Aaron's 3,000th hit a glorious sight to see

Jun. 25—The beautifully brilliant weather in Owensboro the past few days prompted a memory that I will forever hold near and dear to my heart as a sports fan — the day in Cincinnati that I got to see Atlanta Braves superstar Hank Aaron get his 3,000th base hit.

Looking back, there were a lot of peculiarities about the event, which took place on May 17, 1970, in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader. For starters, it was at ancient Crosley Field, which would give way to a spanking new Riverfront Stadium less than six weeks later.

The anticipation of Aaron's milestone played a role in the fact that there was a standing-room-only crowd of 33,217 — the largest home crowd for the Reds since…