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If not for an unorthodox call by an umpire in 1965, Hank Aaron’s record tying 714th home run would not have happened at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
It would have been the record breaking 715th home run instead.
The Gods of baseball work in mysterious ways.
On August 18, 1965, Hank Aaron slammed a change up from Curt Simmons onto the roof of the right field pavilion at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. But umpire Chris Pelekoudas called Aaron out after judging that Aaron was out of the box when he hit the ball. It was a unique call for sure, a call that many felt at the time was the wrong one.
If that call wasn’t made, 714 would have been on September 29, 1973, against Jerry Ruess and the Astros in Atlanta.
Which means April 4, 1974 would have been 715. The record breaker.
Of course, there was talk of the Braves sitting out Aaron the entire series. Braves management really wanted Hank to tie and break the record in front of the hometown crowd. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had other ideas. He demanded that the Braves play Aaron in Cincinnati to open the season, citing the “integrity of the game.”
And so, 52,154 fans jammed in the ballpark along the river in Cincinnati in hopes of witnessing history. And they were not disappointed.
In the top of the first, with two men on, 40-year-old Hank Aaron stepped to the plate and crushed a Jack Billingham pitch over the fence in left-center. Babe Ruth now had company.
Hank Aaron connects. Home run 714. (AP Photo)
As Aaron circled the bases, Cincinnati policeman Clarence Williams, who was stationed behind the outfield fence, picked up the baseball as it rolled in front of him after bounding of the concrete wall behind the fence. “The moment it came over the fence, I saw it, Williams recalled after the game. “It bounced right up to me. I picked it up and held it. At that moment, I didn’t think about what it might be worth.”
Cincinnati patrolman Clarence Williams, who retrieved Aaron’s #714 home run ball, stands behind him (AP Photo)
There were many offers for the ball from collectors. Even local companies got in on the act. Charlie Jurgens, the president of Stacey Storage & Moving offered $12,000 for the ball. He even at the cash in his pocket at the game, ready to deliver it to the lucky fan.
As a Reds employee came up to Williams to get the ball, which was what Williams was instructed to do if he got it, the young patrolman started to have second thoughts, before eventually handing it over. He was later compensated for retrieving the famous home run ball, although the parties never disclosed what that compensation was.
The fans went crazy. Aaron’s teammates went crazy. But Hank just smiled, as a sense of relief overcame his demeanor. The game was stopped as speeches were made, and the applause swirled around the stadium. When the stadium microphone was handed to Hank, he smiled and said:
“I’m glad it’s almost over with.”
Hank Aaron speaks to the Riverfront Stadium crowd after tying Babe Ruth’s home run record (AP Photo)
But he’d have to do it all over again, four days later in Atlanta, as he took the home run throne.
I was one month and a day from giving birth to our first son, the author of this story. I remember the song “Move over Babe, here comes Henry”.