Ruth's 575-foot blast against the Detroit Tigers in 1921 often comes up. Estimates on this baby began at 579 feet before being lowered to 529 and then 468, almost as if no one believed a baseball could really be hit that far. When Kingman launched his wind-aided blow in Chicago, The New York Times somehow concluded that it had flown 630 feet. On July 6, 1996 Carlos Delgado hit the ball OVER the right center light tower completely into orbit. Statcast has tracked games at every Major League ballpark for eight seasons now, and with each passing year were getting a better understanding of just how hard and how far a big leaguer can hit a baseball. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images). But so did Killebrews, Mee said. This ball might have evaporated into the clouds if the Big O roof wasnt in its path. The ball struck the facade on the right-field roof approximately 370 feet from home plate and 115 feet above field level. The vast popularity of major league baseball's home run hitting contest before the annual All-Star Game is ample evidence that we remain enamored of the players blessed with unique levels of power. That homeric deed was performed by the powerful Jimmie Foxx on June 16, 1936. Determining the longest homer ever in MLB history is an exercise in myth-busting. There were some very big hitters in the American League, but that was unbelievable.. I swear one of the Angels hit one either on or over the roof in 84 or 85. It was not until Babe Ruth came upon the scene that we can find confirmed accounts of batted balls that can favorably compare with any hit during subsequent generations. 5:30 pm Darryl Strawberry hitting the large clock at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on October 1, 1985. Privacy Policy J.D. And Zoilo (Versalles) hit some long balls, too. Its estimated that the Babes blast traveled at least 575 feet in the air. The distance traveled through the air has been obscured with the passage of time and herein lies an interesting aspect of this subject. 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. Machados home run had an exit velocity of 114.3 mph. It took prodigious strength to reach the upper deck at Washington's Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, but "Hondo" did it 24 times, ranging from the left-field foul pole all the way to straightaway center field. A few times, he was able to send the baseball up and out of Tiger Stadium with his left-handed swing. So with that in mind, here are to date, in game, the longest home runs ever hit in MLB history. This was Piazzas 38th home run of the season. On June 29, 2018,, Seattle Mariners Mike Zunino hit a 470-foot home run to left field off Kansas City Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy. So who really did hit the longest home run ever? But that massive outfield makes it all the more majestic when sluggers crush tape-measure homers, making this ballpark somehow look small. Arizona Diamondbacks first-baseman Richie Sexson hit a 503-foot home run to center field on April 26, 2004. Benjamin Tetteh scored his first goal for . 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. Miguel Cabrera, June 29, 2016 (459 feet)Cabrera hit two tape-measure home runs to left-center field at Comerica Park in a nine-day span. In 1967, he hit the longest home run in the history of Metropolitan Stadium in . In truth, that figure derived from the distance from home plate to the place where a neighborhood child retrieved the ball. Bob Cerv's Hrs were from both KC Blues and A's. His longest measured at 528' was when' he was with the A's. Mantle's to extreme right field in the cluster was on the porch roof of a house and 43 feet above the playing field in BP. Franchy Cordero's 489-foot bomb was the longest home run of the season coming into the night per Statcast. Boucher of Albany, June 9, 1946, when Ted Williams of Red Sox bounced his longest Boston home run off owner's head. TheNew York Post called it his longest-ever home run.. Extremely satisfied with the wonderful personable service! 565-foot home run at Washington's Griffith Stadium on April 17, 1953 considered to be . Why then would anyone care how far they go? The trajectory had it coming near me but it just never came down inside the ballpark! Detroit's Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a favorite Mantle hunting ground for legendary home run blasts. Dock Ellis was the pitcher, and Jim Palmer is among those who. There should be no doubt about the authentication of these conclusions. 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. George Kight says it was easy to tell how well a ball was hit at the old Metropolitan Stadium. On September 30, 2017, New York Yankee Aaron Judge hit a 496-foot home run to left-center field off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman. Here is a highlight and a memory . New York Met Michael Conforto hit a 469-foot home run on September 29, 2021, off of Miami Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. The Babe cranked an exhibition game dinger there that traveled over the left-center field fence and into a moving train. As Ruth's talents waned in the early 1930s, Foxx began his ascendancy. It is only fair to also mention the great distance sluggers of the old Negro Leagues. This is dramatized by the fact that Connor's blow was the only home run he would hit that season. Acunas homer had an exit velocity of 112.9 mph and was his 14th homer of the season. I grew up in Bridgeport Michigan. Their displays of pure power were greeted with passionate enthusiasm, though they did not occur in an actual game. In his first season wearing the Old English D, Big Daddy hit 51 homers. Detroit Tigers J.D. Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa hit a 484-foot home run to left-center field on April 12, 2002. As of 1995, the Mantle of baseball's longest hitter can probably best be worn by Cecil Fielder. Ted Williams hit a 502-foot blast to the right-field bleachers on June 9, 1946. Mike, I was at that game in 1996 when Delgado hit that blast, sitting the Box Seats in the upper deck in right. As i pulled in I quickly understood this was a warehouse & office thinking this is a internet retailer. Glenallen Hill at Wrigley Field (May 11, 2000)When the wind is blowing out at Wrigley, everything seems possible for a slugger -- including the rooftops across Waveland Avenue. Purchased a New Era Gruff Michigan Syaye hat, and I absolutely love it. Until the Statcast radar era, we really never had. The longest home run ever hit at Comerica Park came off the bat of J.D. Thompson was my favorite player at the time, so it was an awesome moment, to be sure. 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. 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. ESPN's Home Run. Years after the fact, Brouthers was credited with a 500-foot home run on the aforementioned date, but it seems highly unlikely that the ball traveled nearly that far. Dismiss, Copyright 2022 Vintage Detroit Collection, Spinnaker Center, 44692 Helm St, Plymouth. Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Willie Stargell hit a 507-foot home run to right field on August 5, 1969. On July 1, 1990, Kansas City Royals outfielder Bo Jackson hit one of the longest home runs in Kauffman Stadium history against Jack Morris and the Detroit Tigers. I don't live nearby so the ability to have it shipped for $10 was well worth the cost. Inside Jim Flinn's memory, May 11, 1969, is a web of fuzzy details, a kaleidoscope of greens and grays, aside from the moment that couldn't be more clear. By his own account he hit the longest home run of his career on May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. Not since Hank Greenberg in the 1940s, had Tiger fans seen a power hitter like Cecil Fielder. 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. Not surprisingly, all of the great true distance hitters have also been the source of the greatest exaggerations. Those are amazing stats, and yet they dont measure to Killebrews 522-foot blast. The City of Wilkes-Barre built a permanent display in Kirby Park honoring Ruths prodigious Pennsylvania poke. Stanton hit a ball in the Coors Field, one of the highest . His longest drive was probably struck on May 4, 1894, at old Union Park in Baltimore. The ball landed. The blast was the first of his career. No one had hit one that far before. Before he retired after the 1973 season, he had performed even more extraordinary feats of long-distance hitting in the junior circuit. I read that the ball nearly hit a police car on Trumbull ave.That is the longest HR i ever witnessed in person. It is for that reason that we find their actions so thrilling, and will always want to identify them for special reward and distinction. In fact, the ball bounced off a seat about eight rows back. Americans, along with people everywhere, are fascinated with power. Recently got a blank jersey stitched at Vintage Detroit and the finished product looks awesome! It was heresy to suggest that Ruth's accomplishments could be surpassed, but for a few seasons it appeared that Foxx might do just that. The greatest confirmed home run distance in Major League Baseball is about 575 feet (175 m), by Babe Ruth, to straightaway center field at Tiger Stadium (then called Navin Field and prior to the double-deck), which landed nearly across the junction of Trumbull and Cherry. Simply clearing the first row of shrubs beyond the center-field fence is a big deal. These were not temp help that knew nothing these were professionals who knew not just everything but were truly looking out for me. Its immortalized with a Florida Historical Markertitled Babes Longest Homer.. A six-city mystery. Such a batted ball would require literally superhuman velocity, which would render the batsman capable of authoring 700 foot home runs. Returns & Exchanges The next truly great slugger in the chronology of long-distance hitting was Ted Williams, who arrived on the major league scene in 1939. Yesterday was the 49th anniversary of what is considered the longest home run ever hit at Metropolitan Stadium. They have always liked them, and always will. While some memorable drives predate Statcast, such as Carlos Penas drive to the right-center-field concourse in 2005 or Wily Mo Penas estimated 454-foot drive to left in 2011, here are the five longest homers in Comerica Park since Statcast became the standard in 2015: Long gone! The distance of the home run has been estimated at up to 575 feet (175 m). His trail of National League home runs was already legendary when he moved to the American League in 1965. If Mantle had provided the same power or velocity, but had launched the ball at a higher and more efficient angle, it would have passed out of Yankee Stadium at a height of over 200 feet! Back then, Oliva said, fans liked to see games that were 3-2, 2-1 or 1-0.. When you consider that the other baseball towns average about five comparable publications, it is clear that we can draw upon approximately 15 descriptions of most of the hundreds of four-base blows struck during his career. I saw Jason Rooftop Thompson hit one out of Tiger Stadium over right center field off of Dick Tidrow of the Yankees. The 2021 Home Run Derby begins at 7:00 p.m. Thats 59 home runs for each team for the entire season. April 10, 2021 by retrosimba. Coincidentally, that was the same ballpark where Mickey Mantle had supplanted Williams as the game's longest hitter seven years earlier. Willie Stargell blasted a home run estimated to be 535 feet long at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the stadium's biggest blast in history. What is the highest mountain in the world? The homer, which had an exit velocity of 107.8 mph, was Marisnicks eighth of the season. When you consider that many baseball stadiums have centerfield fences around 400 feet from home plate, such blasts would be truly spectacular. And then theres a millennial favorite -- Albert Pujols soul-crushing tater off Astros reliever Brad Lidge -- which looks just as fast as Stanton's record 121 mph laser when you watch it on tape. 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. ORDER YOURS NOW! 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. The ball kept carrying as JaCoby Jones ran towards the wall, eventually clearing both rows of shrubs in straightaway center before bouncing back onto the field. Perhaps the ball had already flown over 400 feet, whereupon it was interrupted in midflight at a height of 70 feet above field level. The second one was Gibbys blast in 1983, when some friends and I got bleacher tickets, and sat dead center, giving us a great view of the ball as it sailed out of the ballpark. Killabrew was in 62. Miguel Cabrera later became known for reaching the camera perch above that. I could hit for average, but thats not my job. 521, hit in his final at-bat in the majors at Fenway Park in 1960. The homer that traveled to center field with an exit velocity of 113.2 mph, and was Martinezs 13th home run of the season. Chicago White Sox right fielder Joe Borchard hit a 504-foot home run to right-center field off of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers. None other than Darren Holmes, the Rockies pitcher who coughed it up, estimates that this ball went probably 560 feet -- off a changeup, no less. On April 4, 2001, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Vinny Castilla hit a 478-foot home run to left field off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Joey Hamilton. 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. I was in desperate need because of a upcoming event to make purchase I could get same day while searching for the item I quickly realized there wasn't just limited availability of the item but very limited locations in Metro Detroit i could purchase the item. Excited to work with Vintage Detroit on future orders. Directly behind Allen in the historic ranking of tape measure hitters were contemporaries Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey. The rules of baseball were made and refined by men; they have limitations. Friday 3 March 2023 21:59, UK. Similarly, Comiskey's left-field roof was also visited by many batted balls, but only one is confirmed to have cleared it on the fly. It was estimated at well over 600 feet but later was reported to have hit a house three lots beyond Waveland Avenue, 530 feet from home plate. In order for the ball to be rising at roof level, it would have to have been traveling at a lower angle than that which produces maximum distance. Miguel Cabrera hit one of the longest home runs in Comerica Park history in the first inning of Monday night's game against the Seattle Mariners. 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. The center field home run was Confortos 13th homer of the season. Each time the noise grew louder and louder! . Not many balls are hit farther than 500 feet, and Killebrews was measured at 522. His tremendous blow to right-center field in Detroit on June 8, 1926, has often been reported as traveling over 600 feet. Hyperbole has always been part of the phenomenon of long-distance home runs, and this factor must also be considered. Detroit Outfielder Cullenbines Skills Were Ahead of His Time, Jon Warden made the most of his one season with Tigers, The longest home runs hit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. by Richard Bak on January 4, 2012. Bonus points for clubbing this off As ace Dave Stewart, when Smoke was near the peak of his powers. The crowd stood at attention, and at first there was a sense of awe, Kight recounted. It is due to his immense popularity and constant involvement in the tape measure process that he is often thrust into the muddle of misrepresentation. What a great game! According to Tim Reid of the Committee to Commemorate Babe Ruth, the West Coast Inn home run is believed to be perhaps the longest ever hit off major league pitching. 452 Feet - Eric Davis (While playing for the Detroit Tigers) hit a 452 foot shot on Sept. 26th 1993. Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Russell Branyan hit a 480-foot blast on July 27, 2004. Wow. His most impressive, though, may have been . A Mickey Mantle homer was originally estimated to have gone 734 feet. Since 2015, Nomar Mazara owns the longest homer distance at 505 feet. This was just one of 10 home runs that Marlins ace Kevin Brown allowed all season, and heres guessing he still remembers it pretty vividly. Lynne asked what I was interested in and presented me with a great selection of Tigers caps and T-shirts. Source: wikimedia.org. This was one of seven home runs hit in this game, which the Dodgers won 10-4. A-Gon Goes a-Golfing 19 of 20 Just when we thought we had seen everything from Adrian Gonzalez, here he is hitting the longest home run in the history of PetCo Park, a ridiculous pitcher's. While All-Stars like Joey Gallo, Shohei Ohtani and Salvador Perez will try to crush balls deep into the Denver . Martinez hit the longest home run in Comerica Park history last season at an estimated 467 feet. This ball cleared the Hard Rock Cafe and landed well into the fifth deck, and Griffeys classic swing made the feat look effortless. One other aspect of misrepresentation should be explored. Broxton, naturally, was . The Big Unit put this pitch on the outer half of the plate, and McGwire still pulled it to the back wall of the Kingdome. Adam Dunn, 535 Feet, Out of the Park The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati isn't a classic hitter's field, statistically at least, but Adam Dunn sure tamed it. The other great distance hitters of that period were Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg, but their optimum drives fell about 50 feet short of those struck by Ruth and Foxx. As a 19-year-old, in March of 1951, he hit one in an exhibition game at USC's Bovard Field that carried an estimated 650 feet. Here is the full top 8 . This years World Series games at Wrigley Field remind us of Babe Ruths legendary home run there, when he allegedly called his shot in Game 3 of the 1932 Fall Classic in Chicago. MORE:Where was baseball's first night game? But, Mee noted, there was but a slight breeze blowing that day. Tiger Stadium was famous for its low roof and a few players have hit balls completely out of the ballpark, but Jackson's 532-foot home run stands as one of the longest on record. On September 25, 2020, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., hit a 495-foot home run to left-center field off Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Mazza. At least six cities claim the Bambinos biggest blast. Have Your Own Jersey? The . As a lifelong Tigers fan, I have been fortunate enough to see two players clear the fence. Buffalo Bisons pitcher Mike Murphy threw a 2-2 slider that Meyer crushed 582 feet into the thin Colorado air. 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. The ball was hit on August 16, 1935. The term tape measure is especially relevant in this instance, since it was popularized on this occasion for the first time. The longest home run in Men's College World Series history at Charles Schwab Field Omaha unofficially belongs to Arkansas' Brady Slavens, who went deep 436 feet in 2022. The homer had an exit velocity of 112.1 mph was Harpers 12th of the season. That homer was officially estimated at 481 feet, one foot farther than the longest hit by a Twin at the Dome, Kent Hrbeks homer hit to straight-away right field Sept. 9, 1984. Also I remember that it was thought to be a greater fete to hit one over the left field roof than in right field. 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. It is even easier to consider modern history to help us understand that nothing has changed in the intervening years in our fascination with long home runs. 3. The home run went to straightaway center field, clearing the stadium and landing into the street. No player has ever cleared the left field roof. It has been confirmed that the ball struck against the third house beyond Waveland Avenue, which is situated about 530 feet from home plate. Oliva said it was harder to hit one out at Metropolitan than at the Metrodome. Bobby Allison called me from the dugout and said, How can you measure that at 435 feet? 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. Must have been 1977 or 1978. Despite many unsubstantiated claims, none of the early sluggers recorded drives of such length that they could compare with those of the modern era. In 1932, the muscular "Double X" almost equaled Ruth's season record of 60 home runs. Entering the 1970s, Reggie Jackson was already established as one of the best ever. Babe Ruth, yellowing newspaper accounts have it, hit a ball out of the old Tiger Stadium in 1926. Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and West Brom at the MKM Stadium. Who is baseball's mightiest batsman and how far can he hit a baseball? One might say the Reds fans sitting up there werent expecting a home run souvenir that day, but then again, they were already plenty familiar with Wily Mos work. According to former Tiger Stadium groundskeeper Frank Feneckit, it took almost a howitzer to send a ball over the left-field grandstand at The Corner. He can still hear the ball . As long ago as opening day 1883, there is information describing the excitement generated by Hall of Famer Roger Connor, who struck an unusually long home run at the original Polo Grounds in New York. 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. Allen may have hit some of his sport's longest home runs, but neither he nor anyone else ever hit a baseball nearly that far. Dozens of players have peppered the left field roof at batting practice, though. Reggie Jacksons light-tower shot in the 1971 ASG (July 13, 1971)Has a pinch-hitter ever hit a ball farther? But its doubtful any of them would have won an arm-wrestling contest with Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds. The Twins use the same chart today. Anything in the 500-foot range is genuinely historic. That ball is measured at. Though its difficult to get an official handle on home run distances, the clout would rank, by any measure, among the longest of all time. Windy days at Wrigley are the best. Perhaps the longest of those not previously mentioned was Ralph Kiner, who bombarded all the National League left-field distance plateaus of his times. Oliva was in the dugout with the rest of the Twins when Killebrew hit what is still known as the longest home run in Twins history. But where was Ruths longest homer? And Giancarlo Stanton has hit the hardest tracked homer at a scorching 121.7 mph. On April 14, 1976, New York Mets right fielder Dave Kingman hit an estimated 530-foot home run to left-center field off Chicago Cubs pitcher Tom Dettore. Yes, Killebrew did it again, the next day. Detroit Tigers pitchers and catchers went through drills and a bullpen session during Spring Training Tuesday, February 14, 2023. In 1921 there was no SportsCenter, no 24-hour highlight machine called the Internet. 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. In returning the discussion to Babe Ruth, it can be said that he defies rational analysis. In 1962, he became the first of only four batters to hit a ball over the left-field roof at Tiger Stadium. Several players have landed balls in top of it images, but never completely over it in the air.