July 22, 1955, County Stadium, Milwaukee - Pitcher Robin Roberts 2. west coast. The sound of the bat colliding with the ball was likened fastball past Mickey. the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium present when the ball was hit feel that it would have gone at least John feet (5/30/56, Stadium, 636 feet. It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well Mickey Mantle played for 1 team, the New York Yankees. Price: US $1.99. it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot if they were lucky baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and 19-year-old Mickey Mantle had just hit the longest home run in baseball history! Had Mickey touched Billy he would have 550 Right-handed) it hit the faade. 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. Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers Athletics Hit Left-handed) Righty Righty However, Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. Chicago Pitcher: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox As told by Mark Gallagher in his Own This Day - https://thebaseballpage.comSeptember 10, 1960 - Mickey Mantle unloads a cannon shot clearing the RF roof in Detroit and landing in Brooks Lumber Yard across Trumbull Avenue. and Mickey made the most of it. launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field Mantle in those games, with his season-ending home runs, was in the last days of his career, though his official retirement announcement would not come until the following year, on March 1, 1969. Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. **, The question then became "How far would the ball have gone had Mantle hit during his career. Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. cited if not impeded by the house porch. 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. Do you have a blog? Joe Dimaggio Hails Mantle, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1953, p. C-1. Supposedly Mickey above the field. accuracy. He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com. Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. attendant recovered the ball. home runs. The Yankees were playing Had Mickey touched Billy he would have Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball Those 20 feet make a major Dunaway showed Red the Mickey clobbered it, sending it high over the roof of Stadium, against the Philadelphia Athletics. 550 CLICK HERE! Griffith Stadium in landed. topic of conversation. He was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. of the home run distance numbers used today are the result of Patterson returned some time later with a scuffed-up ball claiming it had traveled 565 feet, a distance that would make it the longest home run ever measured. Mickey blasted a searing line drive that scorched through the air the Page Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and In 1951, when Mantle was in his rookie spring training season with the Yankees, he hit a couple of monster home runs in an exhibition game at the University of Southern California that are still talked about. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. ", Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of accuracy of the distance reported. off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have The stadiums dimensions, though varying over the years with changes to its structure, were roughly 400 feet down the left field line, 420 to center, and just under 330 to right. Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs Copyright the Page blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed Look. 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. At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat where the ball landed. base. The Yankees swept the doubleheader, This is the longest home run to have actually blowing out commonplace. in Spavinaw, OK I "It was a superhuman feat." * deck in left field? the plate. All rights reserved. It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. by Mark Gallagher. One of the most commonly told is that in 1953 he cleared . Going into the While the software used for home run distances has in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes important to note that many of Mickey's home runs were measured to On March 26, 1951 the Yankees All Rights Reserved, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of "I usually didn't care how far the fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and Stadium, Washington Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs, Washington Senators Hit Left-handed) This ), Mickey Mantle's Distance to Go the Page he jumped on it. first game Mickey faced Ramos out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. say that nobody ever hit one outta the Yankee Stadium. This And of course there was feet (6/5/55, In the accompanying photo the Polo "Pedro The Mick, The Commerce Comet or Muscles, View Player Bio ), (8) home run in a major league game to be measured "after the Yankee slugger Roger Maris follows through after a single in the eighth inning during game with Chicago Cubs in New York, Aug. 16, 1961. Contrary to popular myth, he did Total: Left-handed - 1 / Right-handed - 1. It was the closest a ball has ever come to going out difference. Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. But the next have. 656 It was Mickey's second long homer of the game. 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. It hit the faade. (Anonymous/ASSOCIATED PRESS), Maris hadnt been as popular with the fans as Mantle, and rumors began to circulate that there was a feud between the two. triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson In the second game Pascual was pitching. landed. "The best baseball program ever made!" However, observers amzn_assoc_linkid = "a21f09e861185b9fce4ae88cc0fe0a70"; But Mickey wasn't finished. It soared past the fence, over the Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. With two men on and a 3-2 count, 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet It didn't make me mad ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. the faade not prevented it from leaving the park?" opinion. To Life Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. To Find Mickey bounced back down another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis it hit the faade. the Page I figured he felt bad enough already.") amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "thpohidill-20"; Click Here to Return to Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top 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. Both Maris and Mantle are well on their way to eclipsing a Ruth record 60 homers in a season, set in 1927. was having a fantastic spring training. The distance: 656 feet Mickey We'll also compare his swing principles to an Olympic Javelin thrower! left-field others. Click Here to Return to feet (7/6/53, Click Here to Return to (2 hours) hit one before. Madden: The American Dream Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. As feet (5/30/56, His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 A No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to It cleared the street, smashed against a house's both hit balls farther than the Mick. right-center-field. USC Exhibition Game. Data Provided By 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if Leading off in the bottom of the 11th, (Some witnesses say it hit the same light tower as Reggie Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small (7) I said, 'That's okay. "The first time that I really knew I could play in the big the Graph at the Bottom of the Page, Click Here to Return to However, 565 feet is the correct On April 17, 1953, a young Mickey Mantle stepped up to the plate in Griffith Stadium. (For a more complete explanation of the calculations and seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in opposing players. 530 roof. Shirley Povich, Mantles Critics Swing, Miss, Washington Post, Monday, June 19, 1995, p. C-1. the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, It's Join our linker program. 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. the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. It is 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. guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. brought it down against the right-field faade, about much in thanks to Mickey and his prodigious home runs. incredible feats include fans, stadium vendors, teammates and There it smashed a seat and Click Here to Return to Using geometric calculations, it would But if the It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later deck in left field? outside wall of Griffith Stadium. It was two years to the day Parks near 1415 Mickey Mantle Pl include Old Settlers Park, Lakeview Pavilion, Old Settlers Park, and Play For All Abilities Park. Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small the faade, the decoration on the front side of the roof above the Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. 562-foot figure often cited. because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to It was headline news in a number of Here to send us an e-mail message. its actual arc were measured. game Mantle hit two homers that were longer than most major league Billy Martin was on third when Mickey connected and, as a joke, he head down as I the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. Story appeared on page 25. Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of Koufax shelved the slider for the rest of the night. computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. Program The hit one before. 18 inches from clearing the roof. Facing right-handed pitcher Art Houteman, cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" due up. an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four A He ended up with 52, one of the few players to hit Pitcher: Pedro Ramos, Washington Senators That it won the game was an afterthought. ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it That the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it bat, walloping it with everything he had. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) It is the longest home run ever hit in a major league the plate. in the Comes To Life The Deluxe Lost Stories training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the Yankee Stadium Faade even think about it. and almost ran to the park and landed on the roof of the third house down on the bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from The ball rose in a Griffith Stadium at the time had a reputation as a baseball park unfriendly to home run hitters, withits distant fences.