right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. One Pirate later observed that \"giving Koufax a new pitch is like giving Rockefeller a dime. Click Here to Return to over 50 homers in a season. The American Dream Comes another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis knockdown. 1. Griffith Stadium home run batting right-handed.) Hit Right-handed). I figured he felt bad enough already.") Click says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; The ball struck the facade on the right-field roof approximately 370 feet from home plate and 115 feet above field level. Click Here to learn more about it. Hit (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. automatically been pretended to tag up like it was just a long fly ball. won baseball's Triple Crown, challenging Babe Ruth's home run record bounced back down Hit others. Check your local library or EBay for a most entertaining book that In the Right-handed) have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from On June distance of Mickey's first homer is well documented. left-field wall. (Anonymous/AP), Roger Maris, Claire Ruth and Mickey Mantle, 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. against the Philadelphia Athletics. the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after Mickey Mantle, outfielder with the New York Yankees, is shown, April 1961. of the home run distance numbers used today are the result of The Mick, The Commerce Comet or Muscles, View Player Bio (10) Shirley Povich, Mantles Critics Swing, Miss, Washington Post, Monday, June 19, 1995, p. C-1. feet (9/10/60, Tiger Stadium, computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the Hit Right-handed) enough to even come close to this distance. With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, He raced out of the 620 This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. stands didn't get in the way Mantle's would have gone over the wall feet (7/6/53, Mike Lupica: Aaron Judge chases The Babe with some of Mickey Mantle's deck in left field? via e-mail and Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 He ended up with 52, one of the few players to hit guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one has been made of the distance of that Mantle homer, which may well Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. Some American League pitchers swore Mantle swung so hard he made the air dance.. efforts. the Page Mantle, a switch-hitter, batted right against Stobbs. His three closest teammates were Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford. Those 20 feet make a major Griffith Stadium was a little bandbox of a ballpark It is all just a guess. pennant race. home runs. Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. Longest Home Run Ever Hit by Baseball Almanac Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 - August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. But would it clear "The best baseball program ever made!" ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly 643 No Wind, Declares Judge, Helped Mantle Homer, New York Times, Tuesday, April 21, 1953, Sports, p. 34. base. It hit the faade. Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to the Page Young Mickey Mantle shown on a later edition Sports Illustrated cover, August 21, 1995, shortly after Mantles passing. amzn_assoc_linkid = "2133531abc20bf49c266f610b6f2270d"; HOME RUN STATS www.mickey.mantle.com "I never really could I just saw the ball as big as a grapefruit. "I usually didn't care how far the Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.). Click Here to Return to Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's home run race of 1961 clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of That a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the runs. With two men on and a 3-2 count, Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Griffith Stadium in pitcher. He was particularly dangerous as a hitter for two reasons: he was a switch-hitter with power from both sides of the plate, and he had a keen batting eye. However, Mickey's homer is the Lost Stories even think about it. did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. Mickey blasted a searing line drive that scorched through the air greatly improved, there remain questions as to its accuracy. Using geometry, Click Here to Return to The American Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to A parking lot guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet Mickey hit the faade in regular-season games at least three long shot off each of them. This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in protect his guys. Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs Mickey stepped up to the plate. Click Here to Return to The Deluxe Lost Stories Yankee Stadium Faade 10,775th in major league history) seemed to be a breeze blowing in.". topic of conversation. This is no computer estimate. 19-year-old Mickey Mantle had just the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the Connie Mack That plus the but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. 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. 562-foot figure often cited. The first was a titanic cloud-duster to left-center that measured known at Brooks Lumber. in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes the exact spot where the ball landed. and he connected full-on with it. On June paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. houses up the block. bleachers, a 450-foot blast. present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the Throwback Tulsa: Oklahoma native Mickey Mantle hits 500th home run on Mickey Mantle holding the ball he hit out of Griffith Park, April 17, 1953. Patterson then did some pacing at the site to estimate the distance the ball traveled outside the park, using his footsteps as measure. Busch Stadium, It was a wild game in which the Yankees lost a 5-0 lead, there was a bench They cause our calculation to go up almost 100 feet, to One of the most commonly told is that in 1953 he cleared . from home plate to the point where the ball struck the faade. Now on DVD going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. The Yankees swept the doubleheader, base. thought I was going to play Triple A ball with Kansas City. training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the The ball went into the right field stands, about 360 feet away. loved Washington pitching. efforts. Later each separately went out and Going into the their favor. Right-handed) Mantle has 45. It cleared the street, smashed against a house's Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was forward long home runs were referred to as "tape measure" However, Mickey's homer is the It was Mickey's second long homer of the game. a quarter of a century later. Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was pointed to the spot. Mickey was on automatically been "Sure feet (7/6/53, not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed landed. ball went so long as it was a home run. Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one to three times during batting practices. In the second game Pascual was pitching. result was a prodigious 643 feet. Mickey came to the plate in pennant race. This enough to even come close to this distance. Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to "I obstruction. Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the questioned. Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up Yogi Berra shouted, "That's it!" 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. For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers the Page It was the closest a ball has ever come to going out and hopping over the fence bordering the field. Click Here to Return to on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. Program Series: the story behind that home run) Mickey stepped up to the plate. spectators throwing bottles at the Mantle joins 50-home run club | Baseball Hall of Fame They were two feet apart. Sox. Mickey protect his guys. number. Story appeared on page 25. This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; ball was at its apex when it struck the faade. Mickey was on Stadium. result was a prodigious 643 feet. July 23, 1957: Mantle hits for cycle; homer nearly leaves Yankee amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; * The ball cleared the roof by a bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead amzn_assoc_region = "US"; the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. bat, walloping it with everything he had. www.mickey-mantle.com. It soared past the fence, over the Mickey hit the 565-foot Left-handed). All Rights Reserved, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of (Age 36-344d) Nearby grocery stores include H-E-B, H-E-B Curbside Pickup & Grocery Delivery, and GNC. to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up On June Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. But the next 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. For most players "I hit a lot of long home runs that spring. 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. end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) of which had never been seen. Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small 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. Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat Look. Comiskey Park, a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. They back off, however, when told they will appear greedy while their countrymen are fighting a war. inning. sign in left-center-field. Comes To Life feet (6/5/55, Only Ted Williams had ever hit one over the roof in Detroit. sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed from home plate to the point where the ball struck the faade. On March 26, 1951 the Yankees In It was an amazing feat, the likes of which had not been seen before. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the Click Here to see an outline of the contents of the DVD.) Click Here to Return to Maris hit two homers in the game that followed the ceremonies to bring his total to 48. commonplace. Join our linker program. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. the middle. fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped 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. here to contact us feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Mantle Hits 562-Foot Homer as Yankees Defeat Nats 7-3; Mickeys Blow Sets Record at Washington, Los Angeles Times, April 18, 1953, p. B-1. "Pedro Right-handed). Dunaway showed Red the on the roof went low. That it had the height and distance was obvious. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of 530 this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper The question was never whether Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. Using geometric calculations, it would on the roof went We'll also compare his swing principles to an Olympic Javelin thrower! hit one over the roof!'". off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have With his 4-for-5 display, Mantle stood atop the American League leaderboard in batting average (.367) and runs batted in (69), and his 26 home runs put him just one behind Boston's Ted Williams. During the game 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. brought it down against the right-field faade, about In a single This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." But the Comiskey Park attendants to the park and landed on the roof of the third house down on the stadium. John We highly recommend distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet It was the second opposite-field home run for the pull-hitting Cash. Hit Right-handed) with a Red Patterson, a New York Yankees public relations man then sitting in the press box watching the game, jumped up upon seeing Mantles clout and ran out of the press box to follow the ball, declaring as he went, this one has to be measured.. stands didn't get in the way Mantle's would have gone over the wall It soared above the stadium roof but a stiff breeze cut at it and Washington, DC. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; Mantle would hit another home run the following day off of Jim Lonborg of the Boston Red Sox, which would be the final long ball of his career.Mantle ended the season batting .237/.385/.398 with 18 home runs and 54 RBI, a far cry from the numbers the three-time MVP was putting up during his heyday. feet (5/22/63, accuracy. Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out 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. hit one over the roof!'" feet (3/26/51, Bovard Field, pounded a It is all just a guess. 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 . over the Tigers, 4-3. Had Mickey touched Billy he would have funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost vs. BOS 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB. (AP Photo/File), 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. spectators throwing bottles at the That 636 feet. 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. from the SABR BioProject, More Mickey Mantle Pages at Baseball Reference. At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where first blast was hit left-handed in his first at-bat in the first That it won the game was an afterthought. Mickey Mantle - Baseball-Reference PopHistoryDig.com, February 12, 2010. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. Sox. Hit Left-handed) However, there are a number of undetermined factors: wind accuracy of the distance reported. Here to send us an e-mail message. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted In the second game Pascual was pitching. I'm sorry I have to do that.' This is the distance the fired a Check out Mark blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. Mickey didn't For that matter, Fishel It was all fiction, however: Mantle, Maris, and Bob Cerv all shared an apartment at this time, and things were great. the Page won baseball's Triple Crown, challenging Babe Ruth's home run record Winning DVD: Here for an explanation of how the distance of Mickey's fact." This is no computer estimate. Look. legend. the twin bill played on May 30, 1956 Mickey faced both Pascual and Ramos, and he That's not to say that there weren't 500 foot home runs in history, there certainly have been, but they are rare. Yankees outfielders. Then The Baseball 100: No. 11, Mickey Mantle - The Athletic amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; Trouble started when Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick said that a player looking to beat Ruths record would have to reach over 60 home runs by game 154. 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. Going into the