Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron Becomes New Home Run King

Babe Ruth had been the Home Run King since 1921, but on this day in 1974, he abdicated the throne for Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron.

For two generations of fans, Babe Ruth was the Home Run King, the Sultan of Swat. Since passing Roger Connor in 1921, Ruth had been atop the career home run list with 714 home runs, a record that was long since thought to be unbreakable. That is, until Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron began to inch ever closer.

Heading into the 1974 season, Aaron was only one home run behind Ruth. He took care of that deficit on Opening Day, sending a Jack Bellingham pitch into the bleachers during the first inning. Then, just four days later, Aaron surpassed Ruth as baseball’s premier home run hitter, belting Al Downing’s pitch into the left field stands.

More from MLB History

• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 5 MLB players who are human cheat codes for Immaculate Grid
• Good MLB players in different uniforms: A look at a random year and two random teams
• Sticky fingers: The pine tar incident, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals and Gaylord Perry
• Chicago Cubs scoring 36 runs in two games? That’s nothing compared to this historic mark

The scene afterwards is etched in our memories. Aaron rounding the bases, being congratulated between second and third by two fans who ran on to the field. The celebration that paused the game as the new Home Run King was crowned. It was also notable that, despite the litany of threats made against Aaron, there was not a single incident that happened, and that those two fans were able to reach him to give him their congratulations.

This home run also sent a message – those seemingly unbreakable records in baseball may not be untouchable. While Cy Young’s 511 wins is safe, the home run title and other offensive records set decades ago may one day fall to the new wave of players. Indeed, Aaron’s 755 career home runs stood until Barry Bonds broke that record in 2007.

Next: Brewers play first game in Milwaukee

They say that records are made to be broken. On this day in 1974, Hank Aaron proved that statement to be true, as he passed Babe Ruth to become the new Home Run King in baseball.