Hank Aaron spoils iconic Cincinnati stadium’s debut

Riverfront Stadium was built at a time when cities with professional teams had multi-purpose stadiums to share between their baseball and football organizations. Construction began in 1968 and was finally completed in 1970 and the Reds debuted their new home on June 30 with an NL West game.

The first game played at Riverfront was a sold-out game between the Braves and the Reds in front of 51,050 fans. The fans at the game were hoping for a win to get things off to a good start in the new stadium. It was hard not to get excited watching the Big Red Machine.

Cincinnati was 52-22 heading into the game while the Braves were hovering above .500 at 37-35. Unfortunately for Reds fans, Atlanta featured one of the best hitters in baseball and his name was Henry Aaron.

Hank decided to greet Reds starting pitcher Jim McGlothlin with a two-run home run in the first inning to give Atlanta an early lead and kick off a three-run first inning. His home run was the first in stadium history and another accolade to the list of an incredible career for Hammering Hank.

Atlanta left fielder Rico Carty decided to join in the fun by hitting a three-run home run in the third inning of the game. This gave the Braves a 6-0 lead over the Reds and despite the Reds scoring two runs, Atlanta held on to win by a final score of 8-2, spoiling an exciting day for Reds fans.

Orlando Cepeda, who sadly passed away recently, also had a remarkable performance. Cepeda went 3 in 5 at-bats and scored one run. Atlanta’s starting pitcher for this game was Pat Jarvis and he pitched a complete game. Jarvis allowed two earned runs on nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Cincinnati won the NL West with a 102-60 record and advanced to the World Series where they lost to the Orioles four games to one. Atlanta finished second to last in the division, just ahead of the Padres with a 76-86 record.

Hank Aaron finished the season with 38 home runs and 118 RBIs, bringing his career total to 592 with a batting average of .313. Hank was a remarkable player and it’s always a pleasure to relive those moments.

Another such moment came four years later at Riverfront Stadium when Aaron tied Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs. A few days later, Hank broke that record in front of a wild crowd at Fulton County Stadium with his 715th career home run.

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