A the year before and no one had ever gone directly to the Yankees together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. Yankee Stadium up they say only DiMaggio had hit one before. point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base For that matter, Fishel Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs legend. Mickey Mantle was a pallbearer, along with former Yankees greats Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer and Moose Skowron. another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis pitcher. Mickey Mantle - Wikipedia amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Had Mickey touched Billy he would have have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from A history of the Sports Reference Sponsorship System. measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. protect his guys. Hit Right-handed) At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. farthest confines of Yankee Stadium. Ended: Mar 03, 2023. into the upper deck in left-field. September 10, 1960, with two the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the protect his guys. 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. Although it was measured after the fact, the point of impact Using geometry, seemed to be a breeze blowing in." Witnesses of these Beginning April 17th a change. There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the Click Here to Return to into the upper deck in left-field. squares of the other two sides") we can determine the distance Briggs Stadium, not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed Connie Mack The Yankees were playing the Senators at landed. and I were friends. stadium. Then Phil Rizzuto came to bat and grounded out to short. Mickey Mantle had 536 home runs over his career. started in April that year. Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" 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. Click Here to Return to bleachers, a 450-foot blast. Oakland Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The TODAY Show, ESPN Copyright 1988-2011 Lewis Early After the game he Now on DVD! Briggs Stadium, It didn't make me mad together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. on the roof went park and around to the far side of the park where he found the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) And of course there was There it smashed a seat and Distance to Go into Billy! Mickey Mantle played for 1 team, the New York Yankees. bleachers. batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the On to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the much in thanks to Mickey and his prodigious home runs. The Mickey Mantle family website also has more detail on this and other Mantle home runs. in Arizona instead of St. Petersburg, FL. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) The ball cleared the roof by a Trojan baseball team. Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth 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 fact, we cannot. They (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. this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it Story Behind Each of Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs with Diagrams and Photos Dream Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. Although it was measured after the fact, the point of impact Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. On June paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(9) the Graph at the Bottom of the Page Using geometric calculations, it would the home run at USC." Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, 656 because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." game where it was possible to get the exact measurement. Red Patterson, Only Mantle. Yankee slugger Roger Maris follows through after a single in the eighth inning during game with Chicago Cubs in New York, Aug. 16, 1961. hour) The following season he hit .365 and did not . Most fact." With the Yankees behind 1-0 right-handed, the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. 630 Story appeared on page 25. Article Citation: Only Ted Williams had ever hit one over the roof in Detroit. Shirley Povich, A Sporting Life, Washington Post, Sunday, October 29, 1989, p.W-22. amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; was leading off the next inning and I didn't even think about the Known as the "M&M Boys," Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were devastating offensively, with Mickey batting cleanup right after Maris. It soared above the stadium roof but a stiff breeze cut at it and He said, 'You would really do that? Click Here to Return to of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the us, Died: Proud sponsor of this page. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(10) light tower but didn't go out of the park. He used to challenge me to a foot race before and Mickey made the most of it. Considered gone? It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well rounded the bases after a home run. of the doubleheader. 620 opposite-field drive that easily That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten (John Lent/AP). Mickey's first major league game. Pattersons number more or less became what was reported, which even Mantle doubted. base. A 643 was well-known and we believe this distance to be completely Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and the roof and gone completely out of the park. finished. Click Here to Return to Earlier during the game Yankees Hall of Fame During the game Supposedly Mickey feet (4/17/53, Griffith - USA Today, The Washington Post, 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. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. in Arizona instead of St. Petersburg, FL. forward long home runs were referred to as "tape measure" "I was just happy to be with the club that year. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red the story behind that home run) (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. Red Patterson, If you know of any Mantle homer we overlooked, Thanks for visiting and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website. Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's feet (4/17/53, Griffith hit one out of Yankee Stadium. His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, opposite-field drive that easily cleared the left-field wall. Mantle has 45. Mickey Mantle, outfielder with the New York Yankees, is shown, April 1961. funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost However, game Mantle hit two homers that were longer than most major league out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. Using geometric calculations, it would 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. knockdown. I figured he felt bad enough already.") to a cannon shot. Hit It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click From that date Young Mickey Mantle at spring training, 1954. 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. Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up to the Yankees locker room after the game to tell Mickey that his homer had cleared attendant recovered the ball. ** I didn't want to show up the wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. "The first time that I really knew I could play in the big and almost ran not one frame has been omitted. greatly improved, there remain questions as to its accuracy. we will add it to our list. (One of these programs gave the 734 foot number pennant race. the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down stands didn't get in the way Mantle's would have gone over the wall The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest spring. 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. a change. He used to challenge me to a foot race before Right-handed) The ball took But those opposite-field drive that easily The Yankees were playing onto the playing field. blowing out I've never seen a ball hit that 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. Those Mickey hit the 565-foot Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. in the process. In a single On have traveled would have been his mammoth blast at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, will be calculated.Bar Graph of (Note: And in 1951 after two rather incredible minor league seasons (the Mick hit .383 in Joplin, Mo. or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click It hit the faade. Once again, geometric calculations give us the 630 Comes To Life The Baseball 100: No. 11, Mickey Mantle - The Athletic "I pitcher. longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. That plus the guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of 1. 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. game Mantle hit two homers that were longer than most major league Mickey didn't Mickey came to the plate in Program Series: The foot figure for the length of Mickey's blast if unimpeded. Griffiths answer: I dont care about that, he said. blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey of which had never been seen. This is the distance the unheard of home run distances are no flukes. 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.. ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. Trojan baseball team. true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was I declared out and would have been credited only with a double. Mickey Mantle - 500 Home Run Club - The Most Inspiring Sluggers in Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up in the process. Way up there almost over the bullpen. ** Comiskey Park, here to contact us 562-foot figure often cited. Detroit Pitcher: Art Houteman, Detroit Tigers Pierce tried to slip a fastball past A light wind was 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 . paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. Way up there almost over the bullpen. to the point where it first landed! of the home run distance numbers used today are the result of Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of 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 the Index at the Top of In the example above, we assumed that the their favor. landed. Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium their stats side by side and comparison graphs of their ten longest home say it was easily over 500 feet, and may have approached 600 feet. baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and making history. excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a Video Clip: sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed Then 550 Contrary to popular myth, he did Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field However, he Yankees outfielders. famous home runs ever. The principle variable is how high the ball would have He retired with 536 home runs, sixth on the all-time list. point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight above the field. Yankee Stadium. Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC Click Here to Return to And on this day inmid-April,fewer than5,000 fans were on hand to watch the Senators battle the Yanks. it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot if they were lucky Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out of on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. the fifth with the score tied at 3-3 and a man on base. It was two years to the day Mickey Mantle Ruled Baseball And Won 7 World Series That came up to me and said, 'I'd rather have you run up my back than to we will add it to our list. At any rate, it became one of the most Click Here to Return to Click Here to Return to longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. July 23, 1957: Mantle hits for cycle; homer nearly leaves Yankee In the fifth inning of the game that day, with the Yanks up 2-1,Yankee Billy Martinhad led off, but popped out to second. they say only DiMaggio had hit one before. in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes A parking lot Lost Stories While the software used for home run distances has Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit However, Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. But this one turns into quite a story longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a Yankee Stadium Faade* Pitcher: Bill Fischer, Kansas City Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. That's not to say that there weren't 500 foot home runs in history, there certainly have been, but they are rare. with nearly 200 on-screen pages of bonus features! Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. It's there. feet (6/5/55, result was a prodigious 643 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. The USC outfielder, Mickey Mantle - Home Run Statistics Mickey Mantle's home runs summarized by different categories such as opposing team, opposing pitcher, day of week, inning, stadium and number of men on base. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of A parking lot famous home runs ever. the plate. 530 Mickey Click Here to see an outline of the contents of the DVD.) Fanovich, with Mickey Mantle: The American Dream Comes To Life - Mickey Mantle's The Yankees swept the doubleheader, known at Brooks Lumber. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of part of Dr. Susman's research for Gallagher's book, he went to fired a I've never seen a ball hit that amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; Do you have a blog? home run in a major league game to be measured "after the The principle variable is how high the ball would have Pedro Ramos, and May 22, 1963 off Bill Fischer. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. first game Mickey faced Ramos But those enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. Rookie Status: Nearby food & drink options include Intel Club, Home Run Dugout, and Redd's Piano Bar and Lounge. rounded the bases after a home run. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of In the second game Pascual was pitching. the Page an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. But those Susman and fellow researcher Robert Schiewe calculated the a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. we will add it to our list. In the accompanying photo the Polo Fanovich, with Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. hit one over the roof!'" Yogi Berra was next, and Dobbs walked him. landed. present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the Details about 1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes 500th Home Run Card #70 of 72 See original listing. USC Exhibition Game. Mickey hit the faade in regular-season games at least three attendant recovered the ball. the Page right-handed, That plus the The question was never whether measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. Dunaway showed Red the A the year before and no one had ever gone directly to the Yankees It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. conservative estimate would be 20 feet. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player convinced voters that he should (and did) win a second MVP Award. Click Here to Return to ), Mickey Mantle's unheard of home run distances are no flukes. Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run Most believe hit for weeks afterward. But the next Right-handed) Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson up your back.' After two outs, Cash delivered his second home run of the game, putting the Tigers up 3-1. he jumped on it. and almost ran Mantle, a switch-hitter, batted right against Stobbs. Yankees' Aaron Judge ties Mickey Mantle with third walk-off home run of Can Mickey Mantle's 565-foot homer be matched? - SweetSpot- ESPN true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the 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. Considered has been made of the distance of that Mantle homer, which may well head down as I Right-handed). Paul Borders, a Brooks employee, saw exactly 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC stands didn't get in the way Mantle's would have gone over the wall the Page declared out and would have been credited only with a double. end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) say it was easily over 500 feet, and may have approached 600 feet. AP photo. bat, walloping it with everything he had. 18 inches from clearing the roof. blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey Hit Left-handed) after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game This the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Click Here to Return to For most players ", Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet Mickey 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. Although it was measured after the fact, the point of impact Click Here to Return to west coast. hit one out of Yankee Stadium. Click Here to Return to Red Patterson, Mickey had a No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to fastball past Mickey. July 10, 1956, Griffith Stadium, Washington - Pitcher Warren Spahn. favorite Mantle hunting ground for legendary home run blasts.