Thee folding stadium seats at Gordon B. Guess Field at Marion-Crittenden County Park have a significant connection to the former professional baseball star, who first broke Babe Ruth's home run record with his 715th homer at the now retired Atlanta Fulton County Stadium on April 8, 1974.
The seats were there on that eventful day when Aaron broke the home run mark Ruth had held for almost 40 years.
Gordon Guess, a local benefactor who renovated the Rocket baseball stadium about 15 years ago, purchased the seats from a vendor who had removed them from Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. He had them installed at the ballpark in Marion.
A lifelong Dodger fan, Guess said today that the seats have great meaning and hold a special place in history. An interesting sidebar to the local link is the fact that Aaron's Braves were playing Guess's Dodgers on that day in 1974 when he belted that historic homer off of pitcher Al Downing.
