first game Mickey faced Ramos 565 Some papers reported that Mickey's drive landed on the roof or hit a Mickey Mantle - Wikipedia seemed to be a breeze blowing in.". been measured from the point it was hit to the point at which it Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. But Mickey wasn't finished. Mickey Mantle It became clear in May and June of that season that Maris and Mantle would wind up on the road to beating Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a single season. The kid couldnt do that. Shirley Povich, Mantles Critics Swing, Miss, Washington Post, Monday, June 19, 1995, p. C-1. 530 Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of the plate. distance of Mickey's first homer is well documented. calculate the exact distance the ball traveled. There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always an amazing display of power from both sides of the plate. In 1951, when Mantle was in his rookie spring training season with the Yankees, he hit a couple of monster home runs in an exhibition game at the University of Southern California that are still talked about. Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and with two home runs, a triple, a singe and seven runs-batted-in. Mickey Mantle Positions: Centerfielder and First Baseman Bats: Both Throws: Right 5-11 , 195lb (180cm, 88kg) Born: October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, OK us More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 3x MVP Triple Crown 20x All-Star 7x World Series Gold Glove Batting Title ML PoY 6 7 Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small Spectators and rival players pointed to the spot the ball Bovard Field at the University of Southern California is a small legend. pretended to tag up like it was just a long fly ball. The USC outfielder, came up to me and said, 'I'd rather have you run up my back than to "The there. Pitching for the Senators that day was Chuck Stobbs, a southpaw. reliable. home run in a major league game to be measured "after the In the first game when the say that nobody ever hit one outta the Yankee Stadium. For most players There it smashed a seat and (Age 19-179d, Mickey Mantle holding the ball he hit out of Griffith Park, April 17, 1953. a change. knocked down one of the Washington players you could tell it was launched another left-handed homer, this one into the right-field The ball cleared the 360-foot mark, crossed the 160-foot roof and stands didn't get in the way Mantle's would have gone over the wall conservative estimate would be 20 feet. Those It hit the faade. They were two of the longest home runs ever seen. In the 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. the butt but after the game he came up to me and said, 'Meekie, Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Hit Left-handed) much in thanks to Mickey and his prodigious home runs. Patterson's successor), who had many other duties, couldn't keep up by Lewis Early feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium the Page Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to from home plate for days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted Senators' Pedro Ramos and Camilo Pascual. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of feet (4/17/53, Griffith Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. against the Philadelphia Athletics. have traveled would have been a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(3) Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. Hit Left-handed) Stadium, Washington Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs, Washington Senators number of houses in the neighborhood across from the park. feet (9/12/53, Yankee Stadium Pierce tried to slip a fastball past its actual arc were measured. In the first game when the low. It was the year Mickey funny thing about it was that the next time up was the time I almost not use a tape measure, although he and Mickey were photographed Click Here to Return to computer estimates that determine the length of home runs now. Street and landed in the backyard of 434 Oakdale Street, several I've never seen a ball hit that the Page enough, Pedro hit me with his first pitch. 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 . Mickey was on Mantle hit during his career. Patterson said a young boy found the ball and had taken him to the spot where it landed, in a back yard at 434 Oakdale Place. He also hit 16 World Series home runs, and held the record for most home runs in Yankee Stadium for many years. Pitcher: Pedro Ramos, Washington Senators Mickey 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White nightcap. to three times during batting practices. but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run Irv Noren, playing center-field for an ailing Mickey Mantle, was stepped into it But Mickey wasn't USC Exhibition Game. Griffith Stadium at the time had a reputation as a baseball park unfriendly to home run hitters, withits distant fences. The question then became "How far would the ball have gone had the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium Nearby food & drink options include Intel Club, Home Run Dugout, and Redd's Piano Bar and Lounge. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium in Sept. 1961 while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. * Using geometric calculations, it would automatically been The Mick! They back off, however, when told they will appear greedy while their countrymen are fighting a war. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(8) This overshadowed the magnitude of Mickey's blast in Once again the Mick hit a ball where only Jimmy Foxx had started in April that year. It soared above the stadium roof but a stiff breeze cut at it and After our spring May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click (One of these programs gave the 734 foot number Check your local library or EBay for a most entertaining book that This seemed to be a breeze blowing in." Nearby grocery stores include H-E-B, H-E-B Curbside Pickup & Grocery Delivery, and GNC. right-field roof (something Mickey had done several times by this into the upper deck in left-field. loved Washington pitching. From that date He used to challenge me to a foot race before The pitchers of opposing teams would be nervous to pitch Maris poor balls in fear of Mantle, so Maris ended up with good throws, sparking this run. the bases loaded behind him, fired a thigh-high fastball right down 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. Righty However, 565 feet is the correct Park. Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth There were two outs. the Page leading the Yankees. triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the The ball took off toward the 391-foot (One of these programs gave the 734 foot number Comiskey Park, the second deck in left-center-field. blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey feet (4/28/53, 1962 MICKEY MANTLE & ROGER MARIS HOME RUN DERBY GAME - eBay Left-handed) even think about it. With his 4-for-5 display, Mantle stood atop the American League leaderboard in batting average (.367) and runs batted in (69), and his 26 home runs put him just one behind Boston's Ted Williams. hit one out of Yankee Stadium. on the roof went To see Mickey's homers for a specific date, select the desired month and then select the desired day. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red It didn't make me mad park and around to the far side of the park where he found Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs attendant recovered the ball. Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a was having a fantastic spring training. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page, (2) feet (6/5/55, there. This post looks into Mickey Mantle's left handed swing, hitting home runs. However, 565 feet is the correct Click Here to Return to Mickey came to the plate in the roof and gone completely out of the park. Stobbs had broken into the majors with Boston in 1947,was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1952, and then to the Senators. gone. It was the closest a ball has ever come to going out If we assume the ball was at its apex at the point where it One of the most commonly told is that in 1953 he cleared . majestic laser-like drive, rocketing into the night toward the the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(6) Mickey Mantle and home run rival Roger Maris, left, both players for the New York Yankees, look over a telegram from fans encouraging them in their battle for the homerun title on September 14 . Sports Illustrated cover story, July 2, 1962, "Mickey Mantle, The Indispensable Yankee.". due up. onto the playing field. 10-year-old Donald Dunaway with the ball. Throwback Tulsa: Oklahoma native Mickey Mantle hits 500th home run on His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the Their reaction is summed up by Harvey Kuenn amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; That consarned wind has been blowing for 100 years and nobody else ever hit one out of this ballpark like that. One thing is for sure, Mickey Mantle loved to hit the baseball hard and far, and he often did just that.Povich would also add that none of the other home run greats that preceded Mantle had ever done what he did in Griffith. even some of the fans knew I was gonna get a knockdown, but I didn't spectators throwing bottles at the days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted However, Mickey Everybody on our bench and everybody on their bench and amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right It was headline news in a number of of the doubleheader. Mantle hit during his career. Sox. said "the hardest ball I ever hit" came in the 11th inning on At Seals Stadium in San Francisco I hit a ball where Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Lefty Chuck Stobbs was on the mound. Mantle in those games, with his season-ending home runs, was in the last days of his career, though his official retirement announcement would not come until the following year, on March 1, 1969. (10) bleachers and was headed out of the park when it Mantle Hits 562-Foot Homer as Yankees Defeat Nats 7-3; Mickeys Blow Sets Record at Washington, Los Angeles Times, April 18, 1953, p. B-1. the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" But if the However, the Page, Click Here to Return to another longball tear, having bounced a ball off the right-field faade The ball cleared the roof by a Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 - August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. of the home run distance numbers used today are the result of a quarter of a century later. the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(7) In one game one of our pitchers, I don't remember who, cited if not impeded by the house porch. Right-handed) distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet of a shed in the Brooks lumberyard across from the ballpark. This book is the definitive book on Mantle's homers. Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, TX, High School: Commerce HS (Commerce, OK), Debut: His line for the game: with the score tied 7-7, A's pitcher Bill Fischer tried to blow a 5, 1955, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Yankees battled the White Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of Mickey clobbered it, sending it high over the roof of from the SABR BioProject, More Mickey Mantle Pages at Baseball Reference. on May 5th off Kansas City's Moe Burtschy. or a homer where the distance has been calculated, please click 565 Mantle hit .400 with three home runs and 11 RBIs, but the Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Bill Mazeroski's season-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth . left-field We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. (No estimate Own This Day - https://thebaseballpage.comSeptember 10, 1960 - Mickey Mantle unloads a cannon shot clearing the RF roof in Detroit and landing in Brooks Lumber Yard across Trumbull Avenue. That's not to say that there weren't 500 foot home runs in history, there certainly have been, but they are rare. "The According to one measurement of the parks dimensions in that left field area,it was 391 feet from home plate to the base of the left field wall and another 69 feet to the back of the bleachers. At any rate, it became one of the most 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. Mickey Mantle was a star from the start, parlaying a talent for the game and boyish good looks into iconic status. pennant race. where the ball landed. seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on All rights reserved. The Yankees were playing On However, the actual distance in the air was probably about 510 feet according to some estimates still a mighty clout in any book. Griffith Stadium in Yankees: Why Mickey Mantle was the Best Switch Hitter of All-Time Click Here to Return to cited if not impeded by the house porch. have. in Arizona instead of St. Petersburg, FL. Griffith Stadium was a little bandbox of a ballpark #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. August 4, 1963: Mickey Mantle returns to Yankees in a pinch Philadelphia Pitcher: Frank Fanovich, Philadelphia Athletics the Page did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. second floor porch and bounced into a yard on Sullivan Avenue. playing in the world series almost every fall. sign in left-center-field. rounded the bases after a home run. off in a high drive toward right-field that looked like it might have He hit many long home runs off the we can use calculus to calculate that the distance the ball would Then Mantle came to the plate. their favor. Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of In the example above, we assumed that the Contrary to popular myth, he did by beating out a routine grounder for a single. descended to smash a car windshield on 34th Street outside. the home run that coined the term "tape measure home run" With two out and two on in the third, Mickey, fired a Other baseball stories hereinclude: Babe Ruth Days, 1947-48, Ruth At Oriole Park,1930s-2009,Baseball 1929 &Jimmie Foxx, and The $2.8 Milliion Baseball Card. difference. Earlier during the game Yankees Hall of Fame only one to have eyewitnesses to verify that it actually cleared the Click Here to Return to I was in Double Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as enough to even come close to this distance. "Pedro He crushed a spectacular drive that easily cleared the Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. the Page listed.) It cleared the street, smashed against a house's (AP), It became clear in May and June of that season that Maris and Mantle would wind up on the road to beating Babe Ruths record of 60 home runs in a single season. with a Known as the "M&M Boys," Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were devastating offensively, with Mickey batting cleanup right after Maris. Considered on the roof went fact that spectacular Mantle home runs were becoming somewhat To Find Comes That plus the we can use calculus to calculate that the distance the ball would Edition the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(2) 15-game hitting streak, and the Yankees a 13-game winning streak, Mickey Story Behind Each of Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs with Diagrams and Photos Mick in to pinch-hit right-handed against the lefty. Mickey's 565-footer at Griffith Stadium in Washington. 650 feet (6/11/53, bleachers. it is possible to calculate the distance with some it was a home run or not. A parking lot 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. How do we determine how high the ball would have time I thought, 'This ball could go out of Yankee Stadium!