On This Day in Sports: April 4, 1974
On April 4, 1974, Hank Aaron opened the baseball season in Cincinnati with history waiting on every pitch. In his first at-bat against Jack Billingham, the Atlanta star drove a three-run home run over the left-field wall at Riverfront Stadium. It was the 714th homer of Aaron’s career, tying the record Babe Ruth had held alone since 1935.
The swing arrived amid an exhausting national countdown. Aaron had ended 1973 with 713 home runs, and Atlanta officials hoped he could break the record at home. The league required him to play in Cincinnati, however, and Aaron immediately made the issue unavoidable. The crowd stood and applauded as he rounded the bases, recognizing that one of baseball’s most durable marks had been matched.
The milestone carried weight far beyond arithmetic. Aaron had pursued Ruth’s record while receiving racist hate mail and threats, forcing security measures around his family and the ballpark. His steady public manner sometimes obscured the strain. By tying the record on Opening Day, he demonstrated again the consistency and composure that had defined two decades of elite hitting.
Aaron did not homer again during the Cincinnati series, preserving the record-breaking moment for Atlanta four days later. Yet No. 714 remains a major landmark of its own: the instant the once-unapproachable total became shared history. The drive off Billingham connected two eras of baseball and placed Aaron beside Ruth before he stepped beyond him.
Aaron homered on Opening Day in Cincinnati.
The pitcher was Jack Billingham.
The three-run shot was career homer No. 714.
Babe Ruth had held the record since 1935.
Aaron entered the season with 713 home runs.
He broke the record four days later in Atlanta.
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