Newspaper Page Text
Page 10
— Griffin Daily News Friday, April 5,1974
Aaron catches Babe
By RICK VAN SANT
CINCINNATI (UPI) - Ham
mering Hank has caught the
Babe.
Now he’ll try to pass him in
Saturday’s second game be
tween the Atlanta Braves and
the Cincinnati Reds.
With his first swing of the
1974 season, Hank Aaron
smacked a dramatic three run
homer against the Reds Thurs
day to tie Babe Ruth's career
home run record of 714, a mark
once thought unreachable.
“It’s a load off my back,”
said Hank, “But I need one
more to break it. When I get it,
I’ll probably run around the
bases backwards.”
Hank gets his chance for
some fancy basepath footwork
here Saturday* when the
Braves seek revenge for
Thursday’s 7-6 loss to the Reds.
Both teams were idle today.
Didn’t Wait Long
The 52,154 fans who jammed
Riverfront Stadium for opening
day didn’t have to wait long for
Aaron’s blast.
With two men on base in the
first inning, Aaron worked
Reds’ pitcher Jack Billingham
to a 3-1 count. Then Billingham
served up a “sinker" that
Billingham knew
it was a homer
By LEE LEONARD
CINCINNATI (UPI) — Jack
Billingham knew Atlanta’s
Hank Aaron had swatted his
714th career home run the
moment the ball left his bat
there Thursday afternoon.
“I knew by the way he
swung,” said the Cincinnati
Reds pitcher. “At first I just
Ball Aaron clutched
wasn’t ‘the’ ball
CINCINNATI (UPI) - Oddly,
the ball Hank Aaron kept
clutching in his hand was not
the one he hit for his 714th
record-tying home run, but
rather one which Vice Presi
dent Gerald Ford had auto
graphed for him.
President Nixon and Vice
President Ford both were
invited to Thursday’s National
I.eague opener, and it was Ford
who acccepted the invitation
and was among the 52,154 on
hand to see Aaron equal Babe
Ruth’s record in Riverfront
Stadium.
After Aaron connected, the
game was halted for six
minutes, and Ford congratulat
ed him.
: Get Ready For :
| Summer With A New :
♦ Trampoline ♦
♦ 3 Sizes 5’ x9’ |
♦ 6’ x 9’ ♦
: 6' x io’ :
i Hours of fun for ♦
♦ the entire family ♦
Gail Thomas ♦
♦ t
J 1318 Etheridge Mill Rd. ♦
t Phone 227-1971 ♦
g 0 p 0 C Would we like to go to the 3
ft Holiday Inn Sat. Night for
'TI their New Bar-B-Que Buffet?
— Sure Would
'J 3 Holiday Inn
Griffin
, j \\ Bar-B-Que Feast Buffet
/ / Zed LKjfS \ Every Sat. Night
L Children Adults
■U Under $3 - 95
|i / / 12 lilHl p er Person
5200 - » -
K // / I Y-1 ™* WORLD'S ■ /
K ■ ■ L/ / \ \ T-1 ■ /
Bring the Family
w J REG U S PAT OFF
didn’t sink and Aaron lined it
over the left field wall near the
375 foot mark.
After Aaron circled the bases,
the game was stopped for a six
minute ceremony during which
Hank took the public address
microphone and told the cheer
ing crowd, “I’m just glad it’s
almost over with.”
A Cincinnati policeman, Clar
ence Williams, 22, stationed in
the open area behind the wall
and in front of the stands,
retrieved the ball and it was
immediately presented to
Aaron.
Reds Rally
Although Aaron’s homer
staked the Braves to a 3-0 lead,
the Reds rallied to take a 7-6
victory in 11 innings. Pete Rose
scored the winning run from
second base on a wild pitch .
But the day belonged to
Aaron, the 40-year-old slugger
who once in his youthful,
unsophisticated zeal for the
game of baseball, batted cross
handed for a barnstorming
team called the Indianapolis
Clowns.
A beaming Aaron told more
than 100 newsmen after the
game he felt like he was off to
a good season —his 21st in the
sort of looked down at the
ground, but then I thought I
might as well watch it go out.”
Billingham, who started in
the Reds come from behind, 7-
6, 11th inning win, said the
home run ball he dished up to
Aaron was a sinker which
didn’t sink like it was supposed
to.
“This is a great day for you
and a great day for baseball,”
said the vice president to
Aaron. “Good luck for 715 and
many more.”
Ford autographed several
baseballs, one of which was
given to Aaron. The Braves’ 40-
year-old left fielder was holding
on to it as he talked to
newsmen about his home run
after the game.
The vice president remem
bers seeing Ruth play in his
hometown of Grand Rapids,
Mich., when he was a boy.
Ruth came there for an
exhibition game with the
Yankees, and Ford’s father
took him out to see the great
slugger.
major leagues.
“I felt I would hit a home run
today,” he said. “I was a little
disappointed you gentlemen
didn’t see the other one.”
Aaron had hit only one other
opening day homer —off the
Chicago Cubs’ Bob Rush in
1956.
Sunday in Doubt
While Aaron will be in the
lineup Saturday, he said he
doesn’t know if he will play
Sunday..
“I was only ordered to play
two out of three,” he laughed,
referring to an edict issued by
baseball Commissioner Bowie
Kuhn after the Braves had
announced intentions of withold
ing Aaron until the first home
stand in Atlanta.
“I’ve had a chance to hit one
here and I do owe the fans in
Atlanta a shot at it,” Aaron
said.
Did that mean Aaron would
be something less than a home
run hitter here Saturday?
“I’m certainly going to play
the game the way it’s supposed
to be played,” he said. “If I get
a pitch I can hit out of the ball
park, I’m going to try to
dispose of it.”
The dubious distinction of
“It just kind of sailed into
him,” said Billingham. “You
make a mistake on him and it’s
gone.”
Aaron was thrown a similar
pitch in the third inning,
Billingham said, and grounded
out.
“Any game you pitch as bad
as I did and win, you’re going
to be happy,” said Billingham.
“I marked this off as one of the
four or five bad games I expect
during the season.”
The game was stopped for six
minutes while Aaron was
presented the baseball clob
bered to tie Babe Ruth’s all
time Major League homer
record. Billingham said he was
“irritated” by the delay and
thought the ceremony should
have been held after the inning
was ended.
“It seemed like a half hour
out there,” said Billingham.
Cincinnati outfielder Pete
Rose scored the winning run
from second on a wild pitch
and said he was “mad” when
he saw the ball hit by Aaron
sail over the left field fence.
"You don’t want a home run
with two men on in the first
inning,” said Rose.
Tony Perez, the batting hero
for the Reds whose four runs
batted in were overshadowed
by Aaron’s homer, said he
wished the Atlanta slugger
would get his next, and record
breaking, home run against
Cincinnati’s chief rival in the
National League West, Los
Angeles.
“As long as we won,” said
Perez, “I’m glad to see him get
it (No. 714).
Reds catcher Johnny Bench
said in the locker room after
the game that all the Cincinnati
players believed the team
would rally back after Aaron’s
three-run homer.
“We knew that wouldn’t be
enough to beat us,” said Rose.
“We knew that Henry was
going to do his thing and we’re
going to get to do ours.”
serving up No. 714 to Aaron
didn’t seem to bother the easy
going Billingham.
Not Embarrassed
He greeted reporters with his
usual boyish grin and mild
manner. “I’m not embarrassed
at all,” Billingham said. “Hank
Aaron is a great hitter. He’s
going to get his homers. I just
feel bad that I didn’t pitch as
good as I know I can pitch.”
Asked for the pitch Aaron hit
for his homer at 2:40 p.m.
EDT, 10 minutes after Vice
President Gerald Ford tossed
out the first ball, Billingham
said:
“It was a sinker that didn’t
sink. I wanted it to be low and
away and to sink, but it sailed
into him. It was my mistake.
That’s what makes Hank Aaron
great. He takes advatage of
mistakes.”
Billingham knew the ball was
gone the instant Aaron connec
ted.
I’m afraid I did,” he said.
“I said a few words to the
ground. Then I turned around
and watched it go over the
wall.”
SPORTS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Jackson 4 for 5
in A’s victory
By ED FITE
UPI Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Tex. (UPI) —
Reggie Jackson and Oakland
A’s owner Charles 0. Finley
may not always see eye to eye,
but after the season-opening
performance by Jackson, Fin
ley ecstatically exclaimed, “he
can play barefooted for all I
care.”
Jackson, the American
League and World Series most
valuable player in 1973, got off
to a terrific start Thursday
night. The world champions
powered to a 7-2 debut under
Alvin Dark at the expense of
the Texas Rangers and 1973
nemesis Jim Bibby.
The A’s right fielder merely
N. J. girls
step closer
to LL
TRENTON, N.J. (UPI) -
New Jersey girls are a step
closer to getting on all-boys
Little League teams. The state
Assembly narrowly rejected a
one-year moratorium on a state
order to allow them from the
field.
A “Save the Little League”
committee called Thursday for
a delay to give local leagues
time to train women coaches
and prepare for the admission
of girls. Some volunteers on the
committee said they would
cancel their seasons rather
than allow girls to play this
year.
Their next move awaits a
decision by Little League, Inc.,
on whether to ask the state
Supreme Court to review a
ruling by the Superior Court’s
Appellate Division that the
Little League cannot discrimi
nate on the basis of sex.
The Little League, Inc.,
executive committee is sche
duled to meet today in
Williamsport, Pa.
Assemblyman Christopher
Jackman, D-Hudson, sponsor of
the moratorium, said the defeat
by three votes apparently killed
any effort to forestall the order
to admit girls.
Gillespie
bowls 202
Gerry Gillespie bowled a 202
game and a 548 series this week
in the Koffee Klub League.
Other leading bowlers were:
Lou Averman 187, Dottie
Golenia 185, Bonnie Pfrogner
178, Bonnie Rounds 175, Liz
Sherliza 174, Gwen Mitchell 167,
Sandra Kimbell 166, Evelyn
Downing 162, Jimmie Norris
160, Martha Jester 158, Barbara
Vines 156, Margie Yates 156,
Mary Johnson 156, Norma Head
156, Fab Manning 153, Ruth Holt
152, Nancy Feltman 151 and
Ople Popwell 151.
I .
rW) BizSk
■yHUBf LB
iTKrn
’ll , -j—SKi
CINCINNATI — Members of the Atlanta Braves gather
around home plate at Riverfront Stadium here to
congratulate Hank Aaron on hitting his 714th career home
had a four-for-five night against
Bibby and his successors —a
home run, two doubles and a
single as well as stealing a
base.
Oddly, the solo homer gave
Jackson his only RBI, but his
first double ignited a four-run
outburst in the second inning
that really was all Jim
“Catfish” Hunter needed to get
credit for the victory. Hunter
tired and gave way to Rollie
Fingers in the eighth after
successive singles by Jim
Fregosi and Rich Billings and a
double by Dave Nelson that
gave the crowd of 21,907 much
to cheer about.
Jackson and Finley were
standing together in the dress
ing room after the game when
someone brought up the subject
of controversy.
“Anybody who gets two
doubles, a home run and a
single in the first game can
play barefooted for all I care,”
Finley said.
Jackson described as “a
bunch of bull” the stories of
friction between him and
SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOOeOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOCeOOOOOOOOOOQOOQQOOOI
For Spring
JSZ And Easter
'a A
(aMPUS -
MEN’S JEANS
JMHB BLAZER JACKETS
Colorful embroidery in manly terms spells out big
IB fashion news this spring. This rayon velvet blazer is
handsomely adorned
V VHHkI shoulders, cuffs and pockets. The fully acetate-lined
& hBHB I jacket is from Campus iRi. the .American male's
wBEa favorite sportswear maker.
WIL jacket suit
Wr $ 29 95 $ 49 95
wr wP*® I
fT ' | Gentry I
’ I 'L I I Shop!
COOQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOeCOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOQOOCOOOOOOOCCOOQOOQOGOaOOOOC
Finley.
“You guys just like to sell
newspapers,” he said. “Mr.
Finley and I have a mutual
respect. I’m not going to make
a fool of him and he’s not going
to make a fool of me.”
The A’s combined Jackson’s
double, a walk to Gene Tenace,
a double by Joe Rudi and
singles by Ray Fosse and Dick
Green for the four runs in the
second inning. Jackson’s second
double was wasted in the third,
but in the fifth he singled off
Nelson’s glove, went to second
on a throwing error that also
allowed Sal Bando to score
from second, then stole third
and came home on Rudi’s
single.
Toby Harrah got to Hunter
for three singles and Rich
Billings for a pair of one
baggers. Aside from those
blows and Nelson’s two-bagger
Hunter looked just like he did
in compiling a 21-5 record last
year.
The clubs were idle today
with the second game of their
series set for Saturday night.
run at his first time at bat in the first inning off Reds’
pitcher Jack Billingham. Aaron has now tied Babe Ruth’s
career home run record. (UPI)
&y o° n 1
BAIT FISHING vs ARTIFICIAL LURES
Believe it or not, bait fishing (sometimes called “still”
fishing) requires a better knowledge of fish habits than
do most forms of fishing artificials. In fact, many ex
perienced anglers don’t use bait simply because they
can’t catch fish with it. Natural baits — minnows,
worms, crawfish, insects and others — are best used
with a spinning rod, fly rod or sturdy cane pole. Sure,
it takes practice and a constant changing of technique
but with patience anyone can learn the basics of bait
fishing. So don't scoff at “worm dunking" until you’ve
given this method a try. It’s relaxing, enjoyable and
more often than not, will put a “heap of good eatin’ ”
on the table.
Bank Financing vs Other Loan Plans ... whatever your
financial needs, compare our bank interest rates with
other type loans and you’ll quickly discover why it pays
to borrow here.
Commercial Bank 8 Trust Company
t Griffin. Georgia
MEMBER F D I C