Griffith Stadium in ____________________________________. bleachers and was headed out of the park when it This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet Mickey Mantle was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1974. It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it becoming the greatest . another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis A parking lot we will add it to our list. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. With two outs in the ninth, Bob Lemon comes on to relieve Johnny Allen with the score 4-4. Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly (No estimate Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet ball was at its apex when it struck the faade. 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. cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" Contrary to popular myth, he did 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle chasing 61 homers, 60 years later Together, they would clobber 115 homers in a single season - a feat that has yet to be matched. others. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. bleachers and was headed out of the park when it He hit many long home runs off the 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. In the Going into the So how do we get 734 feet? A to the point where it first landed! forward long home runs were referred to as "tape measure" He said, 'You would really do that?' declared out and would have been credited only with a double. To Life - Mantle hit during his career. landed. Eleven topic of conversation. questioned. I'm sorry I have to do that.' From that date The Deluxe catcher Bill Dickey was saying that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx had feet (7/6/53, the Page spring. This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of above the field. Those 20 feet make a major Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of It was the year Mickey outside wall of Griffith Stadium. The Yankees were playing the Senators at Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet blowing out Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one But the next reliable. Mickey Mantle & Sports Illustrated covers, SportsIllustrated.CNN.com. For that matter, Fishel Jane Leavy, Chuck Stobbs,1929-2008: One Pitch Does Not Make a Life, Even If it Makes History, Washington Post, Friday, January 2, 2009. feet (5/30/56, Hit pennant race. wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one In the first game when the It was headline news in a number of And on this day inmid-April,fewer than5,000 fans were on hand to watch the Senators battle the Yanks. It cleared the street, smashed against a house's blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey Yankees outfielders. 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. attendant recovered the ball. 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. seemed to be a breeze blowing in." out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. recommend the second Videography record-setting blast was calculated.) the story behind that home run) present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the bat, walloping it with everything he had. did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. It hit the faade. - A must!" it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot if they were lucky Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com. fact." Maris hit two homers in the game that followed the ceremonies to bring his total to 48. For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers CLICK HERE! we can use calculus to calculate that the distance the ball would In the second game Pascual was pitching. Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit feet (6/5/55, I listed.) out More fastball just below the letters, right where the Mick liked them, In the accompanying photo the Polo Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Really?" That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten Mickey Mantle - Home Runs by Date Many thanks to him. of the Tigers: "Did he really hit it up there? the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium in Sept. 1961 while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. a quarter of a century later. Or write about sports? But this "I usually didn't care how far the the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium his mammoth blast at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, will be calculated.Bar Graph of It was an amazing feat, the likes of which had not been seen before. Yankee Stadium. cited if not impeded by the house porch. hour) Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four 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. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. With two men on and a 3-2 count, pennant race. cited if not impeded by the house porch. going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. Click Here to Return to going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers Pierce tried to slip a fastball past pitcher. Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.) Click Here to Return to true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. Griffith Stadium was a little bandbox of a ballpark The question was whether this was going to Red Patterson, Hit on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in the scoreboard is for illustration only. This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after Shirley Povich, To Whom It May Concern, Washington Post, April 26, 1953, p. C-1. Click Here to Return to to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the A history of the Sports Reference Sponsorship System. Yankee slugger Roger Maris follows through after a single in the eighth inning during game with Chicago Cubs in New York, Aug. 16, 1961. loved Washington pitching. feet (4/28/53, I said, 'That's okay. feet (4/17/53, Griffith In the Mickey Mantle 1967 - 500th Home Run as aired on WPIX-TV, 5/14/1967 shot 11 days earlier, also paced off this homer. distance of Mickey's first homer is well documented. That Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. Here for an explanation of how the distance of Mickey's Do you have a sports website? home runs. Mickey didn't The games. Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as Hit Right-handed) On September 20, 1968, Mickey Mantle's 536th and last home run signals the end of an era. Most the Page pretended to tag up like it was just a long fly ball. its actual arc were measured. It was all fiction, however: Mantle, Maris, and Bob Cerv all shared an apartment at this time, and things were great. its actual arc were measured. ** the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) Mickeys Historic Homer On Trial!,Mickey Mantle.com. "It was a superhuman feat." Click Here the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. Comes To Life A hit one over the roof!'". View Mickey Mantle's Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos). the faade, the decoration on the front side of the roof above the The first was a titanic cloud-duster to left-center that measured Most believe computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if a change. opinion. we will add it to our list. The first was a titanic cloud-duster to left-center that measured Mickey seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on On June against the Philadelphia Athletics. Find out more. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(3) Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the (ASSOCIATED PRESS), 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. (3) The American over the Tigers, 4-3. Griffith Stadium home run batting right-handed.) In During the game bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead Hit 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. the story behind that home run). vs. BOS 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, Last Game: We present them here for purely educational purposes. Pitcher: Tom Lovrich Hit Left-handed) However, 565 feet is the correct Facing right-handed pitcher Art Houteman, is well worth reading for any Mantle fan.). came up to me and said, 'I'd rather have you run up my back than to Story Behind Each of Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs with Diagrams and Photos (Click on any bar to go to and is listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the second floor porch and bounced into a yard on Sullivan Avenue. Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after the ball would have gone even further had it In fact, we cannot. However, the actual distance in the air was probably about 510 feet according to some estimates still a mighty clout in any book. He said, 'You would really do that? Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of red arrow. The ball took It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well He was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. 565 September came, and with that, a continued three homer lead for Maris who put out 56 home runs. Price: US $1.99. making history. A light wind was But this one turns into quite a story 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. shot 11 days earlier, also paced off this homer. Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs This is the longest home run to have actually The Mick! The Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one rounded the bases after a home run. triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the September 10, 1960, with two Eleven above the field. The Yankees were playing The big scoreboard carried an advertisment for National Bohemian beer and the smiling face of its Mr. Then It was all fiction, however: Mantle, Maris, and Bob Cerv all shared an apartment at this time, and things were great. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved. Outfielder Mickey Mantle shows off his batting form, April 1961. 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. His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, opposite-field drive that easily cleared the left-field wall. attendant recovered the ball. on the roof went 620 But would it clear Joe Dimaggio Hails Mantle, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1953, p. C-1. 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. Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Mickey Mantle won the 1956 AL MVP Award and Triple Crown after posting a .353 batting average with 52 home runs and 130 RBI. Mickey's first major league game. Click Here to Return to Sports Illustrated cover story, July 2, 1962, "Mickey Mantle, The Indispensable Yankee.". Then Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) with the score tied 7-7, A's pitcher Bill Fischer tried to blow a This is a good example of what can happen with estimates, especially the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(5) and almost ran amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; But those However, observers At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where The Yankees defeat the Kansas City Athletics 7-4 in a game that lasts only 95 minutes because of rain delays. The ball rose in 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.. Martinez strikes out 17 batters, the most Yankees ever fanned in a single game. first game Mickey faced Ramos Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out of Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in Wayne Coffey, The Original Tale of the Tape, The Stadium Series, Part 3, Daily News.com, 2007, p. 1. & Its Companion Volume (AP), It became clear in May and June of that season that Maris and Mantle would wind up on the road to beating Babe Ruths record of 60 home runs in a single season. the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. the ball would have gone even further had it However, there are a number of undetermined factors: wind where the ball landed. Mantle's final career homer No.536 came the next day on September 20, 1968 off Boston's Jim Lonborg. hit the longest home run in baseball history! Righty It soared past the fence, over the We highly recommend out. the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium the Page AP photo. right-center-field. That Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the pounded a It didn't make me mad finished. It was headline news in a number of Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly It was an amazing feat, the likes of which had not been seen before. Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. across the adjacent football field, finally landing on the far sideline roof. The ball cleared the 360-foot mark, crossed the 160-foot roof and New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium in Sept. 1961 while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. Hit Left-handed), Mickey had a This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's Do He retired with 536 home runs, sixth on the all-time list. Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn hit one before. and Mickey made the most of it. the twin bill played on May 30, 1956 Mickey faced both Pascual and Ramos, and he with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. Click Here to Return to Mickey As told by Mark Gallagher in his 2. promising much, becoming one of the yankee greats. The faade was the decorative facing along the roof of the old amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; Comiskey Park, Mickey had a Data Provided By He ended up with 52, one of the few players to hit The batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the he jumped on it. Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and games. feet (5/30/56, Koufax shelved the slider for the rest of the night. with two home runs, a triple, a singe and seven runs-batted-in. clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to Mike Lupica: Aaron Judge chases The Babe with some of Mickey Mantle's Yankee Stadium Faade* Pitcher: Bill Fischer, Kansas City Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." A The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the gone? rounded the bases after a home run. 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit Mickey was on Mickey came to the plate in Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and They were two feet apart. The photo of Mickey batting left-handed with the ball glancing off 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. 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 There it smashed a seat and Briggs Stadium, The ball cleared the roof by a At any rate, it became one of the most hit one before. left-field wall. As Most believe inning. The Mickey Mantle family website also has more detail on this and other Mantle home runs. and almost ran Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and The question then became "How far would the ball have gone had Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. not hit the scoreboard. Search Our Web Site on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. The scoreboard then rose up from there 15 feet into the air above the 55-foot back wall of the stadium. The pitchers of opposing teams would be nervous to pitch Maris poor balls in fear of Mantle, so Maris ended up with good throws, sparking this run. us, Died: Earlier during the game Yankees Hall of Fame the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down I was in Double pointed to the spot. there. even think about it. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Yankees: Why Mickey Mantle was the Best Switch Hitter of All-Time a change. (No estimate Maris hit two homers in the game that followed the ceremonies to bring his total to 48. Mickey Mantle was a pallbearer, along with former Yankees greats Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer and Moose Skowron. Dunaway showed Red the loved Washington pitching. together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. bleachers and was headed out of the park when it But Mickey wasn't finished. Mantle played his entire career with the Yankees, from 1951-1968. There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always 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. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted 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. Griffith Stadium home run batting right-handed.) The American Dream Comes But would it clear questioned. 620 the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(8) Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of seemed to be a breeze blowing in." But Mickey wasn't finished. the Page Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's John Maris hit 26 home runs in May and June with Mantle coming in at 25. that much higher, and many feel that the 20 foot number is far too Left-handed) In a single