May 22, 1963: The longest HR of Mantle's career
Submitted by BTGrimes on Sat, 05/22/2010 - 5:00am |
| 620 foot home run! Pa-leeze! NEW YORK, NEW YORK - According to Mickey Mantle himself, he hit the longest home run of his career today on this date in 1963. This from a man who was quite modest about his accomplishments. Those who saw the mammoth blast are certain that it hit the façade of Yankee Stadium's roof in right field. That would be about 115 feet above the ground, 370 feet, at ground level, from home plate. Those in Yankee Stadium believe the ball was still rising when it hit the facade. So how far did the ball travel? Or how far would it have traveled had the façade of the roof not been in the way? Many record books say the ball traveled over 600 feet. That's more than double the distance from home plate to the right field corner. It's the length of two football fields. Is there a little hyperbole here? Could Mickey have been given the benefit of the exaggeration because he was likable, handsome and hit a lot of tape measure home runs? What cannot be denied are the statistics of a guy who was a speed demon when he broke in at age 19. Look at his on-base percentage. And while Mantle was a great RBI guy, he had more runs scored. Contributing sources: This story is brought to you by Today in Baseball. |
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