The same question has been hurled at Al Downing every day for more than 30 years by strangers who recognize his name.

"They ask, 'What did it feel like?' " Downing said. "Like your life stops. Life goes on."

File (ENLARGE)

Dodgers pitcher Al Downing watches as Hank Aaron, trailed by two fans, runs out homer No. 715.

(ENLARGE)

Al Downing

MORE BONDS HEADLINES Bonds hits No. 756 to break Aaron's home run record  Downing philosophic about his link to 715th  Fans: HR record is forever Hank's  Aaron's final homer began odyssey for man, ball         More Bonds coverage

Your Turn If you were on the mound with Barry Bonds within one HR of hitting No. 756, what would you do?   Plunk him.   Walk him.   Pitch to him. Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

But in an instant on April 8, 1974, Downing became forever linked with Hank Aaron. The Atlanta slugger hit his historic 715th home run off Downing, who was on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although 310 pitchers gave up home runs to Aaron, Downing is the Jeopardy question, the clue in the crossword puzzle, the answer in a Trivial Pursuit game.

"I think people have a tendency to look at me as if that moment defines my career," said Downing, 66, who retired in 1977 after winning 123 games in 17 years in the major leagues. "I always tell them, 'That moment was Henry's moment. It wasn't my moment. It could have been anybody on that mound giving up that home run. Henry was the common denominator.' "

Now the numbers are adding up for Barry Bonds. Very soon an unwitting pitcher — who will it be? — will serve up No. 756 and find his name inextricably tied to Bonds.

Don't feel sorry for pitcher

Downing will empathize with the man on the mound, but he won't feel sorry for him.

"Why should you feel sorry for a guy who's doing what he loves?" he said. "He's playing baseball. Very few people get an opportunity to pitch in the major leagues."

The unknown pitcher's name will become "synonymous with Barry Bonds," Downing said, but it won't have any effect on his ability to pitch in the major leagues.

"They're going to remember 756," he said, "but the thing is, it doesn't detract from the pitcher who is on the mound at that moment. The guy might have a perfect game at that point for all we know. Or he might be the guy just coming in to get one out."

After Tom Glavine gave up Bonds' 11th homer of the season on May 8, the former Braves pitcher said that if the Mets had to face Bonds again before he got the record, "I can assure you I wouldn't want to be the guy who gave up the home run."

Downing didn't have that attitude when he was playing.

"You can say, 'I hope it's not me,' but that's like saying, 'I hope I don't have to pitch in a big game,' " said Downing, who pitched in three World Series, was the first black starting pitcher in Yankees history and once was compared favorably with Sandy Koufax. "You live for a big game; you live for moments like that."

Downing said he doesn't feel like he's part of an exclusive fraternity with Ralph Branca (Bobby Thomson's "Shot heard round the world" in 1951) or Eric Show (Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit in 1985).

"You're forgetting Tracy Stallard," Downing said of the pitcher who gave up Roger Maris' 61st homer in 1961.

"We live in a society that for every hero there has to be a villain," Downing said. "I guess it goes back to the old days, when you're a kid playing cowboys and Indians. ... Anybody could have been on the mound at that time."

But Dodgers manager Walter Alston chose Downing to pitch after Aaron had hit No. 714 two games earlier.

"He didn't know I'd give up a home run," Downing said. "But he said, 'You've pitched in World Series, All-Star Games. ... You're a veteran.' I was almost 33. He said, 'I know that you can handle the pressure of that moment.' "

Downing walked Aaron in the second inning. Aaron came up to bat again in the fourth with no outs, a runner on first and the Braves trailing 3-1. On a 1-0 pitch, Aaron hit a high fastball over the 385-foot mark in left field to break Babe Ruth's record. Downing watched him round the bases, just to make sure he touched the bags.

"In an ideal world, I would have given up the home run and won the game," Downing said.

So what was the final score?

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said with a laugh. (The Braves won 7-4.)

Downing is offended by people who say, "You must have grooved the pitch."

"They're the people who don't know much about the sport," he said. "I say that's an insult to Hank Aaron. ... It's like saying somebody let Wilt Chamberlain score 100 points on him. He did it because he could; they didn't let him."

But Downing naturally thinks he have could executed better. "When you face great hitters, you wish you had a lot of pitches back," he said. "I didn't get it down as much as I would have liked to. I wanted him to hit a ground ball. Not all home runs are hit off of bad pitches, and not all home runs are mistakes."

Aaron gracious to Downing

But some home runs are remembered more than others.

"I remember one day seeing Jack Billingham," Downing said. "He said, 'Hi, you're 715, I'm 714.' We kind of laughed about it, then we went on.

"Do I have a certain amount of notoriety attached to my name? Yes I do, but I had that already when I gave up the home run."

Downing, who lives in Valencia, Calif., and has retired as a broadcaster, said Aaron has always been gracious about their shared history.

When they saw each other at the 25th anniversary celebration in 1999, Aaron asked, "How many home runs did I hit off of you?"

Downing answered, "Three," which, by the way, was 14 fewer than Aaron hit off Don Drysdale.

"He [Aaron] said, 'I wasn't sure if it was two or three.' People always act as if I hit 30 home runs off you. I say, 'No, Al Downing was a good pitcher.' "

PITCHES OF INFAMY

Selected list of pitchers surrendering momentous hits or home runs:

1927: Tom Zachary, Washington Senators — Babe Ruth's 60th homer of the season

1951: Ralph Branca, Brooklyn Dodgers — Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning homer

1961: Tracy Stallard, Boston Red Sox — Roger Maris' 61st homer of the season

1974: Al Downing, L.A. Dodgers — Hank Aaron's 715th homer of his career

1985: Eric Show, San Diego Padres — Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit of his career

1998: Steve Trachsel, Chicago Cubs — Mark McGwire's 62nd homer of the season

2001: Chan Ho Park, L.A. Dodgers — Barry Bonds' 71st homer of the season