It was a historic day for baseball: 48 years ago today, No. 44 entered the record books.
On the evening of April 8, 1974, Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron became the career home run king, slamming a 1-0 fastball off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing into the left-center field bullpen at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium.
Home run No. 715 allowed Aaron to pass Babe Ruth’s career record that had stood since 1935, and tied the game at 3 and ignited a four-run rally for the Braves. Atlanta would win the nationally televised game, 7-4.