Denny McLain couldn't find the legendary Hank Aaron.
Five days earlier, McLain had been traded from the Oakland Athletics — where he was stuck in Double-A Birmingham trying to recover from a shoulder injury — to the Atlanta Braves. Now, the 28-year-old former 30-game winner with the Detroit Tigers was back in the bigs and starting Game 2 of a doubleheader in front of 50,597 fans at Atlanta Stadium.
But first, McLain wanted to locate Hammerin' Hank, the Braves great who would finish a 23-year career four years later with a then-record 755 homers and 2,297 RBIs, a record which still stands.