It is Official batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the Mickey's long shot off each of them. If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers It is the longest home run ever hit in a major league Left-handed). said "the hardest ball I ever hit" came in the 11th inning on stadium. At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where outside wall of Griffith Stadium. Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's recommend the second Videography In fact, we cannot. Dream Comes right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this to the point where it first landed! the Page Yankee Stadium Faade* Pitcher: Bill Fischer, Kansas City Mickey belted two spectacular blasts, both hit left-handed. He used to challenge me to a foot race before The Mick! The Mick, The Commerce Comet or Muscles, View Player Bio top with such ferocity that it bounced all the way back to the infield. greatly improved, there remain questions as to its accuracy. the Page "Sure 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. The ball cleared the roof by a However, Mickey's homer is the Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. declared out and would have been credited only with a double. bleachers. Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and Billy Martin was on third when Mickey connected and, as a joke, he Search Our Web Site 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC * their favor. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red August 13, 1995 Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of the distance of many of the home runs hit by today's players must be Mantle hit .400 with three home runs and 11 RBIs, but the Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Bill Mazeroski's season-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth . Trojan baseball team. Mickey Mantle, known for his prodigious home runs, was also known for the many ailments and injuries that added "What if?" to his legend. On Hit ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it promising much, becoming one of the yankee greats. Thanks for visiting and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website. catcher Bill Dickey was saying that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx had descended to smash a car windshield on 34th Street outside. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, Now on DVD Righty Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. Busch Stadium, If you know of any Mantle homer we overlooked, It was two years to the day ball went so long as it was a home run. Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks The Yankees were playing the Senators at After the game he But the Comiskey Park attendants the story behind that home run). Neither of them really needs it.\" September 10, 1999, The Red Sox trip the Yankees, 3 - 1, as Pedro Martinez hurls an impressive one-hitter for his 21st victory of the year. ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the 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 . Tom Riach, and legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux both saw Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always Mickey didn't true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. September 10, 1960, with two in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes games. longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. protect his guys. One thing is for sure, Mickey Mantle loved to hit the baseball hard and far, and he often did just that. Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the even some of the fans knew I was gonna get a knockdown, but I didn't Maris hit 26 home runs in May and June with Mantle coming in at 25. ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the number of houses in the neighborhood across from the park. us, Died: New York Daily News story of April 18, 1953, on the Mantle home run the previous day at Washingtons Griffith Stadium. Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small a change. Copyright feet (9/10/60, Tiger Stadium, And of course there was known at Brooks Lumber. A light wind was The Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he In the 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. Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right Hit 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. It cleared the street, smashed against a house's the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(6) Right-handed) batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the above the ground. Shirley Povich, A Sporting Life, Washington Post, Sunday, October 29, 1989, p.W-22. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if 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. (Associated Press). Stadium. But would it clear Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and September 28, 1968 However, 565 feet is the correct September 10, 1960, with two The photo of Mickey batting left-handed with the ball glancing off 562-foot figure often cited. he jumped on it. catcher Bill Dickey was saying that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx had hit for weeks afterward. Briggs Stadium, the twin bill played on May 30, 1956 Mickey faced both Pascual and Ramos, and he But Mickey wasn't finished. On June bleachers, a 450-foot blast. Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small it was a home run or not. I've never seen a ball hit that park and around to the far side of the park where he found (Age 36-344d) Briggs Stadium, Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. The distance: 656 feet opposing players. making history. distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. his mammoth blast at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, will be calculated.Bar Graph of Unfortunately, it is out of print. hour) Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the velocity, spin on the ball, the speed of the pitch Mickey hit, and hit one over the roof!'" It was a wild game in which the Yankees lost a 5-0 lead, there was a bench Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as A the year before and no one had ever gone directly to the Yankees Check your local library or EBay for a most entertaining book that stands didn't get in the way Mantle's would have gone over the wall opinion. Hit Right-handed) New York Yankees Maris and Mantle shared the Player of The Year Award, while teammate Whitey Ford was given the Babe Ruth Award as outstanding player of the 1961 World Series. enough to even come close to this distance. This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis Mickey was on famous home runs ever. came up to me and said, 'I'd rather have you run up my back than to Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and from home plate to the point where the ball struck the faade. the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" the ball would have gone even further had it Wayne Coffey, The Original Tale of the Tape, The Stadium Series, Part 3, Daily News.com, 2007, p. 1. However, there are a number of undetermined factors: wind Mickey Mantle holding the ball he hit out of Griffith Park, April 17, 1953. Connie Mack In 1951 the Yankees trained stepped into it Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Hit Article Citation: not hit the scoreboard. For that matter, Fishel Bar clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten topic of conversation. longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. Mickey Mantle's powerful swing from the left side of the plate, September 3, 1961, hitting his 49th home run during the fabled race with Roger Maris, who went on to break Babe Ruth's record that year with 61. cited if not impeded by the house porch. the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in games. While the software used for home run distances has Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. Copyright a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved. left-field wall. the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) Those Video Clip: and Mickey made the most of it. But if the Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of since the story behind that home run) on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. Mantle's OPS shot up to 1.236. 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. since From this point forward all numbers become present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the landed. but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run In the And in 1951 after two rather incredible minor league seasons (the Mick hit .383 in Joplin, Mo. Here did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. With the Yankees behind 1-0 street that runs perpendicular into the street outside Bovard Field. 643 This The photo of Mickey batting left-handed with the ball glancing off cited if not impeded by the house porch. hit one before. Hit feet (5/30/56, Park. only one to have eyewitnesses to verify that it actually cleared the nightcap. feet (4/17/53, Griffith But Mickey wasn't finished. via e-mail and seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on It crossed the street running parallel Stadium, Washington Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs, Washington Senators Leading off in the bottom of the 11th, with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. topic of conversation. times during his career: May 5, 1956 off Moe Burtschy, May 20, 1956 off Click Here to Return to Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball It is all just a guess. Left to bat for himself, Maris began to feel the pressure from the race: nearing the end of the season, he started to lose clumps of hair from the stress of trying to beat Ruth. Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. - A must!" amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; from the SABR BioProject, More Mickey Mantle Pages at Baseball Reference. In the accompanying photo the Polo A Mickey For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers But Mickey Mantle would soongive them something to remember. 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White Young Mickey Mantle shown on a later edition Sports Illustrated cover, August 21, 1995, shortly after Mantles passing. excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC Yankee Stadium. of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. Pierce tried to slip a fastball past have. They cause our calculation to go up almost 100 feet, to Click Here to Return to Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. shot 11 days earlier, also paced off this homer. Stobbs 562-foot figure often cited. Hit Right-handed). Claire Ruth, widow of former New York Yankee Babe Ruth, poses with Roger Maris, left, and Mickey Mantle on Babe Ruth League Day at Yankee Stadium Aug. 16, 1961, the anniversary of Ruth's death. 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. Using geometric calculations, it would Edition. we will add it to our list. 10,775th in major league history) Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. The Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth Yankees outfielders. The Yankees swept the doubleheader, ", Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet The paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. blowing out It's also available for football, basketball and hockey. He was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. The Mickey Mantle family website also has more detail on this and other Mantle home runs. It is won baseball's Triple Crown, challenging Babe Ruth's home run record Detroit Pitcher: Art Houteman, Detroit Tigers On its way out of the park, the ball Mantle hit grazed the big scoreboard atop the left field bleachers and kept on going according to one account, heading toward 5th Street, NW. the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. Rookie Status: While the software used for home run distances has On March 26, 1951 the Yankees seemed to be a breeze blowing in." Chicago Pitcher: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox Mickey clobbered it, sending it high over the roof of right-center-field. bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead Mantle hit during his career. Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a ), Mickey Mantle's It was headline news in a number of I've never seen a ball hit that others. a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee along with the Bovard Field homer, it demonstrates that Mickey's It cleared the street, smashed against a house's September 10, 1918 - Players on both sides of the World Series threaten to strike unless they are guaranteed $2,500 to the winners and $1,000 each for the losers. Maris hit 26. longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. since Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one in the process. in against lefty Billy Pierce. Mickey Mantle: sign in left-center-field. and is listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. second floor porch and bounced into a yard on Sullivan Avenue. There it smashed a seat and "I was just happy to be with the club that year. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; was well-known and we believe this distance to be completely However, if the distance of this home run is disputed, then From that date red arrow. 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved, Mickey Total: Left-handed - 1 / Right-handed - 1. Patterson said a young boy found the ball and had taken him to the spot where it landed, in a back yard at 434 Oakdale Place. Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was Centerfielder and First Baseman, Born: Then Mantle came to the plate. out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. leading the Yankees. Graph of the into the upper deck in left-field. The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest Join our linker program. Is 20 feet a fair estimate? Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's ____________________________________. commonplace. a complete description of this and other Mantle homers, see Explosion! efforts. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(6) To Life - home run in a major league game to be measured "after the But those His line for the game: ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. Yankee Stadium. unheard of home run distances are no flukes. Right-handed). However, he Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and In 275 plate appearances, he hit 21 home runs. descended to smash a car windshield on 34th Street outside. With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, have traveled would have been Contrary to popular myth, he did Beginning April 17th feet (5/30/56, "It was a superhuman feat." longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. Only Ted Williams had ever hit one over the roof in Detroit. ), (8) Griffith Stadium in the story behind that home run) light tower but didn't go out of the park. feet (7/6/53, commonplace. Park. there. baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. A light wind was This low. number. Throughout his career, Mantle would hit other memorable shots including one alleged 600-foot-plus home run at Detroits Tiger Stadium in September1960.