1970’s

Atlanta Braves

1. 1974 Records Were Meant To Be Broken
   Submitted by: R Boyd
   Babe Ruth, the Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, and at that time it was Ruth and George Washington who were the greatest American icons bar none.
   Ruth's 714 home run record would certainly never be broken . And as a 12 year old baseball "expert", I deduced the only guy that could get close was Willy Mays.
   In April of 1974 some guy named Henry Aaron stepped up to the plate and launched number 715. I had the honor of watching that on TV as it was a special broadcast for everyone to witness.
   This was huge at the time. Breaking a Babe Ruth record could be construed as the work of Satan and poor ol' Henry heard it
   I read that he received thousands of letters, mostly hate mail but some encouraging letters too.
   I didn't see Aaron play that much because in those days you saw your home team and I think MLB had the game of the week on
   But I had the honor of witnessing Hammerin" Hank break the greatest and most revered sports record of all time
   I felt it was marred a bit by some clowns running with him around the bases I'm glad they got to them quickly .
   Yes, records were made to be broken and from what I've seen and read about Aaron, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy
   That nice guy finished first.

New York Yankees

1. 1970 was the year. I was nine years old and was born in New York City. Although I didn't live there for even two years, I grew up a New York sports fan. My childhood baseball idol was Bobby Murcer. I was lucky to have an Uncle who loved baseball like I did. He was living in Harrison, New York and although he was a Mets fan, he took me to old Yankee Stadium to watch a game against the Twins. Although I was young, I was a huge sports fan and somewhat understood the significance of where I was watching this game. The iconic facade and the short porch in right plus the white picket fencing near the top of the stadium all stood out. In addition, all the greats from the Pinstripe franchise who played there was not lost on me either. I remember Roy White hitting a grand slam off of Bert Blyleven in the game. Later on (although I don't remember this incident too much), I learned this was Mickey Mantle's first game as a first base coach. Sadly, I never got back to Yankee Stadium but I do remember it well and feel so lucky to have gone to the "House that Ruth built"!