It was 50 years ago tomorrow.........

 It was the story in Major League Baseball to begin the 1974 season. No, not the Oakland A's quest for a 3-peat in the World Series, though that would happen six months later.

When the season began in April, Atlanta's Hank Aaron was pursuing history, taking aim at Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs. He tied the record, as memory serves, against Cincinnati. On April 8, on NBC's Monday Night Baseball, Aaron and the Braves faced the Los Angeles Dodgers. I remember sitting at home----well, actually, I was on the carpet----with my folks, watching the game 'til bedtime.

The video, posted by MLB's YouTube channel, is from the NBC broadcast. However, the audio is the Dodgers' radio broadcast, with venerable Vin Scully on the call. I am not sure if there's any video with Curt Gowdy's original call for NBC available online at present.

No one knows what happened to the two publicity seeking fans that ran on the field to congratulate Aaron. They likely had seen their last game, as they were probably ejected for getting on the field, which is still a no-no for fans.

Hank Aaron finished his career where it began in the majors, in Milwaukee, before going into the Hall of Fame. We lost Aaron in 2021. In many people's minds, he's still the true home run king, not Barry Bonds. That argument will continue forever.