The Braves commemorate Hank Aaron’s 50-year record-breaking home run feat.

The Atlanta Braves will celebrate Hank Aaron’s 50th anniversary of breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record next week.

Why it matters: On April 8, 1974, “Hammerin’ Hank” hit his 715th home run, surpassing Ruth’s 714 mark in a city that had only months before elected the first Black mayor of the Deep South and was leading the way with its motto, “City Too Busy To Hate.”

Flashback: Shirley Franklin, the former mayor of Atlanta, tells Axios that she saw Aaron surpass that historic milestone during the record-breaking game with her ex-husband and then-mayor Maynard Jackson. Franklin describes the experience as “thrilling.”

Black people’s sporting achievements “became a unifying factor, certainly in the Black community… and in some cases, with the white community, even when they disagreed on politics or policy,” according to Franklin, who learned this from Ambassador Andrew Young.
“People from all backgrounds were celebrating, especially in the African American community.”
The overall picture: According to Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of the Atlanta History Center, one of the greatest moments in sports history is Aaron’s historic home run, which commentator Vin Scully referred to as “a high drive into deep left-center field!” that evening.

“It’s a moment that brought a lot of people together,” he stated. “He had to battle against others who, for racial reasons, did not want him to surpass Babe Ruth’s record. And he triumphed over it, pushing through.”
According to Sports Illustrated, the Braves right fielder was subjected to death threats and racist epithets in letters he received throughout his career. One writer even threatened to kill him if he broke Ruth’s record for home runs.

According to Sports Illustrated, the Braves booked Aaron in hotels under false names and employed an Atlanta police officer to follow him around due to the severity of the threats.

Aaron broke down boundaries in a “dignified and respective manner,” according to Martin Luther King III, despite the bigotry he encountered both on and off the field. Russell Contreras of Axios reports on this.

As he got closer to the record, “he certainly could have rightfully been bitter and angry” at the prejudice aimed at him, but instead “personified what needed to be personified.”
“I think we certainly owe a great debt of gratitude to him for what he was able to do,” said King.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Aaron started his baseball career in the Negro Leagues before making his Major League Baseball debut in April 1954.

With 3,771 hits and 755 home runs, he retired in 1976. In 1982, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. On January 22, 2021, Aaron passed away at the age of 86.
The effect of Aaron on Atlanta
According to Franklin, Atlanta got national attention after Aaron hit his 715th home run, which “brought us a sense of civic pride.”

Breaking Babe Ruth’s record was seen as impossible, but he gave us hope that we could accomplish things that others said were impossible. He completed the task with elegance and grace.”

The AJC notes that in 2021, the Board of Education in Atlanta renamed a high school after a Confederate commander to Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy, further solidifying the Hall of Famer’s reputation in the city.

A bronze bust of Aaron that had been at Turner Field was moved by the city to Adams Park baseball field in 2022. Adams Park is the southwest Atlanta neighborhood where Aaron lived until his passing.
Longtime friend of Aaron’s who was mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990, Ambassador Young, tells Axios that many Atlantans were proud that Aaron was creating history in their city.

“We were so anxious to be a big league city that this was a combination of our dreams, not just his.”