Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Recreation And Sports
  4. / Sports
  5. / Baseball

by Gameboy42 on September 10th, 2003

Gameboy42

Question

Help answer this question below.

How far was the longest home run ever hit, and who hit it?

  • Like
  • Report
Share:
Other

Answers. Showing one answer.

  • by trashcity on February 18th, 2005

    trashcity

    Ooh. Interesting question, albeit one that's cropped up on AB before, and is also one likely without a definitive answer, because of the problems of measuring such things. Few long bombs touch ground at the same level as home plate, which leads inevitably to having to estimate a distance based on how far the ball "would" have travelled.

    Let's start with the record distance as given in the Guinness Book of World Records: "The longest measured home run in a major league game is 193 m (634 ft) by Mickey Mantle (USA) for the New York Yankees against the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, USA, on September 10, 1960."

    However, this figure would seem highly questionable. There's a very nice article at Baseball Almanac on the topic:
    http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/art_hr.shtml
    which, though dating from 1996, still makes a lot of valid points about the problems of estimating distance. With regard to the above alleged record, it says, "From interviews with the surviving source of the original data, it is readily apparent once again that the ball had bounced several times before it reached the estimated distance."

    Mantle has another contender. On April 17, 1953, he hit a home run estimated at 565 ft, at Washington's Griffith Stadium off Senators pitcher Chuck Stobbs. While this is one of the first "tape measure" homers, it too seems to have been exaggerated in the telling:
    http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110003721
    which calls the homer, "as much a part of baseball lore as Babe Ruth's called shot in the 1932 World Series" but then says, "In truth, there is more hard evidence for Ruth's calling his shot than for Mantle's hitting a 565-foot home run."

    A different story, on Slate.com, gives another slant on the whole thing:
    http://slate.msn.com/id/2095/
    "According to three physicists who have worked independently and have written extensively on the science of baseball, the human limit for hitting a baseball at sea level, under normal temperatures and with no wind, is somewhere between 450 feet and 470 feet."

    This would seem to go against the frequent claims of 500 foot-plus home runs, and it's likely true to say that both clubs and players have a self-promoting interest in...erring on the long side when it comes to estimating distance, shall we say. "Chicks dig the long ball", as a MLB slogan once said. :-) The above article, in particular, looks at a home run estimated by the Seattle club at 538 feet, and comes up with a figure of 474 feet.

    There has been at least one legitimate 500-ft shot though. In Fenway Park, there is a single red seat in right field among the green bleachers, about 2/3 of the way up - it marks the landing place of the longest home run hit by Ted Williams. It's 502 ft from home plate; it may not be the longest, but proves 500 ft+ is attainable in the right conditions.

    For what it's worth, the only figure I could find for the longest home run in Japanese baseball history is 532 feet by Boomer Wells, but that figure is every bit as suspect as any American one, plus I've heard suggestions that Japanese baseballs are more tightly wound than American ones, so fly further. This (along with lower quality pitching) would certainly help explain how fringe MLB players like Alex Cabrera could go to Japan and suddenly hit 50 homers in a season.

    Comments
    • Like
    • Report

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading How far was the longest home run ever hit, and who hit it?

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

Answerbag

a Demand Media company