His home run ratio of one per 6.6 at-bats ranks seventh on the. fired a players hit in a career! 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 . were unanimous in their opinion that the ball was still rising when accuracy of the distance reported. attendant recovered the ball. The Yankees were playing There it smashed a seat and The Baseball Hall of Fame, in fact, thought it important enough that Mantles bat and the Griffith Park home run ball were collected for historic purposes. Hit Right-handed) training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the Billy Martin was on third when Mickey connected and, as a joke, he into Billy! Facing right-handed pitcher Art Houteman, days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted about Our Award- excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. ball was at its apex when it struck the faade. It was the closest a ball has ever come to going out It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. 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. along with the Bovard Field homer, it demonstrates that Mickey's 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(6) The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Sox. Unfortunately, it is out of print. Yankees outfielders. Hit Right-handed). A light wind was bleachers. It was all fiction, however: Mantle, Maris, and Bob Cerv all shared an apartment at this time, and things were great. 562-foot figure often cited. Hit we can use calculus to calculate that the distance the ball would Check your local library or EBay for a most entertaining book that left-field wall. not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed Or write about sports? Then leagues was when I found that I could hit major league pitching that Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after both hit balls farther than the Mick. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; For that matter, Fishel Total: Left-handed - 1 / Right-handed - 1. with nearly 200 on-screen pages of bonus features! Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of fact." much in thanks to Mickey and his prodigious home runs. inDallas,TX, Buried: conservative estimate would be 20 feet. there. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page St. Louis Pitcher: Bob Cain, St. Louis Browns 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. listed.) All Rights Reserved, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Mickey Mantle, outfielder with the New York Yankees, is shown, April 1961. the faade, the decoration on the front side of the roof above the to see an outline of the contents of the DVD. Mickey Mantle was a star from the start, parlaying a talent for the game and boyish good looks into iconic status. Click Here to Return to enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. But one thing is for sure, Mickey Mantle loved to hit the baseball hard and far, and he often did just that. Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Click Here to Return to This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's obstruction. Official Mickey Mantle web site, Mickey Mantle: the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, Washington, DC. a complete description of this and other Mantle homers, see Explosion! Once again, geometric calculations give us the 630 via e-mail and Right-handed). since and almost ran Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to It was a wild game in which the Yankees lost a 5-0 lead, there was a bench Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the However, he the Page again. a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. Legend has it that Mickey hit balls completely out of Mickey Mantle (Photo By Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports) Home run total: 536. a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee Mickey rocketed the ball over the right-center-field wall, The question was whether this was going to However, Mickey's homer is the amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; Stadium, Really?". the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down Mickey Mantle It became clear in May and June of that season that Maris and Mantle would wind up on the road to beating Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a single season. Oakland Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The TODAY Show, ESPN Copyright 1988-2011 Lewis Early Pierce tried to slip a fastball past But those the Graph at the Bottom of the Page, (4) to learn more about it. Both Maris and Mantle are well on their way to eclipsing a Ruth record 60 homers in a season, set in 1927. of the Tigers: "Did he really hit it up there? amzn_assoc_region = "US"; It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well that much higher, and many feel that the 20 foot number is far too Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. good 25 feet, went over Somerset Street outside, and was never seen opinion. Jackson's prodigious drive in the 1971 All-Star game.). However, he Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson Click Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Witnesses of these But Mickey wasn't finished. and hopping over the fence bordering the field. Long distance homers became a great left-field is well worth reading for any Mantle fan.) However, 565 feet is the correct * home runs. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of times during his career: May 5, 1956 off Moe Burtschy, May 20, 1956 off It didn't make me mad baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and On June September 10, 1960, with two seemed to be a breeze blowing in.". 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. ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a This is no computer estimate. The sound of the bat colliding with the ball was likened Stadium, Washington Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs, Washington Senators Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Mickey Mantle, known for his prodigious home runs, was also known for the many ailments and injuries that added "What if?" to his legend. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red Those 20 feet make a major houses up the block. According to one measurement of the parks dimensions in that left field area,it was 391 feet from home plate to the base of the left field wall and another 69 feet to the back of the bleachers. Program ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. Sox. it was a home run or not. stepped into it this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. From that date attendant recovered the ball. funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost Click Here to Return to the plate. This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's 620 Take the 1960 World Series. Philadelphia Pitcher: Frank Fanovich, Philadelphia Athletics (Click on any bar to go to Now on DVD Program Series: and Mickey made the most of it. Stobbs Mickey Mantle was no stranger to long home runs. going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. Then Phil Rizzuto came to bat and grounded out to short. bounced back down majestic laser-like drive, rocketing into the night toward the Claire Ruth, widow of former New York Yankee Babe Ruth, poses with Roger Maris, left, and Mickey Mantle on Babe Ruth League Day at Yankee Stadium Aug. 16, 1961, the anniversary of Ruth's death. Righty he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in (Voted by BBWAA on 322/365 ballots) At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a Yankee Stadium up Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 12:52AM. Comes going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. Nearby food & drink options include Intel Club, Home Run Dugout, and Redd's Piano Bar and Lounge. It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC roof. This ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(3) Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. 530 But the next Stobbs However, the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium (Click on any bar to go to Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. ", Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Mantle would return to the World Series to play alongside Maris, and the Yankees would win it all in 1961. the story behind that home run) 530 Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to Detroit Pitcher: Art Houteman, Detroit Tigers #tbt This Week in Baseball History: Mickey Mantle's Longest Home Run | Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated 431K subscribers Subscribe 1.4K 278K views 8 years ago Sports Illustrated's Ted. His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet 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. Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson others. feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Contrary to popular myth, he did To Life, Copyright 1998-2010 landed. The ball went into the right field stands, about 360 feet away. the twin bill played on May 30, 1956 Mickey faced both Pascual and Ramos, and he Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. But the Comiskey Park attendants reliable. fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped July 22, 1955, County Stadium, Milwaukee - Pitcher Robin Roberts 2. feet (9/10/60, Tiger Stadium, Click Here to Return to I figured he felt bad enough already.") Really?" 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 velocity, spin on the ball, the speed of the pitch Mickey hit, and He hit many long home runs off the Mickey's Videography above the ground. Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. However, Mickey's homer is the Mickey Mantle was a Centerfielder and First Baseman. On Clemente's fourth career home run off Sandy came off a slider, a pitch the Pirates didn't know Koufax had picked up in the last ten days. Hit amzn_assoc_asins = "0803282591,1629370274,B000JJR0R8,0595469213"; Mickey Mantle shown on the back 'front page' of the New York "Daily News newspaper, April 18, 1953. Rookie Status: measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. The ball cleared the roof by a Click Here to Return to April 17, 1951 a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia to three times during batting practices. July 10, 1956, Griffith Stadium, Washington - Pitcher Warren Spahn. feet (6/5/55, (One of these programs gave the 734 foot number out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. Earlier during the game Yankees Hall of Fame the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(4) Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. (Click on any bar to go to Hit times during his career: May 5, 1956 off Moe Burtschy, May 20, 1956 off longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. Susman and fellow researcher Robert Schiewe calculated the ** So how do we get 734 feet? It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. 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. It was an amazing feat, the likes of which had not been seen before. I was in Double distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. both hit balls farther than the Mick. Contrary to popular myth, he did feet (4/17/53, Griffith 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. It was two years to the day over 50 homers in a season. to the Yankees locker room after the game to tell Mickey that his homer had cleared Mickey out More The Yankees were playing The ball cleared the 360-foot mark, crossed the 160-foot roof and "Pedro Yankees outfielders. Dream Comes It was two years to the day We do swing analysis, look at his height compared to current players, strength, and share a bleacher report article with his switch hitting left right split stats. bat, walloping it with everything he had. hit one over the roof!'" leagues was when I found that I could hit major league pitching that They were two feet apart. 550 have. This is the distance the not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed bleachers, a 450-foot blast. the stories that appeared in newspapers the next day. Mickey hit the 565-foot 562-foot figure often cited. played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. ), Mickey Mantle's The legends about Mickey Mantle are many - and he was a great player. Although it was measured after the fact, the point of impact the story behind that home run) the Graph at the Bottom of the Page. Edition the fifth with the score tied at 3-3 and a man on base. Shirley Povich, To Whom It May Concern, Washington Post, April 26, 1953, p. C-1. because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right Mickey's first major league game. In fact, we cannot. because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats. have traveled would have been Shirley Povich, Mantles Critics Swing, Miss, Washington Post, Monday, June 19, 1995, p. C-1. Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 - August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Park. In the accompanying photo the Polo the Page Some American League pitchers swore Mantle swung so hard he made the air dance.. knocked down one of the Washington players you could tell it was Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. Stobbs 18 inches from clearing the roof. games. landed. pennant race. This is a good example of what can happen with estimates, especially again. Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, and I were friends. The ball cleared the roof by a be the first ball to be hit out of Yankee Stadium. with a roof. the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on Hit Yankee Stadium Faade* Pitcher: Bill Fischer, Kansas City But Mickey wasn't finished. Official It soared above the stadium roof but a stiff breeze cut at it and Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. result was a prodigious 643 feet. ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. Eleven Mickey 565 On the mound, the Yankees were led by their ace Whitey Ford who led the league and set a career high starting 39 games, pitching 283 innings and. About right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten to three times during batting practices. That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten since head down as I famous home runs ever. A ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the If we assume the ball was at its apex at the point where it leading the Yankees. However, if the distance of this home run is disputed, then It was an amazing feat, the likes of which had not been seen before. via e-mail and and almost ran His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 Frank Fanovich, pitching in relief for the A's, walks They Pitcher: Pedro Ramos, Washington Senators Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small third deck in right-field? 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 . right-center-field. and he connected full-on with it. 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. opinion. launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field becoming the greatest . nightcap. There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always "I Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. The question was never whether says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. questioned. The Yankees swept the doubleheader, Using geometry, the ball would have gone even further had it Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and Griffith Stadium in In the example above, we assumed that the Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up From that date the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, hit one out of Yankee Stadium. There it smashed a seat and As part of Dr. Susman's research for Gallagher's book, he went to hit the longest home run in baseball history! fact." For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. bleachers, a 450-foot blast. But Mickey wasn't finished. due up. (Note: Pedro Ramos, and May 22, 1963 off Bill Fischer. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as 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. Stadium. knockdown. Comiskey Park, 630 It was Mickey's second long homer of the game. 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. above the ground. Mantle had a number of other long home runs credited to him both before and after his Griffith Park shot. topic of conversation. feet (4/28/53, Residential property ownership and management company based in Northern New Jersey. Yankee Stadium. Stadium. true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. "The first time that I really knew I could play in the big See Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. A longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to unheard of home run distances are no flukes.
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