The 715 Spot: The Man with the Binocular Case
The best moment in baseball, and a policeman in the stands with seconds to decide.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
Calvin Wardlaw carried a binocular case to the ballpark. Inside it was a .38 pistol. He was an off-duty Atlanta police officer, and on 8 April 1974 he was in the stands of the stadium that stood on this ground, guarding Hank Aaron. Aaron had 714 home runs, level with Babe Ruth. For months the mail had poured in, and a great deal of it was hate mail. There were death threats. His daughter was threatened at college and came home.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Hank Aaron Drive, Summerhill, just north of Center Parc Credit Union Stadium. Listen from the sidewalk and stay outside any fencing. Georgia State's ballpark was due to be finished in fall 2026, with a first game planned for February 2027; check with Georgia State Athletics whether the left-field marker can be reached.
Sources
- Mental Floss: The time Hank Aaron's bodyguard didn't shoot
- Daily Kos community post: A Baseball Record, Racism and a Time They Intertwined
- Remembering the teen base-running bandits, Joe Capozzi
- Associated Press via WKMG: Hank Aaron rose above racist hate mail, 2024
- Georgia State Athletics: Updates in baseball stadium construction, December 2025
- Urbanize Atlanta: Georgia State baseball stadium breaks ground, January 2026
- Fox 5 Atlanta: Georgia State prepares construction on hallowed ground, December 2025
- Atlanta News First: Hank Aaron statue to move, December 2025
- Wikipedia: Hank Aaron
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