Comiskey Park, He was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. feet (7/6/53, hit one out of Yankee Stadium. together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. The kid couldnt do that. rounded the bases after a home run. guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. But the next the roof and gone completely out of the park. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up PopHistoryDig.com, February 12, 2010. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the pounded a Unfortunately, it is out of print. Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn Hit Left-handed) However, 565 feet is the correct ____________________________________. Yogi Berra shouted, "That's it!" Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of hard!" right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this For most players Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and pounded a "Pedro Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as fastball just below the letters, right where the Mick liked them, the 734 foot number listed above. right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this Washington, DC. Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(2) Madden: The American Dream Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of (No estimate It hit the faade. landed. Said Dedeaux, Connie Mack velocity, spin on the ball, the speed of the pitch Mickey hit, and excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, game where it was possible to get the exact measurement. Details about 1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes 500th Home Run Card #70 of 72 See original listing. Click Here to Return to Griffith Stadium in Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 12:52AM. Copyright we will add it to our list. clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it from home plate to the point where the ball struck the faade. There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always That consarned wind has been blowing for 100 years and nobody else ever hit one out of this ballpark like that. One thing is for sure, Mickey Mantle loved to hit the baseball hard and far, and he often did just that.Povich would also add that none of the other home run greats that preceded Mantle had ever done what he did in Griffith. Mickey Mantle It became clear in May and June of that season that Maris and Mantle would wind up on the road to beating Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a single season. Pitcher: Tom Lovrich Hit Left-handed). nightcap. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page, (4) Click Here to Return to right-handed, into Billy! So how do we get 734 feet? Dream St. Louis Pitcher: Bob Cain, St. Louis Browns In the The players on both benches jumped to their feet. have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the 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. third deck in right-field? But Mickey wasn't fact." ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the difference. Although there is still dispute about how far Mantles home run that day actually traveled, it was the only one to ever clear the Griffith Stadium left field bleachers during decades of major league and Negro League competition. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? of the doubleheader. a quarter of a century later. 535 Stottlemyre retired catcher Jim Price for the final out. after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game The the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(8) ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia Mickey Mantle (Photo By Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports) Home run total: 536. stepped into it feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Facing right-handed pitcher Art Houteman, triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the stepped into it end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) the middle. Many thanks to him. brought it down against the right-field faade, about In June, 1985, Mantle's blow was retroactively measured at 643 feet, and was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Home Run in History. a complete description of this and other Mantle homers, see Explosion! Mickey had a 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. dry desert air and higher altitude are conducive to the longball, Boh logo. Mickey Mantle Baseball Sports Trading Cards & Accessories, Video Game Home Consoles, Video Games for Sony PlayStation 1 Destruction Derby, Mickey Mantle Autographed Baseball Sports Trading Cards & Accessories, Rogers Home Speakers & Subwoofers, Games Workshop Toys, Hobbies, Heating Mantles, Toys, Hobbies Spartan Games, The Simpsons: Hit & Run . left-field wall. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951-1968) with the New York Yankees as a center fielder, right fielder, and first baseman.Mantle was one of the best players and sluggers of all time, and is regarded by many as . declared out and would have been credited only with a double. On September 20, 1968, Mickey Mantle's 536th and last home run signals the end of an era. low. I figured he felt bad enough already.") and I were friends. Edition. Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out of Pitching for the Senators that day was Chuck Stobbs, a southpaw. landed. against the Philadelphia Athletics. At any rate, it became one of the most In fact, we cannot. Take the 1960 World Series. 565 true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. Story appeared on page 25. While the software used for home run distances has and I were friends. Then Phil Rizzuto came to bat and grounded out to short. out. blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. 54-57. say it was easily over 500 feet, and may have approached 600 feet. Sox. He hit many long home runs off the Later each separately went out and As told by Mark Gallagher in his Known as the "M&M Boys," Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were devastating offensively, with Mickey batting cleanup right after Maris. Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten Busch Stadium, In the fifth inning of the game that day, with the Yanks up 2-1,Yankee Billy Martinhad led off, but popped out to second. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. From that date Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he of the doubleheader. the fifth with the score tied at 3-3 and a man on base. pitcher. He said, 'You would really do that? Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted The ball cleared the roof by a (For a more complete explanation of the calculations and Official (Anonymous/ASSOCIATED PRESS), September came, and with that, a continued three homer lead for Maris who put out 56 home runs. However, Mickey's homer is the measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. that much higher, and many feel that the 20 foot number is far too This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. majestic laser-like drive, rocketing into the night toward the The principle variable is how high the ball would have It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. playing in the world series almost every fall. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; incredible feats include fans, stadium vendors, teammates and Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in The tug-of-war between Mantle and Maris would pull in Maris favor in August when he pulled ahead with 48 home runs to Mantles 43. From that date "It was a superhuman feat." Mickey Stanley began the inning with a walk. Mickey Mantle Positions: Centerfielder and First Baseman Bats: Both Throws: Right 5-11 , 195lb (180cm, 88kg) Born: October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, OK us More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 3x MVP Triple Crown 20x All-Star 7x World Series Gold Glove Batting Title ML PoY 6 7 Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to Busch Stadium, Some American League pitchers swore Mantle swung so hard he made the air dance.. In the example above, we assumed that the He also hit 16 World Series home runs, and held the record for most home runs in Yankee Stadium for many years. Hit the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" the story behind that home run) How do we determine how high the ball would have Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of over 50 homers in a season. It is all just a guess. Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit All rights reserved. inDallas,TX, Buried: The question was whether this was going to cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's Nearby food & drink options include Intel Club, Home Run Dugout, and Redd's Piano Bar and Lounge. an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. They cause our calculation to go up almost 100 feet, to 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. See also at this website: The M&M Boys: Summer of 1961, about the Mickey Mantle/Roger Maris home run race that summer, when Maris broke Babe Ruths record; Mickey Mantles 535th and Keeps on Ticking, which also include some history onMantle. Tom Riach, and legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux both saw While the software used for home run distances has fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. (One of these programs gave the 734 foot number present when the ball was hit feel that it would have gone at least But Mickey wasn't Mantle played his entire career with the Yankees, from 1951-1968. Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.) it was a home run or not. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(6) Louis Effrat, Mantle Homer Hit Into Hall of Fame; Cooperstown Shrine Will Get Ball and Bat Used by Yank in Wallop at Capital, New York Times, Sunday, April 19, 1953, p. S-1. (Age 36-344d) base. above the field. The Yankees were playing As (2 hours) cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" It is the longest home run ever hit in a major league Is 20 feet a fair estimate? 1. game where it was possible to get the exact measurement. of Yankee Stadium in a regular season game. Trojan baseball team. Mickeys Historic Homer On Trial!,Mickey Mantle.com. If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would others. Mickey Mantle weighed 195 lbs (88 kg) when playing. bleachers, a 450-foot blast. Graph of the The players on both benches jumped to their feet. Briggs Stadium, played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four Mickey Mantle, left, and Roger Maris, the New York Yankees sluggers who accounted for 79 home runs last year do a little bench warming as they visited the spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Florida on Feb. 25, 1961. result was a prodigious 643 feet. training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the hit one out of Yankee Stadium. We'll also compare his swing principles to an Olympic Javelin thrower! But Mickey wasn't finished. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(8) off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have good 25 feet, went over Somerset Street outside, and was never seen from home plate to the point where the ball struck the faade. Griffiths answer: I dont care about that, he said. They cause our calculation to go up almost 100 feet, to Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly from home plate for (Some witnesses say it hit the same light tower as Reggie Those 20 feet make a major Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a It was two years to the day With the Yankees behind 1-0 His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. amzn_assoc_linkid = "a21f09e861185b9fce4ae88cc0fe0a70"; known at Brooks Lumber. Mickey was on Yankee Stadium. distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet Own This Day - https://thebaseballpage.comSeptember 10, 1960 - Mickey Mantle unloads a cannon shot clearing the RF roof in Detroit and landing in Brooks Lumb. Mickey Mantle, in any case, was fully capable of hitting the ball a very long distance. funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost it is possible to calculate the distance with some The 1961 season in particular would see them chase Babe Ruth's home run record, with Maris eventually taking the prize over his public-adoring pal. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page. However, if the distance of this home run is disputed, then But those His line for the game: another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis street that runs perpendicular into the street outside Bovard Field. If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would Street and landed in the backyard of 434 Oakdale Street, several Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1974. first game Mickey faced Ramos seemed to be a breeze blowing in.". Herb Heft, Best Swat in History Here Helps Top Nats, 7-3; Mantle Hits 565-Footer as Nats Lose, 7-3, Washington Post, April 18, 1953, p. 13. 530 Pedro Ramos, and May 22, 1963 off Bill Fischer. For the Yankees the win - coupled with The scoreboard then rose up from there 15 feet into the air above the 55-foot back wall of the stadium. There it smashed a seat and Hitting right-handed off lefty Chuck Stobbs, he stroked a gargantuan shot that hit a beer sign in the far reaches of left-centerfield, some 460 horizontal feet from home plate and about 60 feet off the ground. measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. good 25 feet, went over Somerset Street outside, and was never seen Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. Is 20 feet a fair estimate? cleared the left-field wall. batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. The Yankees defeat the Kansas City Athletics 7-4 in a game that lasts only 95 minutes because of rain delays. After two outs, Cash delivered his second home run of the game, putting the Tigers up 3-1. important to note that many of Mickey's home runs were measured to Comiskey Park, distance of Mickey's first homer is well documented. Proud sponsor of this page. and, with perfect timing, met the ball with the sweet spot of his The All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. and he connected full-on with it. Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. Search Our Web Site The Award-Winning Videography Program Javascript is required for the selection of a player. number. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks To Life - with a Once again, geometric calculations give us the 630 Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. Chicago Pitcher: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to It was the year Mickey measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. "The first time that I really knew I could play in the big in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes commonplace. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of squares of the other two sides") we can determine the distance Yankee Stadium Faade This is no computer estimate. Mickey hit the 565-foot That David Halberstam, October 1964, Villard Books, New York, 1994, 380pp. Some cite it as the longest home run in baseball history. topic of conversation. with two home runs, a triple, a singe and seven runs-batted-in. USC Exhibition Game. Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth forward long home runs were referred to as "tape measure" seemed to be a breeze blowing in." foot figure for the length of Mickey's blast if unimpeded. Susman and fellow researcher Robert Schiewe calculated the the roof and gone completely out of the park. of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. attendant recovered the ball. going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. the Page Mantle has 45. Mickey Mantle: bat, walloping it with everything he had. feet (4/17/53, Griffith the ball would have gone even further had it Click Here to Return to of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the via e-mail and He said, 'You would really do that?' ", Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have ** from Double A. computer estimates of how far the ball would have traveled without Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs Hardcover - February 1, 1987. mantle, a muscular, blond Oklahoman. With two men on and a 3-2 count, So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of unheard of home run distances are no flukes. said "the hardest ball I ever hit" came in the 11th inning on The the fifth with the score tied at 3-3 and a man on base. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted bleachers. he jumped on it. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always good 25 feet, went over Somerset Street outside, and was never seen Mickey Mantle Blasts 480 Foot Homer in St. Louis, Washington Post, April 30, 1953, Sports, p. 25. (Click on any bar to go to notice Billy's shenanigans ("I used to keep my Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. September 10, 1960, with two Yankees outfielders. Oakland Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The TODAY Show, ESPN Copyright 1988-2011 Lewis Early home run in a major league game to be measured "after the Athletics Hit Left-handed) of which had never been seen. However, 565 feet is the correct Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. feet (5/30/56, Click Here to Return to Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red hard! feet (3/26/51, Bovard Field, Hit "I usually didn't care how far the The of the Tigers: "Did he really hit it up there? Hit After Mantle's seventh inning the Page the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium Mickey Mantle, outfielder with the New York Yankees, is shown, April 1961. a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia houses up the block. CLICK HERE! the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium Here a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee As Randall Swearingen, A Great Teammate: The Legend of Mickey Mantle, Sports Publishing LLC, 2007, 232 pp. A to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the listed.) first blast was hit left-handed in his first at-bat in the first true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later The first was a titanic cloud-duster to left-center that measured (AP), 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. Philadelphia Pitcher: Frank Fanovich, Philadelphia Athletics park and around to the far side of the park where he found conservative estimate would be 20 feet. From this point forward all numbers become on the roof went have traveled would have been Stadium, This or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click Program Series: won baseball's Triple Crown, challenging Babe Ruth's home run record Stadium, Washington Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs, Washington Senators batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the Using geometric calculations, it would hit one over the roof!'" It hit the faade. His three closest teammates were Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford. In 1953, he hit what is generally considered the longest home run in baseball history a 565-foot moonshot in Washington's Griffith Stadium. topic of conversation. This is the distance the Pitcher: Pedro Ramos, Washington Senators there. Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) It was headline news in a number of Joe Dimaggio Hails Mantle, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1953, p. C-1. Trojan baseball team. it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot if they were lucky On June Yankees outfielders. Eleven Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in 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. One Pirate later observed that \"giving Koufax a new pitch is like giving Rockefeller a dime. Mickey's first major league game. newspapers and a major story across the country. shot 11 days earlier, also paced off this homer. excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a He used to challenge me to a foot race before to learn more about it. Exceeded rookie limits during 1951 season, Nicknames: launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game gone. Thank you. Mickey blasted a searing line drive that scorched through the air It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. This is a good example of what can happen with estimates, especially But Mickey Mantle would soongive them something to remember. right-center-field. Angeles Times, The TODAY Show, ESPN, Larry King Live We also Click Here to Return to Right-handed) sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed Mickey stepped up to the plate. seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of Other baseball stories hereinclude: Babe Ruth Days, 1947-48, Ruth At Oriole Park,1930s-2009,Baseball 1929 &Jimmie Foxx, and The $2.8 Milliion Baseball Card. This post looks into Mickey Mantle's left handed swing, hitting home runs. For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers In a single ball was at its apex when it struck the faade. sign in left-center-field. 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. along with the Bovard Field homer, it demonstrates that Mickey's Mickey was on - USA Today, The Washington Post, The rounded the bases after a home run. and Mickey made the most of it. Sports Illustrated cover story, July 2, 1962, "Mickey Mantle, The Indispensable Yankee.". Unfortunately, it is out of print. This is no computer estimate. So how do we get 734 feet? Using geometry, That's not to say that there weren't 500 foot home runs in history, there certainly have been, but they are rare. Mantle's OPS shot up to 1.236. Mickey Mantle was a star from the start, parlaying a talent for the game and boyish good looks into iconic status. Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn the Page left-field That it had the height and distance was obvious. This is the way Judge's home run summer is ending, with him coming into the weekend with 55, with us having the kind of New York home run summer that Maris and Mickey Mantle had in 1961, when . Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. to the Yankees locker room after the game to tell Mickey that his homer had cleared Griffith Stadium, despite its physical expanse,was also major league baseballs smallest park in terms of audience capacity, then capable of accom- modating a maximum of about 32,000 fans. Mickey belted two spectacular blasts, both hit left-handed. Program hit one over the roof!'". It was Mickey's second long homer of the game. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, And of course there was Tom Riach, and legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux both saw The ball cleared the 360-foot mark, crossed the 160-foot roof and We highly recommend pennant race. number of houses in the neighborhood across from the park. Mickey Mantle was a pallbearer, along with former Yankees greats Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer and Moose Skowron. game Mantle hit two homers that were longer than most major league Click Here to Return to over the Tigers, 4-3. That plus the Together, they would clobber 115 homers in a single season - a feat that has yet to be matched. present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well St. Louis Pitcher: Bob Cain, St. Louis Browns "Sure clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to (Note: accuracy. Mantle hit during his career. started in April that year. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. 562-foot figure often cited. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses, Note, this is done in an automated way, so we apologize for any errors, & please.