May 31, 1972: Momentous day sees Henry Aaron tie Willie Mays in home runs and secure 6,000th total base

After finishing the 1971 season with a 3-12 record in his first season with the San Diego Padres, journeyman starting pitcher Fred Norman1 developed a slider to try to boost his fortunes in 1972.

His newest pitch did its job – Norman improved to 9-11 and fired a career-high six shutouts – but the 29-year-old southpaw probably would have liked a second chance to better locate one of his sliders from the first inning of a May 31 game against the Atlanta Braves.

Braves first baseman Henry Aaron sent Norman’s 3-and-2 slider rocketing into the left-field stands for a monumental two-out solo home run that set the tone for Atlanta’s 5-4 victory in front of 5,757 fans on a Wednesday night at Atlanta Stadium.

“He tried to slip a slider past me,” the 38-year-old Aaron said. “It was the last time I saw that pitch all night.”2

Aaron’s home run was the 648th of his career, moving him into a tie with Willie Mays for second place on the all-time home-run list.3 As he circled the bases to cheers from the fans, the scoreboard flashed a message celebrating his latest accomplishment,4 and when he crossed the plate, Aaron also became the second player in major-league history to accumulate 6,000 total bases – joining one of his idols, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial.5

Aaron, who had experienced knee soreness throughout the 1971 season but still cracked a career-high 47 home runs and hit .327, had one of the slowest starts of his career throughout the first two months of 1972. He missed six of the first 39 games of the season with arthritis in his neck and shoulder, and his .246 batting average was the lowest he carried into June since his .242 average entering June in 1958.

“Of course, Aaron has been hurt, but he’s okay now,” manager Luman Harris said. “He’s coming through pretty regularly with the long ball, nine out of the park so far, which is pretty good, but he’s not hitting for average the way he should.”6

Added Aaron, who occupied the third spot in Atlanta’s lineup: “I feel pretty good now, though, and if the people behind me in the lineup start hitting like they are capable of so the other teams can’t pitch around me, I see no reason why I shouldn’t hit my usual number of home runs.”7

Rico Carty, who won the 1970 National League batting title with a .366 mark, came into the 1972 season as Atlanta’s primary cleanup hitter,8 but he struggled to find his stroke after missing the entire 1971 campaign with a severe knee injury. Carty missed eight of Atlanta’s first 39 games and entered the May 31 game with a .289 average, a significant drop from the .322 career mark he brought into the season.9

Reigning NL Rookie of the Year Earl Williams regularly batted from the fourth or fifth slot in the lineup over the first two months of the season.10 Like Carty, he was off to a slower start, hitting only .240 with 4 home runs after slugging 33 home runs and batting .260 as a rookie. Williams, who had Atlanta’s most appearances as the cleanup hitter (75) and number-five hitter (55), rebounded during the summer to finish his season with a .258 average and 28 homers.

After Aaron’s first-inning home run (career number 114),11 the Braves continued a rally with Carty’s single and rookie Dusty Baker’s walk. Williams smacked a single into left to score Carty and secure a 2-0 lead. Two innings later, Ralph Garr opened with a single and moved to third when Carty reached on an error. Garr scampered home on a wild pitch.

After Norman issued a two-out intentional walk to Williams and an unintentional walk to Darrell Evans, first-year Padres manager Don Zimmer12 called in Ed Acosta from the bullpen to escape the bases-loaded jam – but Acosta also struggled with control and walked Marty Perez to let in Atlanta’s fourth run. He struck out Braves starting pitcher Ron Reed to end the inning.

With one out in the fifth, San Diego’s Bob Barton reached second on an error by shortstop Perez and Enzo Hernández reached on an infield single. Both runners moved up on pinch-hitter Ed Spiezio’s grounder to first, and rookie leadoff batter Derrel Thomas walked to load the bases – Reed’s first jam of the game. Garry Jestadt beat out an infield roller for an RBI single, but Reed struck out Leron Lee to end the threat with minimal damage.

Lee led off the eighth with a double to right and All-Star Nate Colbert followed with an RBI single to center that cut Atlanta’s lead to 4-2. The Braves answered in the bottom as Williams and Evans walked, Perez sacrificed, and Williams scored a valuable insurance run when Reed lofted a fly to deep right.

Reed trotted back to the mound in the ninth hoping to secure back-to-back complete-game victories, but he walked Curt Blefary and surrendered a home run to pinch-hitter Larry Stahl,13 prompting Harris to pull him. Cecil Upshaw retired the next three hitters for his fourth save and helped the Braves to their eighth win in 11 games.

“Yes, we’re getting better pitching,” Harris said after his team improved to 18-22,14 “and this is the big thing in our improved play.”15

Reed – who had earned the win on July 14, 1968, when Aaron launched his 500th career home run – improved to 3-6 in his seventh season with the Braves.16 Norman took the loss, dropping to 4-4, as the Padres fell to 16-26.17

Because of Aaron’s home run, Atlanta’s next series against the New York Mets drew a media frenzy. The San Francisco Giants had traded Mays to the New York Mets earlier in May,18 so many fans and reporters savored the chance for Aaron to surpass Mays at Shea Stadium – especially since Mays had previously witnessed Aaron’s 500th and 600th career home runs in Atlanta.

Mays, however, dismissed the spectacle: “Why should I get excited about playing against Henry? I’ve been playing against him for 20 years.”19 Aaron likewise downplayed the extra attention: “If there’s any kind of rivalry between Willie and me, about all you could call it is a friendly rivalry.”20

Coming into the season, Babe Ruth stood atop the career list with 714 home runs, while Mays sat in second (646) and Aaron third (639). Aaron slowly caught up to the 41-year-old Mays with eight home runs in 33 games between April 15 and May 29. Mays had only a pair of homers in 25 games during the same span.

“I’ve known it was just a matter of time before I caught up with Willie,” Aaron said. “Willie isn’t hitting many any more, so I didn’t pay much attention to how many I was behind him. All I’ve been thinking about along those lines the last couple of years was how many more I’d need to catch Babe Ruth.”21

“What [Ruth] has is a like a mountain up there,” Aaron added while pointing a finger toward the sky. “If a ballplayer reaches that, he can figure he’s had himself a pretty good career.”22

Fans flocked to Shea Stadium for the weekend series,23 but Aaron did not hit his next home run until June 10 at Philadelphia.24 Mays did not homer again until June 30, and by that time, Aaron held a six-homer advantage over him.

Aaron slugged 34 homers by season’s end to increase his career total to 673. Home-run milestones continued for Aaron, who on July 21, 1973, became the second player in history to reach 700 home runs,25 and surpassed Ruth’s record on April 8, 1974. His final career total of 755 stood as the major-league record from 1976 to 2007.26

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, and Retrosheet.org websites for pertinent statistics and the box scores. He also used information obtained from the Atlanta Journal, Atlanta Constitution, and The Sporting News.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL197205310.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1972/B05310ATL1972.htm

NOTES

1  The Padres were Norman’s fifth team since he made his major-league debut with the Kansas City Athletics at age 19 in 1962 (also the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals). He made four relief appearances for the Cardinals in 1971 before they traded him to San Diego on June 11, and Norman earned his first chance at a regular turn in a major-league rotation. The Padres traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in 1973, and Norman became a staple for two World Series winners there before spending his final campaign in 1980 with the Montreal Expos.

2  United Press International, “Hank Aaron Begins Assault on Babe Ruth’s Mark,” Wilmington (North Carolina) Morning Star, June 2, 1972: 4C.

3  Mickey Mantle, who retired before the 1969 season, was fourth all time with 536 home runs, and Jimmie Foxx (1925-1945) rounded out the top five with 534. Only two other active players came into 1972 with more than 500 home runs: Harmon Killebrew (515) and Frank Robinson (503).

4  Wayne Minshew, “Dusty’s Sizzling Bat Adds New Feather to Braves’ War Bonnet,” The Sporting News, June 17, 1972: 19.

5  Musial’s career spanned from 1941 to 1963, and he retired with 6,134 total bases. Aaron surpassed Musial’s total on September 3, 1972, and finished his career with a record 6,856 total bases. Other players, as of the end of the 2024 season, to reach 6,000 total bases were Willie Mays (6,080) and Albert Pujols (6,211).

6  Harley Bowers, “Braves’ Pitching Beginning to Jell,” Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, June 1, 1972: 1D.

7  United Press International, “Hank Aaron Begins Assault on Babe Ruth’s Mark.”

8  Carty batted fourth in 17 of Atlanta’s first 39 games of the season and hit fifth in 7 others. Earl Williams batted cleanup 15 times during the same span.

9  Carty maintained an 18-game hitting streak from May 28 through June 17 to lift his average to .333, but elbow and hamstring injuries limited his time on the field the rest of the season. He closed the year with a .277 average in 86 games.

10  Williams batted fourth or fifth in all but three of Atlanta’s first 39 games. He hit sixth in the other three games.

11  According to data available from Baseball-Reference, Aaron finished his career with 124 home runs in the first inning. When he retired, he trailed only Babe Ruth (131) and sat one ahead of Willie Mays (123). Through the end of the 2024 season, Aaron ranked fourth behind Ruth, Barry Bonds (133), and Albert Pujols (154).

12  The Padres fired Preston Gómez on April 27 . Gómez had led the Padres since their inception in 1969 but was replaced by Zimmer after a 4-7 start in 1972. Zimmer managed in San Diego through 1973 and finished with an overall record of 114-190.

13  The home run was the second pinch-hit home run of Stahl’s career. The first came with the Kansas City Athletics on April 28, 1966, in a blowout loss to the Detroit Tigers. Stahl hit another pinch-hit homer on May 3, 1973, helping the Cincinnati Reds defeat the New York Mets.

14  Atlanta sat seven games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West Division standings after the win. The Braves finished the season 70-84 and fourth in the NL West.

15  Bowers.

16  Reed made brief appearances with Atlanta in 1966 and 1967 before earning a rotation spot and his only All-Star Game appearance in 1968. He remained with the Braves until they traded him and a player to be named later (Wayne Nordhagen) to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 28, 1975, for Elías Sosa and Ray Sadecki. Reed remained in the majors through 1984.

17  San Diego sat 10 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings after the loss. The Padres closed their fourth season at 58-95, finishing with the fewest wins in the NL for the fourth time – a streak that continued until 1975.

18  Mays, who had been with the Giants since 1951, was sent to the Mets on May 9 for Charlie Williams and $50,000. He remained with New York through 1973.

19  Jack Lang, “Mays and Aaron Fill Shea Stadium,” The Sporting News, June 17, 1972: 24.

20  Ron Hudspeth, “Aaron Hits 648, That ‘Other’ Goal,” Atlanta Journal, June 1, 1972: 1-D.

21  United Press International, “Hank Aaron Begins Assault on Babe Ruth’s Mark.”

22  Hudspeth.

23  Attendance at Shea Stadium spiked for the series. The Mets drew a combined 136,920 fans (42,757 on Friday, June 2; 41,947 on June 3; and 52,216 on June 4). The previous season-high mark for a weekend series was 115,556 (May 12-14 against the Giants).

24  Aaron’s sixth-inning grand slam was the 14th of his career, moving him into a tie with Gil Hodges for the NL record and leading Phillies catcher Tim McCarver to quip: “Henry Aaron is the kind of guy who literally lets his bat do his talking for him. But that bat sure has a big mouth.” Bruce Keiden, “Aaron Slams 649th Homer as Braves Bomb Phillies, 15-3,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 11, 1972: 1-D.

25  Barry Bonds became the next player to reach 700 home runs, on September 17, 2004, and Albert Pujols became the fourth member of the 700-home-run club on September 23, 2022.

26  Aaron hit his final home run on July 20, 1976. Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron’s career total on August 7, 2007.