Perhaps the mightiest of all the early sluggers was Big Dan Brouthers, who played for several National League teams before the turn of the century. Batting for the Reds against the Cardinals, Wally Post boldly launched a baseball where none had gone before at the original Busch Stadium in St. Louis. 460 . Ruth hit the ball clear out of Navin Field (Tiger Stadium) to center field, a shot Jenkinson. I was on Trumbull listening to the game on the radio Ina car parked outside a bar when it came off and over the roof. Privacy Policy His longest drive was probably struck on May 4, 1894, at old Union Park in Baltimore. Mickey Mantle was no stranger to long home runs. Martinez hit a 467-foot home run off of Seattle Mariners Taijuan Walker on July 21, 2015. The best effort on the part of either player was Canseco's famous blast into the fifth level at Toronto's Sky Dome during the 1989 American League playoffs, which was estimated at 484 feet. At least six cities claim the Bambinos biggest blast. He had 107 home runs in his four-season career. MLB records are made to be broken and a home run record is one of the most fun to watch. That afternoon, facing Ty Cobb and the Tigers, Ruth smacked a pitch so high, so far, that the baseball must have looked like a distant star to the sparse crowd of about 3,000 who were in Navin Field, which is what the ballpark later known as Tiger Stadium was known as then. Must have been 1977 or 1978. The ball landed. Hitters have been going well beyond that for over a decade. He is also the author of"Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball's Most Off-the-Wall Team Names.". In: MLB Cecil Fielder takes a gingerly stroll on the roof of Tiger Stadium in 1993. Zack Short hit his second home run in as many days in the fifth. Whether it skips across the top of the railing into the first row of bleachers, or completely passes out of the stadium, the batter is award four bases - no more, no less. Brouthers rocketed a rising line drive that cleared the fence in distant right-center field, and reportedly rolled another two blocks. Who is baseball's mightiest batsman and how far can he hit a baseball? He actually did it twice that season, the first of two straight seasons he was an All-Star for the Tigers. Hyperbole has always been part of the phenomenon of long-distance home runs, and this factor must also be considered. The homer had an exit velocity of 112.1 mph was Harpers 12th of the season. As long as baseball has been played, observers and participants alike have been fascinated with those rare individuals who have been capable of batting balls farther than others of their time. Glenallen Hill - 500 Feet. Cecil Fielder In 1921 there was no SportsCenter, no 24-hour highlight machine called the Internet. Babe Ruth was said to have hit a home run over 600 feet. Wow. Top 10 Tigers homers of the decade. Willie Stargell blasted a home run estimated to be 535 feet long at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the stadium's biggest blast in history. Did Ted Williams red-seat blast really clear 500 feet? They did not or could not find a way to further reward the batter who hit a ball significantly farther than the established home run distance. What is the highest mountain in the world? Anything in the 500-foot range is genuinely historic. On June 26, 2021, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit a 470-foot home run to center field off of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher J.T. Along with Roger Connor, the longest hitters in the early days of the major leagues during the 19th century included such men as Harry Stovey, Buck Ewing, Jocko Milligan, and Ed Delahanty. Bonus points for clubbing this off As ace Dave Stewart, when Smoke was near the peak of his powers. We could hit the ball as far as they hit today, or farther. Simply clearing the first row of shrubs beyond the center-field fence is a big deal. The longest home run ever hit at Comerica Park came off the bat of J.D. . Only one is honored at the Mall of America, where a stadium seat mounted in the malls amusement park marks the spot where his long homer landed in the upper deck. I think the Tigers won that game in the bottom of the 9th, when they were losing but then Jim Northrup hit a grand slam to win the game. How old is the oldest person on the planet? Giancarlo Stanton hit the longest home run ever made in Coors Field to date when he played against the Rockies in 2016. Andres Galarraga at Pro Player Stadium (May 31, 1997)A grand slam counts for four runs every time, but boy, this one had to feel even more satisfying than most. Ted Williams, June 9, 1946. Returns & Exchanges Windy days at Wrigley are the best. Guys, we think . In his first season wearing the Old English D, Big Daddy hit 51 homers. The blast had an exit velocity of 111.6 to right-center field. That magnitude of Ruth's accomplishment can be understood with the knowledge that, because home plate had been moved, the distance to the grandstand for Gibson was 341 feet, while for Ruth it was 365 feet. Only six batters hit as many as 20 homers that year. WebFont.load({ google: { families: ["Lato:900:latin", "Lato:300:latin", "Playfair+Display:700italic:latin", "Merriweather:700:latin", "Crete+Round::latin", "PT+Sans+Narrow:700:latin"] } }); Detroit Red Wings jerseys are back in stock! I was a little concerned it would let look as good as I hoped, but when I put it on, I loved it. Despite his extraordinary accomplishments, Babe Ruth is not immune. The steel and concrete of the Twins former home amplified every contact. Probably well over 600 feet in total. As I recall, it was a sunny Sunday afternoon that day. Martinez hit the longest home run in Comerica Park history last season at an estimated 467 feet. Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa hit a 484-foot home run to left-center field on April 12, 2002. In virtually every other field of endeavor in which physical performance can be measured, there are no Ruthian equivalents. Ruth hit the ball clear out of Navin Field (Tiger Stadium) to center field, a shot Jenkinson estimates would have traveled 575 feet unencumbered, Sports Illustrated recapped. Reggie Jackson was the player who hit one over the right field roof while playing for the California Angels during the May 15, 1984 game at Tiger Stadium. I saw Jason Rooftop Thompson hit one out of Tiger Stadium over right center field off of Dick Tidrow of the Yankees. That was a big surprise, that somebody could hit the ball that far, said Tony Oliva, a slugger himself. The covered upper-deck seats add even more grandeur to Big Cats neck-craner, providing a pad for the ball to thump and trickle down like a golf ball on a putt-putt course. The decade of the fifties was particularly blessed with the presence of many great sluggers, who should be mentioned in any discussion of long hitters. On July 6, 1974, he powered a torrid drive that crashed against the roof facade in deep left-center field at Tiger Stadium. The massive slugger connected with a hanging breaking ball from Ivan Nova and crushed it, sending it nearly onto the concourse beyond center field. I ended up buy a very nice winter Tiger jacket and as I tried it on and decided on it they noticed a very minor blemish on the back and quickly informed me I had a hard time even seeing it & probably would have never noticed it. It is for that reason that we find their actions so thrilling, and will always want to identify them for special reward and distinction. Benjamin Tetteh scored his first goal for . So Kight, who was working as the Twins chief usher on June 3, 1967, instantly knew Harmon Killebrew had hit the sweet spot when Kight looked up from counting the turnstile numbers. In fact, the ball bounced off a seat about eight rows back. "Hall of Fame historian Bill Jenkinson once estimated it as the longest home run ever hit. On August 10, 2004, Cincinnati Reds left fielder Adam Dunn hit a 535-foot home run to center field off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jose Lima. The most common cause for overstatement has been the basic misconception about the flight of a batted ball once it has reached its apex. It's the kind of homer that would give Ellis flashbacks even without the LSD. Not for long. Bobby Allison called me from the dugout and said, How can you measure that at 435 feet? 4. Ruth played during the height of American's newspaper culture, when approximately 10 New York papers gave first hand accounts of each Yankee game. The seat later was painted bright orange to stand out in the sea of green seats and remained there until the old Met was torn down after the Twins moved to the Metrodome in 1982. On July 21, 1915, as a rookie with the Boston Red Sox, Ruth struck a prodigious drive that sailed far over the rightfield bleachers at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. In 1921 alone, which was Ruth's best tape measure season, he hit at least one 500 foot home run in all eight American League cities. Perhaps the ball had already flown over 400 feet, whereupon it was interrupted in midflight at a height of 70 feet above field level. A blow of 450 feet shows exceptional power, as the majority of major league players are unable to hit a ball that far. A local youngster finally ran it down some 825 feet from home plate. Here is a highlight and a memory . Bay Area, Chicago, Milwaukee, Iowa City, Des Moines, St. Paul/Minneapolis. Reportedly, the baseball landed across the intersection of Cherry and Trumbull. Clemson (14-1) captured a 4-1 win against Michigan State to improve to 14-0, the third longest winning streak in the program's short infancy, before dropping a hard-fought battle in the second game to No. Extremely satisfied with the wonderful personable service! As a lifelong Tigers fan, I have been fortunate enough to see two players clear the fence. On September 10, 1960, with two out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. . From interviews with the surviving source of the original data, it is readily apparent once again that the all had bounced several times before it reached the estimated distance. I saw Frank Howard hit his homer over the left field wall in Tiger stadium. Perhaps the longest of those not previously mentioned was Ralph Kiner, who bombarded all the National League left-field distance plateaus of his times. Friday 3 March 2023 21:59, UK. I was at a game when Frank Catalonatto hit a ball onto the RF roof down the line, but the ball rolled back off the roof and fell on the field. The longest home run in the seven-year history of Montreal's Olympic Stadium came off the bat of retired Pittsburgh slugger Willie Stargell. Ken Griffey Jr. at Rogers Centre (April 12, 1996)Remember that scene in Little Big League when Griffey, the big bad villain, launches one to the upper deck and then lazily flips his bat? In case you're not familiar with it, Jackson hit what I believe is the longest home run of my lifetime, and I've been around a while. Although other sluggers occasionally reached the rooftops during Comiskey's long lifetime, the only other left-handed batter known to have flown the right-field roof was Detroit's Kirk Gibson in 1985. MSU has posted double-digit runs in two of the seven games (15 runs vs. Michigan on Feb. 17; 13 runs at USC Upstate on Feb. 24), and the Spartans have posted double-digit hits in five of the seven games, with a season-high 18 hits vs. Michigan, along with 15 hits vs. Fresno state on Feb. 19 and 15 hits at Grand Canyon on Feb. 20. However, the reality is that the ball was already on its way down, and those reporting the trajectory were victimized by a common optical illusion. Darryl Strawberry at Olympic Stadium (April 4, 1988)Give us the launch angle over everything else for this one, because Straw hit this so high that even he wasnt initially sure what happened. Reggie came off the bench in the 1971 Midsummer Classic and golfed a ball off Pirates righty Dock Ellis that traveled an estimated 530-some odd feet. However, fans don't need additional inducements to maintain their fascination with "tape measure" home runs. In 1932, the muscular "Double X" almost equaled Ruth's season record of 60 home runs. From a functional standpoint, it makes no difference by what margin a ball clears a set home run barrier. Since 2015, Nomar Mazara owns the longest homer distance at 505 feet. The homer was Gallos 23rd of the season. New York Met Michael Conforto hit a 469-foot home run on September 29, 2021, off of Miami Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez. Directly behind Allen in the historic ranking of tape measure hitters were contemporaries Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey. The longest home runs hit at Comerica Park January 7th, 2021 Jason Beck @ beckjason Comerica Park is big enough all around that there are no cheap home runs. The founding fathers decided to reward a powerfully hit ball by allowing the batter to circle the bases for an automatic run. You've got to see him." Shoutout is also due to Dave Kingman, who knocked one into a front yard on Kenmore Avenue in a 23-22 loss to the Phillies on May 17, 1979. With the OPEN sign light I though well came all this way just aswell give it a try and am I glad I did. however, subsequent investigation indicated that the ball landed on the back of the roof before bouncing into the night. I think they left Dick Allen in 1973 for the White Sox. A six-city mystery. Not only did he set distance records in every major league ballpark (including National League stadiums where he played only infrequently), he also set similar standards in hundreds of other fields, where he made exhibition and barnstorming appearances. By 1995, the sponsorship had changed, but the program had been expanded to include every big league ballpark. Arizona Diamondbacks first-baseman Richie Sexson hit a 503-foot home run to center field on April 26, 2004. . The blast was the first of his career. The lore has it that Mickey Mantle hit a 565-foot home run against the Washington Senators in 1953. . copyright=new Date(); By looking back, we can confirm the preoccupation with long-distance hitting in the early stages of baseball history. If Bo Jackson had not been forced into early retirement, he might have challenged Fielder for modern supremacy. But where was Ruths longest homer? It should be noted that those regular references over the years to 500- and 600-foot home runs were born out of scientific ignorance, misinformation, or even deliberate exaggeration. It may be appropriate to cite another example of this same optical illusion. Check the home run lengths of all seventy Mark McGwire blasts and all sixty-six Sammy Sosa's shots in the fabulous feats section. April 10, 2021 by retrosimba. On June 29, 2018,, Seattle Mariners Mike Zunino hit a 470-foot home run to left field off Kansas City Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy. St. Petersburg, Fla. Ruth was getting ready for his penultimate season when he drilled a spring training pitch off a hotel on March 25, 1934. When researching longest home runs, you'll likely run across claims that legends like Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth hit home runs well over 600 feet. Honorable mentionsWe could go on all day, of course; dinger lore is wide and vast, and for the ones above we focused on more recent homers with ample video footage. Home runs that are hit out of the ball park are measured from where the batter stands to where the ball . "Hat worn by J.A. 3. Guinness also clarifies that Mickey Mantle's home run measured at 643 feet (approximately 196 meters) is the longest home run measured "mathematically after the fact." This home run was hit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on September 10, 1960. So, you didnt have much of a chance to see a four-bagger back in those days. Mee, who was the official scorer in the Twins victory Wednesday, said that homer would have hit the second deck in the Dome, a feat no one has accomplished and probably never will. The thing is I said " no big deal" yet they would let me leave with it they got another one from their very advanced warehouse. & quot;According to the Detroit Free Press book "The Corner", the following have hit HR's out of Tiger Stadium: Norm Cash (did it 4 times) Mickey Mantle (did it 3 times) Kirk Gibson (did it 3 times) Jason Thompson (did it twice) Mickey Tettlton (did it twice) Tony Clark . It was the 26th homer of the 2015 season. The place was. Not many balls are hit farther than 500 feet, and Killebrews was measured at 522. ! I said, Thats where it landed; thats how we measure them.. Copyright 1999- Its remarkable, and comforting, that, despite their conspicuous increase in muscle mass, todays sluggers dont really hit the ball any farther than their predecessors. Almost everyone in attendance believed that the ball was still rising when it was interrupted in midflight by the roof structure. The Mets were quick to flash a 505-foot distance up on the scoreboard, but broadcaster Keith Hernandez might have put it better when he said, It looks like theres beer coming off that sign.. Included among the other great exaggerations in the history of tape measure home runs are Dave Nicholson's Comiskey Park rooftopper on May 6, 1964, and Dave Kingman's Wrigley Field blast on April 14, 1976. Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and West Brom at the MKM Stadium. His 1971 All-Star blast off the light tower atop the right-center-field roof at Tiger Stadium ranks as one of the 10 longest drives in major league history. The Babe cranked an exhibition game dinger there that traveled over the left-center field fence and into a moving train. Duke came out on top in the first game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, part of their perfect record at home. Comerica Park is big enough all around that there are no cheap home runs.