Not surprisingly, all of the great true distance hitters have also been the source of the greatest exaggerations. Despite his extraordinary accomplishments, Babe Ruth is not immune. His tremendous blow to right-center field in Detroit on June 8, 1926, has often been reported as traveling over 600 feet. Certainly, this drive was propelled somewhere around 500 feet in the air, which makes it legitimately historic, but proof that it traveled 600 feet cannot be found. 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. In truth, that figure derived from the distance from home plate to the place where a neighborhood child retrieved the ball. Since this home run was the only one that ever cleared those bleachers during decades of major league and ***** League competition, it is genuinely deserving of recognition. However, the actual distance in the air was probably about 510 feet. The same process was at work for Mantle on September 10, 1960, in Detroit, where his right-center-field rooftopper was reported to have traveled more than 600 feet. From interviews with the surviving source of the original data, it is readily apparent once again that the all had bounced several times before it reached the estimated distance. Included among the other great exaggerations in the history of tape measure home runs are Dave Nicholson's Comiskey Park rooftopper on May 6, 1964, and Dave Kingman's Wrigley Field blast on April 14, 1976. In the case of Nicholson, who was a powerful man, as was Kingman, the figure of 573 feet was provided by "White Sox mathematicians." These unidentified individuals based their calculations on the assumption that the ball traveled completely over the left-center-field roof. however, subsequent investigation indicated that the ball landed on the back of the roof before bouncing into the night. When Kingman launched his wind-aided blow in Chicago, The New York Times somehow concluded that it had flown 630 feet. It has been confirmed that the ball struck against the third house beyond Waveland Avenue, which is situated about 530 feet from home plate. Yet again, we have an example of a genuinely epic home run that has been grievously overstated.
No it wasnt Babe Ruth but Mickey Mantle, May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. The ball hit the bottom of the light tower above the third deck in right field. Projected distance if the ball had not hit the tower was 736 feet. The actual mearsured home run was hit by Mickey Mantle in Washington's old ball park in the early 50's. That ball traveled 565 feet. Mantle has hit the ten longest home runs in history. By far the greatest single talent ever to play the game. The only reason his career ended when it did was because both knees were in terrible shape plus he partied too much with Whitey Ford and Billy Martin.
The Babe was the author of quite a few tape measure shot in his illustrious career and he may very well have hit some close to 600 feet in his career. He cleared to roof of quite a few fields in his day like Detroit's Navin field, a shot that went well over 500 feet and his last homer in his career went completely over the roof at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, regarded my many as the longest homerum ever hit there and sources say the ball went over 600 feet. In the Guiness Book of World Records, Mickey Mantle hit one in Deroit that went 643 ft and also hit some tape measure shots like the 565 ft shot in DC and several that almost went out of Yankee Stadium. But plain and simple and to the best of my knowledge, no player has ever launched a baseball 700 feet.
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Not surprisingly, all of the great true distance hitters have also been the source of the greatest exaggerations. Despite his extraordinary accomplishments, Babe Ruth is not immune. His tremendous blow to right-center field in Detroit on June 8, 1926, has often been reported as traveling over 600 feet. Certainly, this drive was propelled somewhere around 500 feet in the air, which makes it legitimately historic, but proof that it traveled 600 feet cannot be found. 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. In truth, that figure derived from the distance from home plate to the place where a neighborhood child retrieved the ball. Since this home run was the only one that ever cleared those bleachers during decades of major league and ***** League competition, it is genuinely deserving of recognition. However, the actual distance in the air was probably about 510 feet. The same process was at work for Mantle on September 10, 1960, in Detroit, where his right-center-field rooftopper was reported to have traveled more than 600 feet. From interviews with the surviving source of the original data, it is readily apparent once again that the all had bounced several times before it reached the estimated distance. Included among the other great exaggerations in the history of tape measure home runs are Dave Nicholson's Comiskey Park rooftopper on May 6, 1964, and Dave Kingman's Wrigley Field blast on April 14, 1976. In the case of Nicholson, who was a powerful man, as was Kingman, the figure of 573 feet was provided by "White Sox mathematicians." These unidentified individuals based their calculations on the assumption that the ball traveled completely over the left-center-field roof. however, subsequent investigation indicated that the ball landed on the back of the roof before bouncing into the night. When Kingman launched his wind-aided blow in Chicago, The New York Times somehow concluded that it had flown 630 feet. It has been confirmed that the ball struck against the third house beyond Waveland Avenue, which is situated about 530 feet from home plate. Yet again, we have an example of a genuinely epic home run that has been grievously overstated.
No it wasnt Babe Ruth but Mickey Mantle, May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. The ball hit the bottom of the light tower above the third deck in right field. Projected distance if the ball had not hit the tower was 736 feet. The actual mearsured home run was hit by Mickey Mantle in Washington's old ball park in the early 50's. That ball traveled 565 feet. Mantle has hit the ten longest home runs in history. By far the greatest single talent ever to play the game. The only reason his career ended when it did was because both knees were in terrible shape plus he partied too much with Whitey Ford and Billy Martin.
The Babe was the author of quite a few tape measure shot in his illustrious career and he may very well have hit some close to 600 feet in his career. He cleared to roof of quite a few fields in his day like Detroit's Navin field, a shot that went well over 500 feet and his last homer in his career went completely over the roof at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, regarded my many as the longest homerum ever hit there and sources say the ball went over 600 feet. In the Guiness Book of World Records, Mickey Mantle hit one in Deroit that went 643 ft and also hit some tape measure shots like the 565 ft shot in DC and several that almost went out of Yankee Stadium. But plain and simple and to the best of my knowledge, no player has ever launched a baseball 700 feet.
No. The longest recorded home run is Mickey Mantle's 565 foot shot, and that was an estimate.
Yeah, but that's because the wind was blowing in.