1974 Atlanta Braves season

1974 Atlanta Braves
Hank Aaron hits his 714th Home Run to break Babe Ruth's All-Time Record
File:AtlantaBraves.jpg
Division	Western Division
Ballpark	Atlanta Stadium
City	Atlanta, Georgia
Owners	William Bartholomay
Managers	Eddie Mathews, Clyde King
Television	WTCG
Radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton)
Seasons

The highlight of the Atlanta Braves 1974 season was Hank Aaron surpassing Babe Ruth as baseball's all-time Home Run king.

Offseason

• March 26, 1974: Buzz Capra was purchased by the Braves from the New York Mets.

Regular season

Opening Day Starters

• Hank Aaron
• Dusty Baker
• Vic Correll
• Darrell Evans
• Ralph Garr
• Davey Johnson
• Mike Lum
• Ron Reed
• Craig Robinson

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	102	60	0.630	—	52–29	50–31
Cincinnati Reds	98	64	0.605	4	50–31	48–33
Atlanta Braves	88	74	0.543	14	46–35	42–39
Houston Astros	81	81	0.500	21	46–35	35–46
San Francisco Giants	72	90	0.444	30	37–44	35–46
San Diego Padres	60	102	0.370	42	36–45	24–57

Transactions

• June 5, 1974: Dale Murphy was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 1974 amateur draft.
• June 12, 1974: Dave Campbell was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.

Roster

1974 Atlanta Braves roster
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders 17 Leo Foster Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron		Manager

Hank Aaron's 715th

The fence Hank Aaron hit the home run over still exists outside of Turner Field

At the end of the 1973 season, Aaron was one home run short of the record. He hit home run number 713 on September 29, 1973, and with one day remaining in the season, many expected him to tie the record. But in his final game that year, playing against the Houston Astros (led by manager Leo Durocher, who had once roomed with Babe Ruth), he was unable to hit one out of the park.

Over the winter, Aaron received many death threats and a large assortment of hate mail. Many did not want to see a black man break Ruth's nearly sacrosanct home run record. Lewis Grizzard, then editor of the Atlanta Journal, prepared for the massive coverage of the home run record. Secretly though, he quietly had an obituary written, scared that Aaron might be murdered.

Sports Illustrated pointedly summarized the racist vitriole that Aaron was forced to endure:

"Is this to be the year in which Aaron, at the age of thirty-nine, takes a moon walk above one of the most hallowed individual records in American sport...? Or will it be remembered as the season in which Aaron, the most dignified of athletes, was besieged with hate mail and trapped by the cobwebs and goblins that lurk in baseball's attic?"

Babe Ruth's widow, Claire Hodgson, even denounced the racism and declared that her husband would have enthusiastically cheered Aaron's attempt at the record.

As the 1974 season began, the Braves opened the season on the road with a three game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Braves management wanted him to break the record in Atlanta. The plan was to have Aaron sit for said games against the Reds. Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ruled that he had to play two games in the first series. He played two out of three, tying Babe Ruth's record in his very first at bat off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham, but failed to hit another home run in the series.

The team returned to Atlanta for a series with the L.A. Dodgers. On April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people showed up for the game — a Braves attendance record. Sammy Davis Jr. was in attendance, and Pearl Bailey, sang the national anthem in Broadway soul. Atlanta's black mayor, Maynard Jackson, and Governor Jimmy Carter attended the game.

Downing had walked Aaron leading off the second inning to the accompaniment of continuous booing by the fans. Aaron then scored on a Dodger error, and the run broke Willie Mays' alltitne National League record for runs scored with 2,063. In the 4th inning, Aaron hit career home run number 715 off Dodgers pitcher Al Downing. Although Dodgers outfielder Bill Buckner nearly went over the outfield wall trying to catch it, the ball landed in the Braves bullpen, where relief pitcher Tom House caught it. Two white college students sprinted onto the field and jogged alongside Aaron as he circled the base paths. As the fans cheered wildly, Aaron's mother ran onto the field as well.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
LF	Hank Aaron	112	340	91	.268	20	69

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Leo Foster	72	112	22	.196	1	5

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Award Winners

1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Hank Aaron, Right field, Starter
• Buzz Capra, Pitcher, Reserve
• Ralph Garr, Outfield, Reserve

Farm system

• Class AAA: Richmond Braves (International League; Clint Courtney, manager)
• Class AA: Savannah Braves (Southern League; Tommie Aaron, manager)
• Class A: Greenwood Braves (Western Carolinas League; Gary Geiger, manager)
• Rookie: Kingsport Braves (Appalachian League; Hoyt Wilhelm, manager)

References

• 1974 Atlanta Braves team page at Baseball Reference
• 1974 Atlanta Braves team page at www.baseball-almanac.com