Hank Aaron #44
Dodger Stadium
60th Anniversary

Hank Aaron #44

Braves and Brewers
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SOME OF THE 2022 DODGERS DODGER ALL-STARS CY YOUNG AWARD WINNERS RETIRED NUMBERS PEE WEE REESE #1 TOMMY LASORDA #2 DUKE SNIDER #4 JIM LEFEBVRE #5 STEVE GARVEY #6 GIL HODGES #14 JIM GILLIAM #19 DON SUTTON #20 CLAYTON KERSHAW #22 ERIC KARROS #23 WALTER ALSTON #24 MIKE MARSHALL #28 TODD HOLLANDSWORTH #28 MAX SCHERZER #31 SANDY KOUFAX #32 FERNANDO VALENZUELA #34 CODY BELLINGER #35 DON NEWCOMBE #36 ERIC GAGNE #38 ROY CAMPANELLA #39 JACKIE ROBINSON #42 RAUL MONDESI #43 HANK AARON #44 RICK SUTCLIFFE #48 DON DRYSDALE #53 OREL HERSHISER #55 JAMIE JARRIN VIN SCULLY


HA was not a Dodger
There is a plaque for his final home run at Dodger Stadium and some stuff about Vin Scully calling his 715th home run.

Posted October 2022

Hank Aaron's Final Home Run
Henry Aaron's Final Home Run at Dodger Stadium
On april 15, 1973, Henry Aaron hit his 676th career home run. Which turned out to be his final home run at Dodger Stadium. Aaron went on to establish a major league record with 755 home runs in his 23-year career. Aaron's final home run at dodger stadium was hit into the left field pavilion in the ninth inning of a 6-2 dodger victory.

Hank Aaron Vin Scully 715 Home Run
Vin Scully's Call of Hank Aaron's 715th Home Run

Vin ScullyAnd once again, a standing ovation for Henry Aaron.

[Scully stopped talking for 11 seconds, letting the crowd noise fill the void]

Vin ScullySo the confrontation for the second time. Aaron walked in the second inning. He means the tying run at the plate now. We'll see what Downing does. Al at the belt, delivers, and he's low; ball one.

[Crowd boos]

Vin ScullyAnd that just adds to the pressure. The crowd booing. Downing has to ignore the sound effects and stay a professional and pitch his game.

Vin ScullyOne ball and no strikes. Aaron waiting. The outfield deep and straight away. Fastball.

[Scully's voice rises in excitement]

Vin ScullyThere's a high drive into deep left-center field. Buckner goes back to the fence. It is ... gone!

[Scully stopped talking for 1:45, so listeners could hear the cheering crowd and fireworks, the first sign for listeners Aaron had just broken the record]

Vin ScullyWhat a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us and for particularly for Henry Aaron, who has met at home plate, not only by every member of the Braves but by his father and mother. He threw his arms around his father and as he left the home plate area, his mother came running across the grass, threw her arms around his neck, kissed him for all she was worth.

As Aaron circled the bases, the Dodgers on the infield shook his hand. And that was a memorable moment.

Aaron is being mobbed by photographers. He's holding his right hand high in the air and for the first time in a long time, that poker face of Aaron's shows the tremendous strain and relief of what it must've been like to live with for the past several months. It is over. At 10 minutes after nine in Allanta, Georgia, Henry Aaron has eclipsed the mark set by Babe Ruth. You could not, I guess, get two more opposite men. The Babe: big and garrulous and oh-so-sociable. And oh so-immense in all of his appetites. And then, the quiet lad out of Mobile, Alabama: slender and stayed slender throughout his career.

Ruth, as he put on the poundage and the paunch, the Yankees put their ballplayers in pinstripe uniforms because it made Ruth look slimmer. But they didn't need pinstripe uniforms for Henry Aaron in the twilight of his career. He looks almost the same as he did when he first came up 20 years ago.

And so it was a memorable moment before the game. And now what a sweet moment it is here in the middle of the game.

So Henry and the Babe, the two greatest home-run hitters that have over lived. And it's a marvelous, wonderful, enjoyable moment here in Atlanta. We're so happy, too, that it could be seen all over the United States, that it will be duly reported all around the world. And I'm sure films of it will be seen around the world, and you can hear Georgia around the world.

Henry Aaron is now at the microphone.

[Listeners could hear Aaron talking, but the words are indistinguishable]

Vin ScullyHenry sums it all up by saying. "I thank God it's all over with." And I'm sure he has thanked God many times, that he had to do it to get it all over with, as he becomes the greatest home-run hitter in the history of baseball

[https://www.eatlife.net/dodger-stadium/vin-scully.php]

Hank Aaron Vin Scully

Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the greatest baseball players in history, he spent 21 seasons with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves in the National League (NL) and two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League (AL).
Hank Aaron:
  • At the time of his retirement, Aaron held most of the game's key career power-hitting records.
  • He broke the long-standing MLB record for home runs held by Babe Ruth and remained the career leader for 33 years.
  • He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973 and is one of only two players to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least fifteen times.
  • Aaron holds the MLB records for the most career runs batted in (RBIs) (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856). The total base record is remarkable in context: at the time of his retirement, he had travelled over 12 miles farther on the base paths than any other player in MLB history.
  • Aaron is also third all-time for career hits (3,771) and fifth in runs scored (2,174).
  • He is one of only four players to have at least 17 seasons with 150 or more hits.

Hank AaronAaron's ability as a hitter can be illustrated by his still having over 3,000 hits even without counting any of his home runs

  • Aaron was an NL All-Star for 20 seasons and an AL All-Star for one season, and he holds the record for the most All-Star selections (25),[a] while sharing the record for most All-Star Games played (24) with Willie Mays and Stan Musial.
  • He was a three-time Gold Glove winner.
  • In 1957, he won the NL Most Valuable Player Award when the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series.
  • In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth on its list of the "100 Greatest Baseball Players".
  • In 1982, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Hank AaronAaron played the vast majority of his MLB games in right field, though he appeared at several other infield and outfield positions. In his last two seasons, he was primarily a designated hitter.

Negro League:
Aaron was born and raised in and around Mobile, Alabama. Aaron had seven siblings, including Tommie Aaron, who played major-league baseball with him. He appeared briefly in the Negro American League and in minor league baseball before starting his major league career. By his final MLB season, Aaron was the last former Negro league baseball player on a major league roster.

Post-playing career:
After his retirement, Aaron held front office roles with the Atlanta Braves, including the senior vice president. Aaron resided near Atlanta until his death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron