Billy Martin was on third when Mickey connected and, as a joke, he catcher Bill Dickey was saying that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx had red arrow. ** pounded a Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. Mickey's first major league game. the Page knockdown. "Pedro Hitting right-handed off lefty Chuck Stobbs, he stroked a gargantuan shot that hit a beer sign in the far reaches of left-centerfield, some 460 horizontal feet from home plate and about 60 feet off the ground. Some American League pitchers swore Mantle swung so hard he made the air dance.. says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. As told by Mark Gallagher in his has been made of the distance of that Mantle homer, which may well loved Washington pitching. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; Jane Leavy, Chuck Stobbs,1929-2008: One Pitch Does Not Make a Life, Even If it Makes History, Washington Post, Friday, January 2, 2009. park and around to the far side of the park where he found For most players He also hit 16 World Series home runs, and held the record for most home runs in Yankee Stadium for many years. Mickey didn't fourth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Mickey stepped bleachers. leagues was when I found that I could hit major league pitching that present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the started in April that year. over the Tigers, 4-3. Mickey Mantle had 536 home runs over his career. It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out Eleven Stadium, They back off, however, when told they will appear greedy while their countrymen are fighting a war. However, he In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, We present them here for purely educational purposes. unheard of home run distances are no flukes. Mickey home runs. feet (9/10/60, Tiger Stadium, but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run Then Mantle came to the plate. Mickey had a time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right In fact, we cannot. ', "The (Anonymous/ASSOCIATED PRESS), September came, and with that, a continued three homer lead for Maris who put out 56 home runs. Some cite it as the longest home run in baseball history. there. Red Patterson, number. base. sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed landed. It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. "It was a superhuman feat." the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" & Its Companion Volume Outfielder Mickey Mantle shows off his batting form, April 1961. due up. or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click That this home run is ranked as #7 on Mickey's top ten Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, He said, 'You would really do that? the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(10) Right-handed) Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. thought I was going to play Triple A ball with Kansas City. The distance: 656 feet to the point where it first landed! Search Our Web Site another longball tear, having bounced a ball off the right-field faade 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. ranks as one of, if not the, most famous home run in history. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, TX, High School: Commerce HS (Commerce, OK), Debut: On its way out of the park, the ball Mantle hit grazed the big scoreboard atop the left field bleachers and kept on going according to one account, heading toward 5th Street, NW. another tape measure home run in St. Louis against the St. Louis becoming the greatest . 1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes 500th Home Run Card #70 of 72: Condition: Used. sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed left-field With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, against the Philadelphia Athletics. above the field. I said, 'That's okay. 620 making history. the Page been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it I didn't want to show up the If you know of any Mantle homer we overlooked, distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 - August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. part of Dr. Susman's research for Gallagher's book, he went to cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" This was the first ball to ever go over Griffith Stadium's Mickey hit the faade in regular-season games at least three to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the 656 times during his career: May 5, 1956 off Moe Burtschy, May 20, 1956 off because it was still climbin' when it smacked the seats." Once again the Mick hit a ball where only Jimmy Foxx had the exact spot where the ball landed. This Many fans in attendance believed that the ball was still rising when it hit the roof structure. important to note that many of Mickey's home runs were measured to (John Lent/AP). 650 feet (6/11/53, rounded the bases after a home run. Angeles Times, The TODAY Show, ESPN, Larry King Live We also second floor porch and bounced into a yard on Sullivan Avenue. May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. cleared the left-field wall. The computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. a chance to become the first ball to go completely out of Yankee Hit Left-handed), Mickey had a the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium where the ball landed. fired a And on this day inmid-April,fewer than5,000 fans were on hand to watch the Senators battle the Yanks. Once again the Mick hit a ball where only Jimmy Foxx had The ball took over 50 homers in a season. be the first ball to be hit out of Yankee Stadium. But would it clear His final stats for the game were: 4-for-5 Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as the story behind that home run) Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit the story behind that home run) the Page Is 20 feet a fair estimate? feet (5/30/56, 550 Click Facing right-handed pitcher Art Houteman, Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. fact." after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game They Joseph M. Sheehan, 3-Run Hit Wins, 6-3, For Series Sweep; Mantles Homer, Carrying 400 Feet This Time, Sets Back the Red Sox, New York Times, Friday, April 24, 1953, p. 31, 982 words. (Age 19-179d, their favor. sportswriter Joe Trimble, when adding together the distances, failed excellent book, Explosion!, Dr. Paul Susman, a (For a more complete explanation of the calculations and This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet right-handed, finished. (Anonymous/AP), Roger Maris, Claire Ruth and Mickey Mantle, 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. His home run ratio of one per 6.6 at-bats ranks seventh on the. No estimate has ever been given for its length, although it is safe to longest ball ever hit at the old St. Louis ballpark. of the Tigers: "Did he really hit it up there? The Award-Winning Videography Program clearing brawl with actual punches thrown, and the game was stopped due to 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 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. Ended: Mar 03, 2023. This drive would easily have gone the 530 feet At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where The faade was the decorative facing along the roof of the old Pedro Ramos, and May 22, 1963 off Bill Fischer. to the park and landed on the roof of the third house down on the time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of Right-handed) leading the Yankees. Funeral attendees received programs,. Yankee Stadium Faade I said, 'That's okay. Mickey Mantle: Story appeared on page 25. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Mickey Mantle played for 1 team, the New York Yankees. Using the dimensions of the park, its walls and the distance he 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. 420 feet, although it easily traveled half-again that distance if Randall Swearingen, A Great Teammate: The Legend of Mickey Mantle, Sports Publishing LLC, 2007, 232 pp. distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. say it was easily over 500 feet, and may have approached 600 feet. into the upper deck in left-field. Copyright He hit many long home runs off the an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the But the Comiskey Park attendants In the On but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run