Although Aaron himself downplayed the "chase" to surpass
Babe Ruth, baseball enthusiasts and the national media grew increasingly excited as he closed in on the home run record. During the summer of
1973 Aaron received thousands of letters every week; the Braves ended up hiring a secretary to help him sort through it.
At the age of 39, Aaron managed to slug 40 home runs in 392 at-bats, ending the season 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. After the game, Aaron stated that his only fear was that he might not live to see the 1974 season.
Over the winter, Aaron was the recipient of
death threats and a large assortment of hate mail from people who did not want to see a
black man break Ruth's nearly
sacrosanct home run record. The threats extended to those providing positive press coverage of Aaron.
Lewis Grizzard, then editor of the
Atlanta Journal, reported receiving numerous phone calls calling them "nigger lovers" for covering Aaron's chase. While preparing the massive coverage of the home run record, 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?"
Aaron received an outpouring of public support in response to the
bigotry. 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, Aaron's pursuit of the home run record caused a small controversy. The Braves opened the season on the road in
Cincinnati with a three game series against the
Reds. Braves management wanted him to break the record in
Atlanta, and were therefore going to have Aaron sit out the first three games of the season. But
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 did not hit another home run in the series.
The team returned to Atlanta, and on
April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people showed up for the game — a Braves attendance record. In the 4th inning, Aaron hit career home run number 715 off
L.A. 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. While cannons were fired in celebration, 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.
A few months later, on
October 5, 1974, Aaron hit his 733rd and final home run as a Brave, which stood as the National League's home run record until it was broken by
Barry Bonds in
2006. Thirty days later, the Braves traded Aaron to the
Milwaukee Brewers for
Roger Alexander and
Dave May. Because the Brewers were an
American League team, he was able to extend his career by taking advantage of the
designated hitter rule. On
May 1, 1975, Aaron broke baseball's all-time
RBI record, previously held by Ruth with 2,217.
On
July 20, 1976, Hank Aaron hit his 755th and final home run at
Milwaukee County Stadium off
Dick Drago of the
California Angels.
