Fifty years ago this week, on April 8th 1974, Hank Aaron became the all-time home run leader in baseball history. On that night, Aaron hit his 715th home run off Al Downing over the left field fence in Atlanta. However, it was a fortuitous visit by his childhood idol, Jackie Robinson, when Aaron was a teenager, that helped him envision a different world than that of his father. In this short clip, Bob Costas describes how Robinson’s visit allowed Aaron to see that it was possible for a black man from the Deep South, to not only be a baseball player, but to transcend the game. Click the link below to hear the story.
Stories of Joy 