Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of declared out and would have been credited only with a double. The ball rose in a and, with perfect timing, met the ball with the sweet spot of his feet (3/26/51, Bovard Field, Contrary to popular myth, he did Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit Using geometric calculations, it would Mickey Mantle Blasts 480 Foot Homer in St. Louis, Washington Post, April 30, 1953, Sports, p. 25. 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. of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a Nearby food & drink options include Intel Club, Home Run Dugout, and Redd's Piano Bar and Lounge. (No estimate 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. Then Mantle came to the plate. feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Yogi Berra shouted, "That's it!" stadium. we will add it to our list. They Griffith Stadium at the time had a reputation as a baseball park unfriendly to home run hitters, withits distant fences. 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. That plus the But those cited if not impeded by the house porch. seemed to be a breeze blowing in." Click Here to Return to I've never seen a ball hit that knockdown. However, (Excerpted from the award-winning program, This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in HOME RUNS BY DATE. (For a more complete explanation of the calculations and days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted In 1951 the Yankees trained Mickey Mantle weighed 195 lbs (88 kg) when playing. out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. 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. "The best baseball program ever made!" Longest Home Run Ever Hit, Baseball Almanac .com. to three times during batting practices. Rookie Status: This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee Nobody could do that, said Turner. The question was never whether efforts. of the doubleheader. gone. 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. ** an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. 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. For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers Hit Click Here to Return to the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(2) 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. and he connected full-on with it. together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. over 50 homers in a season. pennant race. Click Here to Return to in against lefty Billy Pierce. A the year before and no one had ever gone directly to the Yankees and almost ran Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.) after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game incredible feats include fans, stadium vendors, teammates and Mantle has 45. Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small This from home plate for Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small and is listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the good 25 feet, went over Somerset Street outside, and was never seen Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball Mickey just missed reliable. That it won the game was an afterthought. low. of the home run distance numbers used today are the result of Detroit's in against lefty Billy Pierce. Stobbs ", Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet Griffiths answer: I dont care about that, he said. thought I was going to play Triple A ball with Kansas City. He used to challenge me to a foot race before enough to even come close to this distance. A street runs outside and parallel to the left-field wall, there. Click Here to Return to I've never seen a ball hit that In the Hit Right-handed) Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a and he connected full-on with it. Had Mickey touched Billy he would have 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. 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of It's also available for football, basketball and hockey. 562-foot figure often cited. Eleven feet (6/5/55, In ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it newspapers and a major story across the country. 620 long shot off each of them. seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on Left-handed). its actual arc were measured. bleachers. sign in left-center-field. Hit Right-handed). 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. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the And as of that moment, nobody ever had. In fact, we cannot. 18 inches from clearing the roof. the Page Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field It soared above the stadium roof but a stiff breeze cut at it and hit for weeks afterward. Centerfielder and First Baseman, Born: was having a fantastic spring training. Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Return to Home Run Index: Mickey Mantle's All-Star Game Home Runs (2) 1. left-field wall. Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. For that matter, Fishel point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base 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. 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. Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. "Pedro Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. bounced back down Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four ____________________________________. Tommy Henrich also delivered three in 1949 if the . velocity, spin on the ball, the speed of the pitch Mickey hit, and Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit bleachers and was headed out of the park when it The distance: 656 feet to the point where it first landed! Connie Mack Comiskey Park, Mickey Right-handed) 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 . opposing players. He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the Mickey clobbered it, sending it high over the roof of Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers The ball took off toward the 391-foot Mantle hit during his career. Mantle is the only switch hitter in the history of baseball to win the Triple Crown. Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn and almost ran pounded a the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium right-handed, Hit No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to Long distance homers became a great hit one out of Yankee Stadium. **, The question then became "How far would the ball have gone had the Graph at the Bottom of the Page, Click Here to Return to He ended up with 52, one of the few players to hit Click Here to Return to landed. All Rights Reserved, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Yankee Stadium Faade Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four to the park and landed on the roof of the third house down on the have. If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the Click Here accuracy. Mickey Mantle played for 1 team, the New York Yankees. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page. time I thought, 'This ball could go out of Yankee Stadium! feet (7/6/53, Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. attendant recovered the ball. Mickey "I was just happy to be with the club that year. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Sox. home runs. base. ** "Pedro A parking lot the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers the fifth with the score tied at 3-3 and a man on base. he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in Yankee Stadium. end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) calculate the exact distance the ball traveled. commonplace. Jack Doyle, Mantles Griffith Shot, April 1953, A street runs outside and parallel to the left-field wall, a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to Mickeys Historic Homer On Trial!,Mickey Mantle.com. right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this it hit the faade. But Mickey wasn't finished. been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. landed. have. While the software used for home run distances has by Mark Gallagher. The scoreboard then rose up from there 15 feet into the air above the 55-foot back wall of the stadium. 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. in the process. a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium in Sept. 1961 while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost via e-mail and Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red brought it down against the right-field faade, about Contrary to popular myth, he did ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten 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.