On April 9th, 1974 Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth as the all-time MLB home-run leader. Aaron who did most of his damage with the Braves, hit his 715th home-run 45 years ago today. Hammerin’ Hank is most remembered for his propensity for the long-ball, 755 to be exact, but people forget this guy was an all-around legendary MLB player.
45 years ago today, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s longstanding home-run record with his 715th career homer pic.twitter.com/KDLERITkHm
— Bleacher Report MLB (@BR_MLB) April 8, 2019
Aaron ended his 23-year career with a .305 batting average, 240 stolen bases, and 2297 runs batted in. Does that sound like a good career to you? While Aaron’s home-run record was eventually overtaken by Barry Bonds, he still holds the record for most RBI of-all-time. (RELATED: Yasiel Puig Tries To Fight The Entire Pittsburgh Pirates Organization)
While he absolutely had one of the best and most memorable careers in all of sports, his career will always be synonymous with breaking Ruth’s record that many thought would stand forever.
On this date in 1974: Hank Aaron hit No. 715 to pass Babe Ruth for No. 1 on the all-time home run list. (via @espn) pic.twitter.com/F8gAYjYkWx
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) April 8, 2019
Personally, I can’t help but envy the day where fans were able to get onto the field with such ease. Nowadays we are stuck watching baseball through a net. But at least we’re safe!