Dusty Baker revisits Hank Aaron's record-breaking homer
On the 49th anniversary of Hank Aaron's 715th home run, which pushed the slugger past Babe Ruth's then-record mark, Houston Astros manager and former teammate Dusty Baker revisited the momentous day.
Baker was on deck for Aaron's historic shot and told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart that he had to wait half-an-hour to take his at-bat due to all the commotion, adding that most of the fans had left by the time he took his first pitch.
At 73, Baker has seen a lot of baseball as both a player and a manager. His memories of Aaron's record-shattering swing may be a little fuzzy, though.
While Baker told McTaggart that he followed up Aaron's homer with a double off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing, the boxscore from that long-ago contest shows a walk. In defense of Baker's memory, he did hit an RBI two-bagger against Downing in the first inning.
Baker recalled "pleasant memories" of Aaron, who mentored him on and off the field. In 2021, Baker told MLB.com after Aaron's passing that he was "second only to my dad, and my dad meant the world to me."
Barry Bonds would ultimately overtake Aaron on the long ball leaderboard, finishing with a very controversial 762 home runs. Nearly a half-century after shattering what was once considered an unbreakable record, many still celebrate Aaron as MLB's homerun king.
A two-time batting champion, Aaron finished his Hall of Fame career with 755 home runs and 3,771 hits. He batted .305 over 23 seasons in the bigs.
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