Forty-five years ago today, Henry Aaron hit his 715th career home run, breaking the long-standing record of Babe Ruth. It was one of the rare times when TV networks that weren’t carrying the game live cut into their regular programming to carry the action. Here’s video of that moment, with Vin Scully on the Dodgers radio broadcast describing the action that night. Take note of how Scully not only sets the scene, but pauses to let you take in the crowd’s reaction, then offers a long-view perspective on what you’ve just witnessed.
As for Aaron, this was the end of a torturous year in which he and his family received death threats and verbal abuse because he, a black man, dared to outdo a white guy from a previous generation. That’s why Scully points out the irony of the ovation from the Deep South crowd.
Aaron ended his career in 1976 with 755 homers, only to be surpassed three decades later by Barry Bonds, who finished with 762.