How baseball botched its Hank Aaron tribute during the All-Star Game

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When any business puts on an event, including an all-star game, it wants to create spectacular moments people will talk about for days and months to come. A clear and goal-defined publicity and PR plan can help that happen.

Major League Baseball did that in a lot of ways with the 2025 All-Star Game during which it celebrated the game’s past, present and future. Someone tripped on the proverbial red carpet at the bottom of the sixth inning, though. In what some are calling a public relations stumble, a moment that should have been its brightest got botched: honoring Hank Aaron’s 715th home run when he passed Babe Ruth in the record books.

The All-Star Game played a beautifully produced video that highlighted Aaron, who played 21 years with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, along with Vin Scully’s legendary call of 715 in 1974.

Well, most of Scully’s call. I’m not a baseball historian, but I am a Henry Aaron fan. Along with others who thought something sounded off, I noticed a key mention that we’ve heard replayed for decades — the one that explained why No. 715 meant more than just a number — was missing. Was it possible Scully’s audio had been edited? Who would edit anything Scully said — ever?

At that point in the All-Star Game, I felt disappointed for Aaron’s family and for the moment in history that didn’t make the cut for the ceremony. For Scully’s fans and family, too, because he put his heart into every call he made during his illustrious career — but particularly that one.

That Aaron — a Black man — reached the pinnacle of a sport that long excluded men of color — and did it in a city still known for its civil rights fight — was just as powerful as the home run itself.

For those who weren’t around in 1974, didn’t appreciate the moment when it happened or only heard the 2025 version, Scully called it masterfully …

He laid out — stepped back — and let the crowd roar. Then he said, with calm reverence, that what made the moment so important was that a Black man had just broken Ruth’s record in the Deep South. Scully noted the dignity and grace with which Aaron handled hate mail and racism and said the achievement went beyond baseball.

If MLB left the call intact, the moment might’ve landed the way it was meant for this year’s honor, and the event grade might’ve been stronger.

Why — did something else miss the PR train during All-Star Week? It seemed no one prepared to answer why and how the game returned to Atlanta after it was pulled in 2021 over a restrictive voting law that still stands. (Different story for a different day, but thoughts shared on Bluesky.)

OK — both examples were likely not in the PR plan and might serve as a classroom case study going forward.

By the game’s end …

Some people will remember the penalty kick-style finish (the home run derbyish twist was fun). Others will remember how MLB skipped key parts of a special story.

People can try, but they can’t rewrite history — not if those who lived or learned about it keep telling the complete story.

Here’s Scully’s actual call of Aaron’s 715.

Grass Games

I was working baseball during this year’s Wimbledon finals when one of the TV crew members asked me about the grass height of the revered courts in London. It so happened I’d read a comparison of the courts at Wimbledon and putting greens that helped me better explain it.

The bottom line is that Wimbledon courts are mowed to approximately ¼ inch (8 mm), while putting greens are trimmed to 1/8 inch (3 mm). Big difference.

🎾 Wimbledon Courts:

• Grass Height: 8mm (0.31 inches).

⛳️ Putting Greens:

• Grass Height: 3ish mm (0.1 and 0.2 inches).

  Height varies, but it’s generally shorter than a tennis court. 

And now you know, too.

© 2025 Gail Sideman, gpublicity.com, SIDEbar

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