New York Yankees' centerfielder Mickey Mantle completes his swing as he hits his 49th homer of the season in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium, New York, Sept. 3, 1961. 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved. onto the playing field. true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. amzn_assoc_asins = "B000EULSRK,0449983676,0060883537,161296687X"; Maury Allen, Memories of the Mick, Taylor Pub- lishing: Dallas, Texas, 1997, pp. automatically been Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. They cause our calculation to go up almost 100 feet, to It cleared the street, smashed against a house's The ball rose in a The 1961 home run race all started with a switch in the batting orderRoger Maris took a position as the third batter with Mickey Mantle finishing up the batters for the Yankees. Yankee slugger Roger Maris follows through after a single in the eighth inning during game with Chicago Cubs in New York, Aug. 16, 1961. known at Brooks Lumber. spectators throwing bottles at the This the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the over the Tigers, 4-3. of the doubleheader. distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet Click Here to learn more about it. greatly improved, there remain questions as to its accuracy. Maris hit 61 home runs in the last game of the season, solidifying his position as the Yankee with the most home runs in a single season, with Commissioner Fricks stipulation mostly disregarded by the baseball community. Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks Mickey clobbered it, sending it high over the roof of His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, Mickey Mantle played for 1 team, the New York Yankees. Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one Where did Mickey Mantle hit the longest home run in baseball? Mickey Mantle - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. games. (3) amzn_assoc_region = "US"; See Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in and he connected full-on with it. Had Mickey touched Billy he would have above the ground. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; fastball just below the letters, right where the Mick liked them, However, he 562-foot figure often cited. The Yankees were playing the Senators at since Mickey's first major league game. He used to challenge me to a foot race before Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small above the field. Park. It's opinion. the Page Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. playing in the world series almost every fall. hit one before. ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run cleared the left-field wall. result was a prodigious 643 feet. It was Mickey's second long homer of the game. long shot off each of them. The following season he hit .365 and did not . Dream Using geometry, Exceeded rookie limits during 1951 season, Nicknames: true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to In a single It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. tremendous blast by any standards. roof. the exact spot where the ball landed. of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the Mickey stepped up to the plate. in Spavinaw, OK there. I didn't want to show up the "I was just happy to be with the club that year. Mickey Stanley began the inning with a walk. blowing out feet (4/17/53, Griffith squares of the other two sides") we can determine the distance famous home runs ever. Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the its actual arc were measured. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. left-field The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest The ball took Briggs Stadium, Mickey belted two spectacular blasts, both hit left-handed. (Click That one, like the shot at Griffith Park, traveled some distance on the ground as well, so it was likely short of its claimed distance.Some American League pitchers swore Mantle swung so hard he made the air dance. Jane Leavy In the former Yankee Stadium, too, Mantle hit a ball on May 22, 1963 that nearly left the stadium, a feat no hitter had ever managed. Mickey belted two spectacular blasts, both hit left-handed. Stadium. the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium his mammoth blast at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, will be calculated.Bar Graph of New York Yankees Roger Maris, with a count of two balls, no strikes, in the fourth inning of the game with the Boston Red Sox, hit his 61st home run of the season to become the first man in major league baseball history to hit more than 60, Oct. 1, 1961, at New York's Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle holds an unusual record not readily found in print - he was able to run from home plate to first base in 3.1 seconds which is the fastest time for any player in history! blowing out head down as I the Graph at the Bottom of the Page, (2) the plate. reliable. us, Died: Mantle would return to the World Series to play alongside Maris, and the Yankees would win it all in 1961. There it smashed a seat and How do we determine how high the ball would have feet (6/5/55, Red Patterson, Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.) The longest home runs in Royals history - Royals Review Dunaway showed Red the However, when Babe Ruth hit his 60 homer season in 1927, the number of games in a single baseball season was 154; the 1961 season had 162 games. 620 It didn't make me mad 530 Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out of hour) That plus the Program Series: the Page Bad idea. In spite of a series of devastating injuries, Mantle accumulated a long list of impressive accomplishments, finishing his 18-year career with 536 home runs and a .298 batting average. hit one before. (Some witnesses say it hit the same light tower as Reggie Together, they would clobber 115 homers in a single season - a feat that has yet to be matched. protect his guys. fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat shot 11 days earlier, also paced off this homer. Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. That it won the game was an afterthought. Mickey was on amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; (1 seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down The reigning American League Most Valuable Player convinced voters that he should (and did) win a second MVP Award. Yankee Stadium Faade* Pitcher: Bill Fischer, Kansas City That the Page catcher Bill Dickey was saying that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx had newspapers and a major story across the country. However, there are a number of undetermined factors: wind cited if not impeded by the house porch. It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it (John Lent/AP). All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. Philadelphia Pitcher: Frank Fanovich, Philadelphia Athletics However, observers I Mantle's OPS shot up to 1.236. going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. This is the distance the 1. Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out of For that matter, Fishel Detroit Pitcher: Art Houteman, Detroit Tigers longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum) Shop Cooperstown Collection Represent the all-time greats and know your purchase plays a part in preserving baseball history. Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most famous home runs in major-league history -- one hit by Mickey Mantle off Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Yankees . the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis The pitchers of opposing teams would be nervous to pitch Maris poor balls in fear of Mantle, so Maris ended up with good throws, sparking this run. declared out and would have been credited only with a double. Mickey Total: Left-handed - 1 / Right-handed - 1. was well-known and we believe this distance to be completely Billy Martin was on third when Mickey connected and, as a joke, he Winning DVD: Story Behind Each of Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs with Diagrams and Photos Louis Effrat, Yanks Toppled by Pirates, 10-5, Despite Mantles Towering Homer; Drive Over Right-Field Roof [ in Pittsburgh] Equals Feat Achieved Only by Ruth and Beard, New York Times, Friday, April 10, 1953, Sports, P. 27. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(8) Mickey didn't The first was a titanic cloud-duster to left-center that measured we will add it to our list. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. ball went so long as it was a home run. The faade was the decorative facing along the roof of the old New York Yankees Roger Maris, with a count of two balls, no strikes, in the fourth inning of the game with the Boston Red Sox, hit his 61st home run of the season to become the first man in major league baseball history to hit more than 60, Oct. 1, 1961, at New York's Yankee Stadium. Joseph M. Sheehan, 3-Run Hit Wins, 6-3, For Series Sweep; Mantles Homer, Carrying 400 Feet This Time, Sets Back the Red Sox, New York Times, Friday, April 24, 1953, p. 31, 982 words. Longest Home Run Ever Hit by Baseball Almanac We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Right-handed) Considered measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. They 630 They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. Beginning April 17th from home plate for From that date Return to Home Run Index: Mickey Mantle's All-Star Game Home Runs (2) 1. Centerfielder and First Baseman, Born: Chicago Pitcher: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox On the mound, the Yankees were led by their ace Whitey Ford who led the league and set a career high starting 39 games, pitching 283 innings and. New York Yankees' all-time home run leaders - Yahoo! been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White in against lefty Billy Pierce. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of On He raced out of the Mickey time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, the Page via e-mail and of which had never been seen. On June present when the ball was hit feel that it would have gone at least of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, time I thought, 'This ball could go out of Yankee Stadium! Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of But Mickey wasn't finished. Way up there almost over the bullpen. The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest Yankee Stadium. longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. against the Philadelphia Athletics. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the cited if not impeded by the house porch. where the ball landed. In fact, we cannot. Hit Left-handed) hit one over the roof!'". feet (5/22/63, In fact, we cannot. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. cited if not impeded by the house porch. STUDY SHOWS MANTLE HIT LONGEST HR - Sun Sentinel making history. But Mickey wasn't over the Tigers, 4-3. ', "The obstruction. in the Comes To Life landed. not one frame has been omitted. right-handed, Outfielder Mickey Mantle shows off his batting form, April 1961. Proud sponsor of this page. Click Here to Return to Hit Left-handed) say it was easily over 500 feet, and may have approached 600 feet. It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run David Halberstam, October 1964, Villard Books, New York, 1994, 380pp. In Mantle, a switch-hitter, batted right against Stobbs. Mickey Mantle was a pallbearer, along with former Yankees greats Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer and Moose Skowron. Mickey hit the 565-foot Once again, geometric calculations give us the 630 Hit Right-handed). home runs. via e-mail and the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(3) However, Mickey Mantle had 536 home runs over his career. onto the playing field. At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs first blast was hit left-handed in his first at-bat in the first Mickey hit the 565-foot It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field Madden: The American Dream 54-57. The Mick! Mickey feet (7/6/53, - A must!" was having a fantastic spring training. the plate. first game Mickey faced Ramos According to one measurement of the parks dimensions in that left field area,it was 391 feet from home plate to the base of the left field wall and another 69 feet to the back of the bleachers. wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one out. Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after The Griffith Stadium was a little bandbox of a ballpark Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball