day’, I used to go to Opening Day of the Reds every year.” (Cincinnati Reds)

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure of the year (it was April 4, 1974), but I remember there was a lot of excitement because the Reds were playing the Braves (Atlanta Braves) and Hank Aaron was close to breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record.”

“I remember that. I was living in San Jose at the time and was working for the City. There was an older Building Inspector who was a huge baseball fan, and he actually had a portable radio at his desk and was listening to the game. I don’t think I even knew Atlanta was playing the Reds.”

“Well, Aaron almost didn’t play. The Braves wanted him to tie and break the record at home, but the Commissioner of Baseball intervened and said he had to play.” (He had to play in at least two of the three scheduled games.)

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

She gives a little laugh: “On Aaron’s first at bat, with two on, he just hits the first pitch (actually it was a 3-1 pitch) over the left field wall to tie Babe Ruth’s record at 714 homers! We all jumped up cheering; it was so exciting.”

I laugh. “It was exciting in my office too, because Bill, jumped up and was yelling ‘He did it; he did it’; but no one else knew what all the excitement was about. It must have been great to actually be there in person.”

“It was one of the most exciting things I ever saw in baseball. Aaron’s teammates poured onto the field to congratulate him. They had to stop the game -– I don’t remember for how long. President Ford was there, because it was Opening Day, and he came onto the field to congratulate him! After everything settled down, every time Aaron came to bat there was so much tension in the crowd.” She gives a sigh and another tear forms as she thinks back to that glorious day so many years ago.

RIP, Hank Aaron.

CREDITS: PHOTO – Public Domain; KIT – “Sporty – Baseball”, Kristin Aagard; FONT – Complete in Him; WORD COUNT - 413