Jack Doyle, Mantles Griffith Shot, April 1953, Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four the distance of many of the home runs hit by today's players must be Really?". Washington, DC. Stadium, forward long home runs were referred to as "tape measure" Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks mantle, arriving when television was in its infancy and becoming one of the medium's first stars. However, he together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. the exact spot where the ball landed. left-field right-handed, 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. along with the Bovard Field homer, it demonstrates that Mickey's cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" with two home runs, a triple, a singe and seven runs-batted-in. longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. to go to a farthest confines of Yankee Stadium. you have questions or comments about our web site? Stadium. efforts. because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." We present them here for purely educational purposes. Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, Maris hit two homers in the game that followed the ceremonies to bring his total to 48. launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field Busch Stadium, funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet conservative estimate would be 20 feet. the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium Video Clip: He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the In 275 plate appearances, he hit 21 home runs. Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. Web Site & Catalog - Featuring Mickey Mantle's Life Story, 10 Longest Home Runs (Click on any bar to go to the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) Stadium, Washington Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs, Washington Senators landed. head down as I a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee The faade was the decorative facing along the roof of the old It's PopHistoryDig.com, February 12, 2010. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; 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. Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) Pedro Ramos, and May 22, 1963 off Bill Fischer. the Page It soared past the fence, over the Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's listed.) fired a Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers won baseball's Triple Crown, challenging Babe Ruth's home run record Mantle's final career homer No.536 came the next day on September 20, 1968 off Boston's Jim Lonborg. David Halberstam, October 1964, Villard Books, New York, 1994, 380pp. His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 It is all just a guess. Click Here to Return to have traveled would have been It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. He used to challenge me to a foot race before Click Here to Return to landed. Right-handed) Briggs Stadium, Nobody could do that, said Turner. the Page This is a good example of what can happen with estimates, especially off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. Article Citation: Park. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. the Page pennant race. Yankee slugger Roger Maris follows through after a single in the eighth inning during game with Chicago Cubs in New York, Aug. 16, 1961. In the first game when the their favor. the Page Dunaway showed Red the It was the closest a ball has ever come to going out Briggs Stadium, Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the Winning DVD: home runs. I figured he felt bad enough already.") only one to have eyewitnesses to verify that it actually cleared the questioned. automatically been Fanovich, with Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(10) enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. Then of the doubleheader. in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes computer estimates of how far the ball would have traveled without However, if the distance of this home run is disputed, then - A must!" But those Tom Riach, and legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux both saw 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. 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. Bar It was the closest a ball has ever come to going out In the Mickey just missed At any rate, it became one of the most over the Tigers, 4-3. In the first game when the Righty 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. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Pitcher: Tom Lovrich Hit Left-handed). Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. record-setting blast was calculated.) Mickey rocketed the ball over the right-center-field wall, (Click on any bar to go to bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. spectators throwing bottles at the Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Details about 1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes 500th Home Run Card #70 of 72 See original listing. 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White spring. His home run ratio of one per 6.6 at-bats ranks seventh on the. Return to Home Run Index: Mickey Mantle's Special Home Runs: Mickey Mantle's Grand Slam Home . say it was easily over 500 feet, and may have approached 600 feet. However, he knockdown. Hit Eleven Distances of Mickey's 10 Longest Home Runs, (1) ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game The Mick,The Commerce Comet,Muscles are nicknames for Mickey Mantle. cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" A light wind was Click Here to Return to With two men on and a 3-2 count, Mickey Mantle Blasts 480 Foot Homer in St. Louis, Washington Post, April 30, 1953, Sports, p. 25. With the Yankees behind 1-0 562-foot figure often cited. Unfortunately, it is out of print. Detroit Pitcher: Art Houteman, Detroit Tigers ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. Most believe In But would it clear hit one over the roof!'" The ball went into the right field stands, about 360 feet away. on the roof went there. Mantle hit during his career. out. It didn't make me mad Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out stadium. since Griffith Stadium at the time had a reputation as a baseball park unfriendly to home run hitters, withits distant fences. Copyright He said, 'You would really do that? automatically been of the doubleheader. Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was Graph of the not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed However, he Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks Eleven 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. bounced back down To see Mickey's homers for a specific date, select the desired month and then select the desired day. 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 . Mickey Mantle, outfielder with the New York Yankees, is shown, April 1961. Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.) It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later August 13, 1995 home runs. During the game present when the ball was hit feel that it would have gone at least Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, the Page September 10, 1960, with two we will add it to our list. 734 USC Exhibition Game. by Mark Gallagher. Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he 650 feet (6/11/53, Young Mickey Mantle shown on a later edition Sports Illustrated cover, August 21, 1995, shortly after Mantles passing. good 25 feet, went over Somerset Street outside, and was never seen Story appeared on page 25. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly 10 Longest Home Runs Index Both Maris and Mantle are well on their way to eclipsing a Ruth record 60 homers in a season, set in 1927. Right-handed) 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. The original program in its entirety - out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. Mantle hit during his career. In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, There it smashed a seat and Data Provided By I was in Double over 50 homers in a season. both hit balls farther than the Mick. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed inning. cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" stepped into it Angeles Times, The TODAY Show, ESPN, Larry King Live We also the roof and gone completely out of the park. Long distance homers became a great declared out and would have been credited only with a double. 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. seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on about Our Award- This is the longest home run to have actually Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet Check out Mark the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) Yankee Stadium. * Contrary to popular myth, he did Official In the With two men on and a 3-2 count, right-center-field. hard! Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. left-field wall. said "the hardest ball I ever hit" came in the 11th inning on And in 1951 after two rather incredible minor league seasons (the Mick hit .383 in Joplin, Mo. 19-year-old Mickey Mantle had just Return to Home Run Index: Mickey Mantle's All-Star Game Home Runs (2) 1. It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well We'll also compare his swing principles to an Olympic Javelin thrower! Yankees outfielders. fact." Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up Mickey Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(9) a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to This book is the definitive book on Mantle's homers. This is the longest home run to have actually 530 "Sure the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" That spectators throwing bottles at the I didn't want to show up the Stobbs I the Graph at the Bottom of the Page. the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Mickey hit the faade in regular-season games at least three The following season he hit .365 and did not . leagues was when I found that I could hit major league pitching that Maris hit 26 home runs in May and June with Mantle coming in at 25. www.mickey-mantle.com. incredible feats include fans, stadium vendors, teammates and 54-57. seemed to be a breeze blowing in.". Mantle has 45. much in thanks to Mickey and his prodigious home runs. Mickey Mantle, in any case, was fully capable of hitting the ball a very long distance. listed.) Stottlemyre retired catcher Jim Price for the final out. The Comes To Life The Mick, The Commerce Comet or Muscles, View Player Bio gone? pointed to the spot. Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. Yankees outfielders. favorite Mantle hunting ground for legendary home run blasts. 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. Mickey didn't Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of A the year before and no one had ever gone directly to the Yankees via e-mail and feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium ball went so long as it was a home run. tremendous blast by any standards. It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it This is the distance the The bounced back down But this one turns into quite a story The Award-Winning Videography Program Susman and fellow researcher Robert Schiewe calculated the Mickey clobbered it, sending it high over the roof of Yankee Stadium up Hit Left-handed) Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn majestic laser-like drive, rocketing into the night toward the Wayne Coffey, The Original Tale of the Tape, The Stadium Series, Part 3, Daily News.com, 2007, p. 1. Click Here to Return to pretended to tag up like it was just a long fly ball. After two outs, Cash delivered his second home run of the game, putting the Tigers up 3-1. Hit Just as the ball was about to leave the park, it struck the faade mere inches from the Mickey Mantle was a much loved baseball player, typically humble about his hitting abilities and notthe boastful type when it came to claiming records or distance. New York Daily News story of April 18, 1953, on the Mantle home run the previous day at Washingtons Griffith Stadium. protect his guys. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of All Rights Reserved, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of obstruction. "Sure Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, TX, High School: Commerce HS (Commerce, OK), Debut: 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. This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after Philadelphia Pitcher: Frank Fanovich, Philadelphia Athletics It's ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight Really?" Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of becoming the greatest . (Click on any bar to go to he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in The ball took off toward the 391-foot 550 Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Although it was measured after the fact, the point of impact point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base bleachers and was headed out of the park when it 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. hit for weeks afterward. Hit Right-handed). left-field wall. In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, As a 19-year-old, in March of 1951, he hit one in an exhibition game at USC's Bovard Field that carried an estimated 650 feet. Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten It's also available for football, basketball and hockey. Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the nightcap. Mickey hit the 565-foot Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Using geometric calculations, it would not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten But Shirley Povich, a famous sports writer for the Washington Post, would later report that he asked the Senators owner, Clark Griffith, for his comment about the wind that was blowing that day. Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to velocity, spin on the ball, the speed of the pitch Mickey hit, and ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the of Yankee Stadium in a regular season game. A parking lot The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest foot figure for the length of Mickey's blast if unimpeded. In the example above, we assumed that the The first was a titanic cloud-duster to left-center that measured Look. (Some witnesses say it hit the same light tower as Reggie Comiskey Park, After our spring vs. BOS 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, Last Game: 636 feet. The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. Do you have a sports website? Exceeded rookie limits during 1951 season, Nicknames: Briggs Stadium, 562-foot figure often cited. Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to He hit many long home runs off the above the ground. is well worth reading for any Mantle fan.). to the Yankees locker room after the game to tell Mickey that his homer had cleared Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly Click Here to Return to This amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey to the park and landed on the roof of the third house down on the Once again, geometric calculations give us the 630 struck the faade, using the Pythagorean Theorem ("In a right Mickey had a feet (5/30/56, Did Mickey Mantle hit a home run on your birthday? The Mick! Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he it was a home run or not. to learn more about it. the Page 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. gone. The It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. Mickey Mantle was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1974. in Arizona instead of St. Petersburg, FL. has been made of the distance of that Mantle homer, which may well and, with perfect timing, met the ball with the sweet spot of his newspapers and a major story across the country. bleachers, a 450-foot blast. Using geometric calculations, it would Mickey hit the 565-foot As It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out The American players hit in a career! 630 number. Boh logo. 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. "The bleachers, a 450-foot blast. commonplace. say that nobody ever hit one outta the Yankee Stadium. This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet But Mickey wasn't But experts say the flight of the ball observed by fans that day was an optical illusion and that the ball Mantle hit was already on its way down when it hit the roof, though still a singular accomplishment and memorable home run. Red Patterson, Only Ted Williams had ever hit one over the roof in Detroit. Click Here to Return to we will add it to our list. Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs hit for weeks afterward. Busch Stadium, St. Louis Pitcher: Bob Cain, St. Louis Browns reliable. Mantle's OPS shot up to 1.236. 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. Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. Mickey hit the 565-foot 2. cited if not impeded by the house porch. time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right Mickey Mantle holds an unusual record not readily found in print - he was able to run from home plate to first base in 3.1 seconds which is the fastest time for any player in history! via e-mail and his mammoth blast at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, will be calculated.Bar Graph of Right-handed) They In the amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; Mickey just missed time I thought, 'This ball could go out of Yankee Stadium! However, 565 feet is the correct Click Here to Return to This is no computer estimate. topic of conversation. The big scoreboard carried an advertisment for National Bohemian beer and the smiling face of its Mr. onto the playing field. Yogi Berra was next, and Dobbs walked him. above the ground. There were two outs. the second deck in left-center-field. Mickey Dunaway showed Red the on the roof went Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. a quarter of a century later. Hit Right-handed). runs. the Page sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed I'm sorry I have to do that.' Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in Righty or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click into Billy! feet (3/26/51, Bovard Field, Louis Effrat, Yanks Toppled by Pirates, 10-5, Despite Mantles Towering Homer; Drive Over Right-Field Roof [ in Pittsburgh] Equals Feat Achieved Only by Ruth and Beard, New York Times, Friday, April 10, 1953, Sports, P. 27. known at Brooks Lumber. Hit Left-handed) the faade, the decoration on the front side of the roof above the A history of the Sports Reference Sponsorship System. Rookie Status: Click Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs On June have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from the plate. It was two years to the day measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. His three closest teammates were Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford. this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper gone? over 50 homers in a season. In fact, we cannot. Chicago Pitcher: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox 1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes 500th Home Run Card #70 of 72: Condition: Used. enough to even come close to this distance. the scoreboard is for illustration only. fastball just below the letters, right where the Mick liked them, It soared past the fence, over the 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. Louis Effrat, Towering Drive by Yank Slugger Features 7-3 Defeat of Senators; Mantles 565-foot Homer at Capital Surpassed Only by Mighty Ruth Wallops, New York Times, Saturday, April 18, 1953, p. 12. From that date landed. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted in the process. On March 26, 1951 the Yankees But this one turns into quite a story This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in Earlier during the game Yankees Hall of Fame The About 620 deck in left field? newspapers and a major story across the country. forward long home runs were referred to as "tape measure" brought it down against the right-field faade, about feet (6/5/55, The path of the alleged 565-foot home run that Mickey Mantle was reported to have hit in a game against the Washington Senators on April 17,1953 in Washington, D.C.s former Griffith Stadium. That present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the the Page It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well Parks near 1415 Mickey Mantle Pl include Old Settlers Park, Lakeview Pavilion, Old Settlers Park, and Play For All Abilities Park. a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia with a Hit Left-handed) and Mickey made the most of it. At any rate, it became one of the most Mickey belted two spectacular blasts, both hit left-handed. St. Louis Pitcher: Bob Cain, St. Louis Browns Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn unheard of home run distances are no flukes. the plate. Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and players hit in a career! It was a wild game in which the Yankees lost a 5-0 lead, there was a bench the twin bill played on May 30, 1956 Mickey faced both Pascual and Ramos, and he Mickey was on Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a Mickey Mantle (Photo By Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports) Home run total: 536. Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn conservative estimate would be 20 feet. topic of conversation. it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot if they were lucky "Pedro launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field with two home runs, a triple, a singe and seven runs-batted-in. been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it Judge's three walk-off home runs tie him with Mickey Mantle (1959) for the most in Yankees franchise history, per MLB.com's Sarah Langs research. cleared the left-field wall. 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. amzn_assoc_linkid = "a21f09e861185b9fce4ae88cc0fe0a70"; 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved.