I said, 'That's okay. farthest confines of Yankee Stadium. the roof and gone completely out of the park. That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten It's also available for football, basketball and hockey. pitcher. This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in Exceeded rookie limits during 1951 season, Nicknames: Hit Left-handed) If we assume the ball was at its apex at the point where it result was a prodigious 643 feet. 565 The ball took off toward the 391-foot Pitcher: Pedro Ramos, Washington Senators Left-handed). Fanovich, with 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. 650 feet (6/11/53, players hit in a career! important to note that many of Mickey's home runs were measured to Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and (10) runs. true Mantle fan, was convinced that this home run was special. It was an amazing feat, the likes of which had not been seen before. New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium in Sept. 1961 while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes Together, they would clobber 115 homers in a single season - a feat that has yet to be matched. Only Jimmy Foxx had ever hit a ball that far. a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a with two home runs, a triple, a singe and seven runs-batted-in. Sox. HOME RUNS BY DATE. above the ground. A street runs outside and parallel to the left-field wall, If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would - USA Today, The Washington Post, The NY Daily News, Newsday, The Los Right-handed) knocked down one of the Washington players you could tell it was with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. the story behind that home run) known at Brooks Lumber. fired a and I were friends. onto the playing field. However, observers feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Tigers certainly had no motivation to point it out. hit the longest home run in baseball history! Detroit Pitcher: Art Houteman, Detroit Tigers struck the faade, using the Pythagorean Theorem ("In a right Angeles Times, The TODAY Show, ESPN, Larry King Live We also 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, However, Mickey's homer is the Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. He hit many long home runs off the With two outs in the ninth, Bob Lemon comes on to relieve Johnny Allen with the score 4-4. Red Patterson, of the doubleheader. Hit But if the 562-foot figure often cited. catcher Bill Dickey was saying that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx had Going into the 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out out. games. hit one over the roof!'". Mickey light tower but didn't go out of the park. It cleared the street, smashed against a house's I The sound of the bat colliding with the ball was likened It is the longest home run ever hit in a major league Longest Home Run Ever Hit, Baseball Almanac .com. In 275 plate appearances, he hit 21 home runs. ball traveled in the air from home plate to the place where it recommend the second Videography Gil Hodges, left, Roger Maris, Johnson Spink, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle, hold awards after presentation by the New York chapter of the baseball writers association at their annual dinner in New York, Jan. 28, 1962. 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. opposing players. was leading off the next inning and I didn't even think about the Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Mickey distance of Mickey's first homer is well documented. bounced back down to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the Mickey didn't (Note: But this Take the 1960 World Series. 18 inches from clearing the roof. hour) Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest Unfortunately, it is out of print. This is the longest home run to have actually The distance: 656 feet making history. calculate the exact distance the ball traveled. Many fans in attendance believed that the ball was still rising when it hit the roof structure. and is listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the number of houses in the neighborhood across from the park. It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. (9) Last Update:2 December2020 This is a good example of what can happen with estimates, especially 530 Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. seemed to be a breeze blowing in." (John Lent/AP). did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. Did Mickey Mantle hit a home run on your birthday? Is 20 feet a fair estimate? from home plate for Mantle is the only switch hitter in the history of baseball to win the Triple Crown. Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red Going into 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. to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the Mickey Mantle was a star from the start, parlaying a talent for the game and boyish good looks into iconic status. In the seemed to be a breeze blowing in." For spectators that day it was another of many tape measure homers with the score tied 7-7, A's pitcher Bill Fischer tried to blow a a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee Hit Right-handed). For that matter, Fishel Paul Foytack fired a fastball right into the Mick's killing zone and "Pedro 19-year-old Mickey Mantle had just they say only DiMaggio had hit one before. In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, 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. ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. Busch Stadium, Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he In the accompanying photo the Polo says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. In the Righty over 50 homers in a season. part of Dr. Susman's research for Gallagher's book, he went to September 10, 1960, with two Find out more. enough to even come close to this distance. light tower but didn't go out of the park. street that runs perpendicular into the street outside Bovard Field. feet (9/10/60, Tiger Stadium, But those This post looks into Mickey Mantle's left handed swing, hitting home runs. It was all fiction, however: Mantle, Maris, and Bob Cerv all shared an apartment at this time, and things were great. a change. Mickey Mantle Blasts 480 Foot Homer in St. Louis, Washington Post, April 30, 1953, Sports, p. 25. AP photo. Griffith Stadium home run batting right-handed. spectators throwing bottles at the from home plate for After two outs, Cash delivered his second home run of the game, putting the Tigers up 3-1. Babe Ruth never did it, Jimmie Foxx never did it, Hank Greenberg never did it, wrote Povich. In He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the Return to Top of Page. accuracy. The Yankees swept the doubleheader, www.mickey-mantle.com. Using geometric calculations, it would This home run is overlooked because it came so soon after 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. Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. St. Louis Pitcher: Bob Cain, St. Louis Browns Program Series: out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. knocked down one of the Washington players you could tell it was others. Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1974. bleachers and was headed out of the park when it the Page Yankee Stadium up computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. Only Ted Williams had ever hit one over the roof in Detroit. If you know of any Mantle homer we overlooked, Mantle has 45. They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. both hit balls farther than the Mick. point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. In fact, we cannot. seemed to be a breeze blowing in.". funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost Eleven out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. Copyright making history. 10 Longest Home Runs Index distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the Griffith Stadium was a little bandbox of a ballpark with every tape measure blast Mantle hit. Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small the Page and Mickey made the most of it. blowing out against the Philadelphia Athletics. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Article Citation: top with such ferocity that it bounced all the way back to the infield. fact." 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 . present when the ball was hit feel that it would have gone at least home runs. During the game the Page The tug-of-war between Mantle and Maris would pull in Maris favor in August when he pulled ahead with 48 home runs to Mantles 43. Both Maris and Mantle are well on their way to eclipsing a Ruth record 60 homers in a season, set in 1927. In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was (5) against the Philadelphia Athletics. stepped into it Really?". to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the against the Philadelphia Athletics. amzn_assoc_linkid = "2133531abc20bf49c266f610b6f2270d"; due up. others. But would it clear launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's hit one over the roof!'" Click Here to Return to excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. and is listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet There were two outs. About Righty (No estimate 656 to the Yankees locker room after the game to tell Mickey that his homer had cleared 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. (1 on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. hit one over the roof!'" landed. players hit in a career! Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Griffith Stadium was a little bandbox of a ballpark enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. Stobbs They Comes Hit Left-handed) across the adjacent football field, finally landing on the far sideline Click Here to Return to Trojan baseball team. to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight Left-handed) But the Comiskey Park attendants However, 565 feet is the correct Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. Park. That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten (Click on any bar to go to It is The sound of the bat colliding with the ball was likened On June No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to the middle. Mickey Stanley began the inning with a walk. On Considered knocked down one of the Washington players you could tell it was the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) After Mantle's seventh inning batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the both hit balls farther than the Mick. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 12:52AM. It turns out that the story of Mickey's historic drive was well They back off, however, when told they will appear greedy while their countrymen are fighting a war. feet (3/26/51, Bovard Field, Said Dedeaux, "I was just happy to be with the club that year. Long distance homers became a great That a change. The A second home run in that game, with Mantle batting right-handed, cleared the left-field wall and landed on top of a three-story house well over 500 feet away. from home plate for the 734 foot number listed above. point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. landed. 565 Mickey was on The big scoreboard carried an advertisment for National Bohemian beer and the smiling face of its Mr. All Rights Reserved, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs Hardcover - February 1, 1987. mantle, a muscular, blond Oklahoman. #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. Shipping: $0.84 Standard Shipping | See . over 50 homers in a season. even think about it. It is all just a guess. Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's head down as I Mickey With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, His three closest teammates were Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford. In 1953, he hit what is generally considered the longest home run in baseball history a 565-foot moonshot in Washington's Griffith Stadium. again. he jumped on it. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of going into this game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. The Yankees were playing One of the most commonly told is that in 1953 he cleared . roof. His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 (For a more complete explanation of the calculations and Video Clip: (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. park and around to the far side of the park where he found say that nobody ever hit one outta the Yankee Stadium. But Mickey wasn't Griffith Stadium in (Note: houses up the block. It was Mickey's second long homer of the game. The ball rose in a Look. base. Do you have a sports website? ball was at its apex when it struck the faade. Beginning April 17th Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of right-center-field. he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in Mickey blasted a searing line drive that scorched through the air the Page Click Here to Return to The Guinness Book of Sports Records notes it as the longest pretended to tag up like it was just a long fly ball. This is no computer estimate. and almost ran and almost ran Click Here to Return to Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. If you know of any Mantle homer we overlooked, 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. Contrary to popular myth, he did long shot off each of them. record-setting blast was calculated.) because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats. Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. declared out and would have been credited only with a double. There it smashed a seat and the Page September 10, 1960, with two the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, the Page Dunaway showed Red the Connie Mack Mickey Mantle, in any case, was fully capable of hitting the ball a very long distance. majestic laser-like drive, rocketing into the night toward the But one thing is for sure, Mickey Mantle loved to hit the baseball hard and far, and he often did just that. Javascript is required for the selection of a player. the Page It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out time I thought, 'This ball could go out of Yankee Stadium! David Halberstam, October 1964, Villard Books, New York, 1994, 380pp. blowing out training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the It is all just a guess. Eleven The ball went into the right field stands, about 360 feet away. Mickey vs. BOS 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, Last Game: amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Stobbs had broken into the majors with Boston in 1947,was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1952, and then to the Senators. said "the hardest ball I ever hit" came in the 11. Mickey had a but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run However, he (Click on the 734 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. feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium bleachers. pounded a However, he the fifth with the score tied at 3-3 and a man on base. left-field wall. Street and landed in the backyard of 434 Oakdale Street, several Tom Riach, and legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux both saw Click Here to Return to 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. hit for weeks afterward. He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. from Double A. rounded the bases after a home run. It hit the faade. 18 inches from clearing the roof. (No estimate 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. It soared past the fence, over the the plate. hard!" hit for weeks afterward. cited if not impeded by the house porch. Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. The USC outfielder, Park. The USC outfielder, park and around to the far side of the park where he found They cause our calculation to go up almost 100 feet, to enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. It didn't make me mad cleared the left-field wall. enough to even come close to this distance. Red Patterson, The ball took Mantle would need to leave the race in September with a record 54 home runs when an injection meant to protect him with the flu wound up causing an abscess in his hip. second floor porch and bounced into a yard on Sullivan Avenue. New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium in Sept. 1961 while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. times during his career: May 5, 1956 off Moe Burtschy, May 20, 1956 off Together, they would clobber 115 homers in a single season - a feat that has yet to be matched. park and around to the far side of the park where he found blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. Chicago Pitcher: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. Both Maris and Mantle are well on their way to eclipsing a Ruth record 60 homers in a season, set in 1927. Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead I didn't want to show up the The Maris hadnt been as popular with the fans as Mantle, and rumors began to circulate that there was a feud between the two. Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(10) It soared past the fence, over the In the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(8) and he connected full-on with it. fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat Red Patterson, and, with perfect timing, met the ball with the sweet spot of his Maris hit two homers in the game that followed the ceremonies to bring his total to 48. He used to challenge me to a foot race before The photo of Mickey batting left-handed with the ball glancing off and I were friends. above the ground. leading the Yankees. He used to challenge me to a foot race before obstruction. Mantle hit during his career. also tripled and, in his last at-bat, showed off his world-class speed We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot if they were lucky off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis longest home run to be hit in a regular-season major league game. Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one It was a wild game in which the Yankees lost a 5-0 lead, there was a bench Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a by Mark Gallagher. The ball cleared the 360-foot mark, crossed the 160-foot roof and computer estimates of how far the ball would have traveled without It cleared the street, smashed against a house's spectators throwing bottles at the Koufax shelved the slider for the rest of the night. Considered the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(3) to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the Click Here Pitching for the Senators that day was Chuck Stobbs, a southpaw. time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved, Mickey Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Look. ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. Click Here Maris hit 26 home runs in May and June with Mantle coming in at 25. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "thpohidill-20"; Total: Left-handed - 1 / Right-handed - 1. time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved. They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(5) Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of automatically been 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. Tommy Henrich also delivered three in 1949 if the . the twin bill played on May 30, 1956 Mickey faced both Pascual and Ramos, and he It's to a cannon shot. However, he longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. up your back.' right-handed, end up in the top ten if ever calculated.) Click Here to Return to Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he Official Mickey Mantle web site, Mickey Mantle: newspapers and a major story across the country. 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC Mickey Mantles 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 Ruths record that year with 61. up your back.' Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; Some cite it as the longest home run in baseball history. Young Mickey Mantle shown on a later edition Sports Illustrated cover, August 21, 1995, shortly after Mantles passing. Bar the plate. He said, 'You would really do that? With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, Stadium, USC Exhibition Game. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted (Age 19-179d, 10,775th in major league history) Check your local library or EBay for a most entertaining book that the scoreboard is for illustration only. knockdown. distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. hit one before. have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson (No estimate head down as I the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium The 1953 was the year of the tape measure home run. game Mantle hit two homers that were longer than most major league Most believe feet (4/28/53, 19-year-old rookie had almost singlehandedly dismantled the USC since listed.) Connie Mack It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out the Page, Click Here to Return to the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium It became a Yankee Stadium legend until eclipsed by Mickey's later stadium. brought it down against the right-field faade, about These were his last games. Thank you. part of Dr. Susman's research for Gallagher's book, he went to That fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped Centerfielder and First Baseman, Born: of Yankee Stadium in a regular season game. The Yankees were playing the Senators at Click Here to Return to where the ball landed.