The 34 home runs were the most by a Cardinal since Stan Musial hit 35 in 1954, and the most by a Cardinals right-handed batter since Ken Boyer had 32 in 1960. Its estimated that the Babes blast traveled at least 575 feet in the air. 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. It was the 26th homer of the 2015 season. Ruths mammoth homer is the only ball to be confirmed to have left Navin Field/Briggs Stadium/Tiger Stadium in center field. Fifteen writers from New York, Chicago, and other places emphatically stated that Ruth's fifth-inning drive cleared the 52-foot-wide grandstand roof by a considerable margin. And, how far did it go? It's the kind of homer that would give Ellis flashbacks even without the LSD. 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. Before participating in the varsity squad of William Howard Taft Charter High School, he developed his baseball skills in the West Valley Little League. Kight always stopped what he was doing when Killebrew was at the plate, but even he didnt guess where this one would wind up. It is only fair to also mention the great distance sluggers of the old Negro Leagues. In returning the discussion to Babe Ruth, it can be said that he defies rational analysis. Allen was consistent, hitting 17 home runs for the Cardinals at home and 17 on the road. In his first season wearing the Old English D, Big Daddy hit 51 homers. Several players have landed balls in top of it images, but never completely over it in the air. As Ruth's talents waned in the early 1930s, Foxx began his ascendancy. 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. 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. But so did Killebrews, Mee said. Here, in no particular order, are 12 absolutely massive homers we wish came under Statcast tracking. If he had the power to clear the roof by over 100 feet, he surely would have cleared it marginally on many occasions. The 22-year-old, who was called into England camp under Eddie Jones, fell awkwardly after being tackled by Tommy Reffell and injured his leg. On the first strike out , he threw his bat, so the fans were booing loudly, and banging the wood seats each time he came up to bat! The homer was Gallos 23rd of the season. The baseball traveled past the flag pole located in deep center field, over the head of Charles Chick Shorten, over the lower deck, which undoubtedly had only a smattering of fans, and out onto the street. 4. 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. The blast had an exit velocity of 111.6 to right-center field. J.P. Arencibia, Sept. 7, 2015 (464 feet)Sadly, there is no video archive of this launch by the then-Rays catcher off Tigers starter Randy Wolf. When Mickey Mantle cleared the left-center-field bleachers at Clark Griffith Stadium in Washington on April 17, 1953, the entire baseball world was lead to believe the ball had traveled 565 feet from home plate to the point where it landed. New York Met Michael Conforto hit a 469-foot home run on September 29, 2021, off of Miami Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez. Its immortalized with a Florida Historical Markertitled Babes Longest Homer.. Despite the scarcity of film on Ruth, we can still make definitive evaluations of the approximate landing points of all of his 714 career home runs. 452 Feet - Eric Davis (While playing for the Detroit Tigers) hit a 452 foot shot on Sept. 26th 1993. Seeing great drives land atop distant upper-deck roof, sportswriters observing the occurrence from a press box would resort to their limited skills in mathematics without any regard for the laws of physics. Perhaps the ball had already flown over 400 feet, whereupon it was interrupted in midflight at a height of 70 feet above field level. These unidentified individuals based their calculations on the assumption that the ball traveled completely over the left-center-field roof. Enjoy the dingers. This one went over the left field roof, off Oaklands Dave Stewart. The distance traveled through the air has been obscured with the passage of time and herein lies an interesting aspect of this subject. Must have been 1977 or 1978. Reggie Jacksons light-tower shot in the 1971 ASG (July 13, 1971)Has a pinch-hitter ever hit a ball farther? As a lifelong Tigers fan, I have been fortunate enough to see two players clear the fence. 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. By his own account he hit the longest home run of his career on May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. Chicago White Sox right fielder Joe Borchard hit a 504-foot home run to right-center field off of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers. The list includes Larry Doby, Joe Adcock, Eddie Mathews, Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Frank Robinson. George Kight says it was easy to tell how well a ball was hit at the old Metropolitan Stadium. Did Ted Williams red-seat blast really clear 500 feet? Longest home run in the history of every single MLB stadium BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 26: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees at bat during the top of the first inning of the. However, fans don't need additional inducements to maintain their fascination with "tape measure" home runs. I seem to recall Big Frank Howard (Hondo) of the Washington Senators, blast one over the left field roof sometime between 1966 and 68 (I think). I grew up in Bridgeport Michigan. 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. Thome had over 600 home runs in his career. This ball might have evaporated into the clouds if the Big O roof wasnt in its path. I told Bob Casey about the cover we put on the seat to commemorate the home run, Mee said, and he was telling the fans over the loudspeaker as Killebrew was coming up to bat. Lynne asked what I was interested in and presented me with a great selection of Tigers caps and T-shirts. 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. It was hit into the second level of the. 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. It is for that reason that home run hitters have always been and always will be the most popular players. These were not temp help that knew nothing these were professionals who knew not just everything but were truly looking out for me. 460 . Although I'm not one to argue with science and advanced metrics, Cabrera's home run still . I put the location into google maps off I went. DETROIT A Mickey Mantle buff claims a 1960 home run hit out of Tiger Stadium by the former New York Yankees star is the longest ever measured -- 643 feet, .0069 inches. Let it be emphasized that the mighty Mick was undoubtedly one of baseball's all time longest hitters. - The University of Missouri baseball team will open its first home series of the 2023 season this weekend at Taylor Stadium, hosting Texas Southern for a three-game set consisting of two seven-inning games on Saturday (March 4) and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday (March 5). Martinez, July 21, 2015 (467 feet)This is the standard by which all Comerica Park homers are measured these days. Mizzou opened its home slate with a 17-2 run-rule victory over . Little could they have anticipated how great and immediate would be the return on their investment. Directly behind Allen in the historic ranking of tape measure hitters were contemporaries Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey. 5. Brouthers rocketed a rising line drive that cleared the fence in distant right-center field, and reportedly rolled another two blocks. And, as was the case with Mantle, Allen was one of the few men in the entire history of the game who possessed legitimate 500-foot-plus power. Yes, Killebrew did it again, the next day. Martinez hit a 467-foot home run off of Seattle Mariners Taijuan Walker on July 21, 2015. Babe Ruth, yellowing newspaper accounts have it, hit a ball out of the old Tiger Stadium in 1926. 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. Cecil Fielder at Tiger Stadium (Aug. 25, 1990)The roof at the old Tiger Stadium was one of the most time-honored and imposing challenges for right-handed launchers, but it was bested in style by Detroits hulking slugger. Order Tracking 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. Fewer than one in a million men are capable of powering a ball 450 feet against major league caliber pitching. Ruth later claimed this was the longest home run he ever hit, the News-Sentinel reported. So, you didnt have much of a chance to see a four-bagger back in those days. Ruths barnstorming team traveled to Fort Wayne shortly after the Yankees won the 1927 World Series. Bobby Allison called me from the dugout and said, How can you measure that at 435 feet? On June 3, 2001, Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez hit a 491-foot blast to left field off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chris Carpenter. He had 107 home runs in his four-season career. Where was it hit? 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. Thats 59 home runs for each team for the entire season. This home run was hit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on September 10, 1960. But baseball has been around way longer than that, obviously. He was an honest, sometimes even self-effacing individual, who was never known to overstate his accomplishments. The ball was hit on August 16, 1935. & 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 is for that reason that we find their actions so thrilling, and will always want to identify them for special reward and distinction. The Metrodome home run record is owned by Ben Oglivie, who was with Milwaukee when, on July 27, 1983, he parked one about 12 rows back in the upper deck in right-center. The longest home run ever recorded is a subject of longstanding debate among baseball aficionados. The longest home run ever hit at Comerica Park came off the bat of J.D. The exact date is unknown. 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. Martinezs 113.1 mph drive off a Taijuan Walker fastball hit the roof of that perch, more than midway up the batters eye. Ted Williams called it one of the hardest hit balls hed ever seen. During those years, only one drive of 500 feet was confirmed by this system. I found it refreshing to be served by people who truly knew everything and who came across as glad i stopped in and only care about me getting the service beyond what i deserved. I placed an order and received a follow up call within 24 hrs due to item was not available. Machados home run had an exit velocity of 114.3 mph. Ted Williams' most famous home run was his last, No. However, the actual distance in the air was probably about 510 feet. 5/5 Clemson Tigers split action on Saturday morning at the USF Tournament in Tampa, Florida. While unconfirmed by the Tigers, it might've been . The longest home runs hit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit by Dan Holmes on January 24, 2022 I could hit for average, but that's not my job. The massive slugger connected with a hanging breaking ball from Ivan Nova and crushed it, sending it nearly onto the concourse beyond center field. Before he retired after the 1973 season, he had performed even more extraordinary feats of long-distance hitting in the junior circuit. 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 read that the ball nearly hit a police car on Trumbull ave.That is the longest HR i ever witnessed in person. Windy days at Wrigley are the best. During the 1971 All-Star Game from Detroit's Tiger Stadium "Mr. October" delivered a massive game changing three-run homer to right field that cleared the entirety of the stadium's impressively high standing bleachers. Most of those blasts, too, were prodigious, so the Tigers took a chance and signed Fielder. Detroit Tigers J.D. Where what happened yesterday is being preserved today. No player has ever cleared the left field roof. 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. Bonus points for clubbing this off As ace Dave Stewart, when Smoke was near the peak of his powers. Not for long. The steel and concrete of the Twins former home amplified every contact. 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. The place was. Article. Have Your Own Jersey? . Moving into the eighties, Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice, and Darryl Strawberry set the pace at a time when modern technology permitted us to better understand the limitations of the flight of a batted ball. 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. On September 10, 1960, with two out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. . 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. The best distance guess at the time: 538 feet. On September 14, 1986, Kansas City Royals right fielder Bo Jackson hit a 475-foot home run to left-center off of Seattle Mariners pitcher Mike Moore. So who really did hit the longest home run ever? Barry Bonds at Yankee Stadium (June 8, 2002)Has there ever been a more satisfying payoff from a hitter stepping to the plate and doing exactly what everyone hopes he would do? Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Willie Stargell hit a 507-foot home run to right field on August 5, 1969. Sammy Sosa famously broke one of the windows on that yellow building, but even Slammin Sammy never hit one out there as far as Hill. Hall of Fame historian Bill Jenkinson once estimated it as the longest home run ever hit. This one hit the second-deck facade in left-center. 2. Like other home runs mentioned on this list, Thome's blast bounced through the streets after leaving the stadium by flying over the center field fence. 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. Dick Allen, too, played in both leagues, thereby providing himself the advantage of leaving his signature on more ballparks than those who only played in one league. J.D. This is dramatized by the fact that Connor's blow was the only home run he would hit that season. Ruth's 575-foot blast against the Detroit Tigers in 1921 often comes up. Mickey Mantle was no stranger to long home runs. For perspective, consider the computerized measuring system implemented by IBM in most major league cities in 1982. Recently got a blank jersey stitched at Vintage Detroit and the finished product looks awesome! 5. Estimates on this mammoth shot range anywhere from 500 to 535 feet, but the one thing we do know is that it cleared the 20-foot patch of grass and 32-foot-high batters eye behind the 404-foot center-field marker at Great American Ball Park. Editors note: This story was originally published on June 29, 2006. 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. 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. The founding fathers decided to reward a powerfully hit ball by allowing the batter to circle the bases for an automatic run. Privacy Policy I also saw Reggie Jackson with the As strike out about 3 times late in the 1969 season at Tiger Stadium. Their displays of pure power were greeted with passionate enthusiasm, though they did not occur in an actual game. On July 6, 1996 Carlos Delgado hit the ball OVER the right center light tower completely into orbit. The great Honus Wagner is said to have hit a drive of comparable length at the Polo Grounds, and Sam Crawford was credited with a 473-foot home run in Detroit. 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. Not many balls are hit farther than 500 feet, and Killebrews was measured at 522. In: MLB 507 meters (right field) Only four times in history has a ball been hit entirely out of Dodger Stadium, with two of those balls being hit by Pirates legend Willie Stargell. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. Griffey shared center stage the following year in Pittsburgh with Frank Thomas, as the two men took turns bombarding the upper decks at Three Rivers Stadium. This was one of seven home runs hit in this game, which the Dodgers won 10-4. Some fans in attendance swear the ball was still going up before it struck the roof, and a physicist from Montreals McGill University put his local bias aside to estimate that it would have traveled 525 feet, had it not been stopped. No sooner than the last word had left his mouth, he did it again.. Top 10 Tigers homers of the decade. Detroit Ruth crushed a pitch out of Navin Field versus Ty Cobbs Tigers on July 18, 1921. Did the Babes longest homer really challenge 600 feet? Wily Mo Pena at GABP (April 17, 2005)This ball was river-bound too, if it wasnt for that pesky upper deck standing in the way. In the years he played for his hometown team, Kirk Gibson frequently displayed his power. This dinger off Torontos Giovanni Carrara was pretty much that scene come to life. A blow of 450 feet shows exceptional power, as the majority of major league players are unable to hit a ball that far. Yesterday was the 49th anniversary of what is considered the longest home run ever hit at Metropolitan Stadium. The enigmatic Dick Allen was also one of baseball's greatest long-distance hitters. There have been claims . Mickey Mantle famously hit a ball 565 feet (or so the Yankees then-publicist claimed) into a neighborhood behind Washingtons Griffith Stadium, and he clubbed another that came feet from clearing Yankee Stadium. 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. The Twins use the same chart today. But there are others. With the guidance of our scientific brethren, we know that once a batted ball has reached its highest point and lost most of its velocity, it falls in a rapidly declining trajectory. Any drive over 400 feet is noteworthy. Only six batters hit as many as 20 homers that year. Yes, Killebrew stroked titanic blasts on consecutive days in June 1967. - Bill Dickey. It may be appropriate to cite another example of this same optical illusion. His slender physique belied his subtle strength and natural ability to generate bat speed. Accounts from that gray afternoon put Hills rooftop homer at 490 feet; Hill told the Chicago Tribune to move that up to 700 feet.