MONDAY APRIL 15, 1974
There are plenty of national reporters still around but the numbers have clearly diminished as the wait for Hank Aaron to catch and surpass Babe Ruth's record drags on. After facing nothing but Dodgers and Reds pitching for the first week and a half, perhaps seeing the San Diego Padres will be just what Aaron - and the 1-8 Braves - need. San Diego dropped it's first 7 games of the season before beating the Giants twice over the weekend. Randy Jones (0-2, 6.14) gets the start for the Padres against Phil Niekro (0-1, 1.76).
The game will also be my first chance to watch 22 year old Padres outfielder Dave Winfield in action. Winfield is 1-for-9 in 6 games this season but he hit .277 in 141 at bats with the Padres after being called up last year.
In a move to shake things up, or perhaps try and get Aaron an extra at bat, Atlanta manager Eddie Mathews has moved Aaron up to third in the batting order and put Dusty Baker (.273,1,4) in the cleanup spot.
Aaron steps to the plate in the bottom of the first with one out and Marty Perez on first base in a scoreless game. Aaron takes a fastball for strike one and then successfully checks his swing on the next offering. He fouls the next pitch from the lefthander into his own dugout making the count 1-and-2. After another foul ball he skies and infield fly that Padres first baseman Nate Colbert catches in foul territory. Aaron's average drops to .107.
In the top of the second Dave Roberts doubles in Nate Colbert with the game's first run. Aaron comes up again in the bottom of the third with runners on first and second and one away. A swinging strike and a foul ball have Hank quickly behind Jones 0-and-2 but he works the count to 2-2 before hitting a fly ball to centerfield that is an easy catch for Johnny Grubb. Dusty Baker delivers an rbi single scoring Phil Niekro, who led off the inning with a walk, and tying the game at 1.
Still 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th, Aaron gets his third at bat against Jones. He is up with 1 out and Ralph Garr on first base. Aaron swings at the first pitch and lofts another fly ball that Padres centerfielder Grubb only needs to take a couple of steps to haul it in and Aaron is now 0-for-3 on the day.
Back to back rbi doubles from Grubb and catcher Fred Kendall put the Padres up 3-1 in the top of the sixth inning. Aaron gets another at bat against Jones in the bottom of the 7th, stepping in once more with a runner on base but two out this time. He fouls the first pitch away, takes a couple pitches low and then makes a big cut but comes up empty against a slider from Jones making the count 2-2. He grounds the next pitch back to the pitcher and it is an easy out to end the inning and I once again start to wonder if he is ever going to get a homerun.
The game ends 3-1 San Diego and the Braves fall for the 9th straight time.
KALINE HOMERS AGAIN
On the out of town scoreboard I see that Al Kaline had a big day in Boston as the Tigers blanked the Red Sox 7-0. Kaline went 3-for-5 with a homer, 2 rbis and 2 runs scored. It is his third homerun of the season and 389th of his career. The 3 hits get him to 2870 in his bid to become just the 12th player to reach the 3000 hit plateau. He would have been the player of the game had it not been for the efforts of Joe Coleman, who tossed a 4-hit shutout. Kaline is ahead of his real life homer pace as he hit just 1 in the first 10 games of the real 1974 season. However, his 9 hits this season are 2 back of where he was at this point in real life.
In other American League games Baltimore edged Milwaukee 4-3 thanks to a 9th inning solo shot from Andy Etchebarren. Ken Holtzman tossed a shutout to pace Oakland past the Chicago White Sox 2-0 and California doubled Minnesota 8-4.
The Cardinals beat Philadelphia 5-3 and San Francisco doubled Houston 8-4 in the only other National League games on the docket.