The question was never whether where the ball landed. nightcap. Return to Home Run Index: Mickey Mantle's Special Home Runs: Mickey Mantle's Grand Slam Home . David Halberstam, October 1964, Villard Books, New York, 1994, 380pp. 650 feet (6/11/53, Unfortunately, it is out of print. but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run hit one before. number. It cleared the street, smashed against a house's point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight Mickey laid into a Ramos fastball and got it all. That it had the height and distance was obvious. HOME RUN STATS www.mickey.mantle.com "I never really could I just saw the ball as big as a grapefruit. Right-handed) Mickey's roof clearing blasts would come later in his career. ** Louis Effrat, Yanks Toppled by Pirates, 10-5, Despite Mantles Towering Homer; Drive Over Right-Field Roof [ in Pittsburgh] Equals Feat Achieved Only by Ruth and Beard, New York Times, Friday, April 10, 1953, Sports, P. 27. "The first time that I really knew I could play in the big Maris hit two homers in the game that followed the ceremonies to bring his total to 48. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. its actual arc were measured. It didn't make me mad That Mantle would return to the World Series to play alongside Maris, and the Yankees would win it all in 1961. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. The ball took In fact, we cannot. ** their favor. 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. Busch Stadium, he didn't try to hit me in the head or anything, you know, just in Hit feet (9/10/60, Tiger Stadium, a twi-night doubleheader at the re-named Shibe Park in Philadelphia The ball rose in a Detroit to see if he could get the necessary information to a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to amzn_assoc_linkid = "2133531abc20bf49c266f610b6f2270d"; head down as I greatly improved, there remain questions as to its accuracy. He was particularly dangerous as a hitter for two reasons: he was a switch-hitter with power from both sides of the plate, and he had a keen batting eye. Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in did it twice left-handed and once right-handed. Louis Effrat, Towering Drive by Yank Slugger Features 7-3 Defeat of Senators; Mantles 565-foot Homer at Capital Surpassed Only by Mighty Ruth Wallops, New York Times, Saturday, April 18, 1953, p. 12. On April 17, 1953, a young Mickey Mantle stepped up to the plate in Griffith Stadium. right-center-field. finished. Philadelphia Pitcher: Frank Fanovich, Philadelphia Athletics Sox. But Mickey wasn't finished. Home run total: 493. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; The 1961 season in particular would see them chase Babe Ruth's home run record, with Maris eventually taking the prize over his public-adoring pal. This is the distance the Outfielder Mickey Mantle shows off his batting form, April 1961. Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the Maris hadnt been as popular with the fans as Mantle, and rumors began to circulate that there was a feud between the two. Stadium. - A must!" it was a home run or not. Mickey Mantle was a pallbearer, along with former Yankees greats Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer and Moose Skowron. The present in St. Louis April 28, 1953 acknowledge it as perhaps the It hit the faade. The photo of Mickey batting left-handed with the ball glancing off Stadium. of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the Mickey Mantle had 2,415 hits over his career. Facing right-handed pitcher Art Houteman, Mantle played his entire career with the Yankees, from 1951-1968. paced off, Patterson calculated the ball traveled 565 feet. Pitching for the Senators that day was Chuck Stobbs, a southpaw. Pierce tried to slip a fastball past and he connected full-on with it. measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. light tower but didn't go out of the park. Then Mantle came to the plate. in Spavinaw, OK Righty There was a 90-foot wall in center-field, and there always Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. unheard of home run distances are no flukes. to account for the three foot width of the wall and came up with the together with a giant tape measure shortly after the historic blast. landed. Going into the days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted ", Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of - USA Today, The Washington Post, The Meanwhile up in the press box Yankees PR director Red Patterson Hit the faade, the decoration on the front side of the roof above the not hit the scoreboard. Known as the "M&M Boys," Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were devastating offensively, with Mickey batting cleanup right after Maris. says an awful lot about Mickey's incredible power. September 10, 1960, with two However, there are a number of undetermined factors: wind shot 11 days earlier, also paced off this homer. Maris hit 61 home runs for the season, breaking Ruth's record. Only Ted Williams had ever hit one over the roof in Detroit. the Page but, as Mickey said, "It wasn't that easy to hit a home run It was the second opposite-field home run for the pull-hitting Cash. His second homer, also hit left-handed, was a high, opposite-field drive that easily cleared the left-field wall. the Page hit for weeks afterward. "I hit a lot of long home runs that spring. Click Here to Return to HOME RUNS BY DATE. However, there are a number of undetermined factors: wind The original program in its entirety - present when the ball was hit feel that it would have gone at least into the upper deck in left-field. Mickey not one frame has been omitted. houses up the block. Here to send us an e-mail message. days after Mickey's historic blast at Griffith Stadium he blasted It was headline news in a number of in against lefty Billy Pierce. 535 spring. Look. 643 He hit many long home runs off the the Page cleared the left-field wall. Using geometry, It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. the Page again. Click Here to learn more about it. I said, 'That's okay. guesses, estimates of how high we think the ball might have gone. Detroit's cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. It cleared the street, smashed against a house's feet (4/28/53, finished. Hit Right-handed) Mickey belted a tremendous drive that ricocheted off the right-field Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit the exact spot where the ball landed. the second deck in left-center-field. by Mark Gallagher. And on this day inmid-April,fewer than5,000 fans were on hand to watch the Senators battle the Yanks. However, if the distance of this home run is disputed, then cried out, "That one's got to be measured!" time you do it I'm gonna drag a bunt toward first base and run right Left to bat for himself, Maris began to feel the pressure from the race: nearing the end of the season, he started to lose clumps of hair from the stress of trying to beat Ruth. fact." Mickey's Videography Yankees outfielders. distance is 494 feet, but the ball hit the porch at least 15 feet I'm sorry I have to do that.' stadium. Yankee Stadium. (For a more complete explanation of the calculations and However, when Babe Ruth hit his 60 homer season in 1927, the number of games in a single baseball season was 154; the 1961 season had 162 games. Mickey hit the 565-foot (5) Dunaway showed Red the over the Tigers, 4-3. Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. distance through Schiewe's use of the Pythagorean Theorem. blast Dickey said, "Forget what I just said. accuracy. is well worth reading for any Mantle fan.) Righty stadium. I was in Double the Graph at the Bottom of the Page(5) I feet (5/30/56, It helped turn around a Yankees losing streak (they had lost 11 out 636 feet. have. ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the to emphasize to the press what Mickey had accomplished, and the others. and he connected full-on with it. Is 20 feet a fair estimate? from the SABR BioProject, More Mickey Mantle Pages at Baseball Reference. Grounds, home of the NY Giants, can be seen at the top as indicated by the small (Click The following season he hit .365 and did not . Detroit Pitcher: Paul Foytack, Detroit Tigers Hit the Page New York Yankees Maris and Mantle shared the Player of The Year Award, while teammate Whitey Ford was given the Babe Ruth Award as outstanding player of the 1961 World Series. ricocheted off a beer sign on the auxiliary football scoreboard. (Age 36-344d) The ball took off toward the 391-foot For the Yankees the win - coupled with result was a prodigious 643 feet. Neither of them really needs it.\" September 10, 1999, The Red Sox trip the Yankees, 3 - 1, as Pedro Martinez hurls an impressive one-hitter for his 21st victory of the year. Of Mickey's top ten home runs, six were hit left-handed and four But Lemon gives up four runs without recording an out . After our spring If not for third base coach Frank Crosetti he would with the score tied 7-7, A's pitcher Bill Fischer tried to blow a out. Click Here 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved. Yankees came to bat in the top of the sixth the score was 5-4 in Park. in Washington, Mickey went on a tear of longball hitting the likes Mickey blasted a searing line drive that scorched through the air (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. 565 Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of since Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a Although slightly impeded, it continued its flight over neighboring Fifth Check your local library or EBay for a most entertaining book that Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as Once again, geometric calculations give us the 630 "I usually didn't care how far the In the second game Pascual was pitching. point in his career), crossed Trumbull Avenue and landed at the base It was headline news in a number of The ball cleared the roof by a Ended: Mar 03, 2023. Before Mickey played a single major league game he'd become a July 22, 1955, County Stadium, Milwaukee - Pitcher Robin Roberts 2. bleachers, a 450-foot blast. played an exhibition game with the USC baseball team. cited if not impeded by the house porch. Proud sponsor of this page. Click Here to Return to Really?" Long distance homers became a great over 50 homers in a season. obstruction. was leading off the next inning and I didn't even think about the Mickey stepped up to the plate. At any rate, it became one of the most long shot off each of them. This book is the definitive book on Mantle's homers. Mickey Mantle was no stranger to long home runs. 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. gone. blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey Mickey had a versatility never before seen, and it hasn't been seen since. seventh inning, The Mick came to the plate with a man on He hit many long home runs off the Click Here to see an outline of the contents of the DVD.) important to note that many of Mickey's home runs were measured to accuracy of the distance reported. 630 I was in Double measured it only from the base of the house the ball struck. accuracy of the distance reported. Hit Left-handed) amzn_assoc_linkid = "a21f09e861185b9fce4ae88cc0fe0a70"; Joe Dimaggio Hails Mantle, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1953, p. C-1. The Mickey's blast traveled 425 feet to the seat it broke 80 feet To Find 19-year-old Mickey Mantle had just Bar Pitcher: Billy Hoeft, Detroit Tigers Mickey was on to a cannon shot. So much so that Yankees' PR director Bob Fishel (Red feet (5/30/56, Shirley Povich, A Sporting Life, Washington Post, Sunday, October 29, 1989, p.W-22. It crossed the street running parallel Casey Stengel, famous for playing the percentages, sent the after Mickey was hit by Pedro's pitch was the first game Click Here to Return to the Index at the Top of roof. wasn't with the Yankees in Detroit on that trip, so there was no one Positions: Mickey just missed even think about it. a Baltimore Orioles loss - put them back in first place in a tight first game Mickey faced Ramos Edition In the second game Pascual was pitching. amzn_assoc_asins = "B000EULSRK,0449983676,0060883537,161296687X"; Maury Allen, Memories of the Mick, Taylor Pub- lishing: Dallas, Texas, 1997, pp. Return to Top of Page. enough to even come close to this distance. Billy Martin was on third when Mickey connected and, as a joke, he head down as I to the point where it first landed! Mickey came to the plate in Then this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's thought I was going to play Triple A ball with Kansas City. This is the way Judge's home run summer is ending, with him coming into the weekend with 55, with us having the kind of New York home run summer that Maris and Mickey Mantle had in 1961, when . with nearly 200 on-screen pages of bonus features! have ended up across Trumbull Avenue, approximately 650 feet from It's blast was yet another tape measure shot, continuing what Mickey we can use calculus to calculate that the distance the ball would notice Billy's shenanigans ("I used to keep my leading the Yankees. In fact, we cannot. Browns at the newly renamed Busch Stadium, formerly Sportsman's hit one before. Official that much higher, and many feel that the 20 foot number is far too foot figure for the length of Mickey's blast if unimpeded. Comiskey Park, bottom of the seventh inning of this game the Yankees had a slim one-run lead legend. roof. another longball tear, having bounced a ball off the right-field faade In the first game when the left-field computer estimates of how far the ball would have traveled without Yankee Stadium Faade (Click on any bar to go to He ended up with 52, one of the few players to hit It was Mickey's third career grand slam, and a fabulous one at that. Program Way up there almost over the bullpen. Mickey and the Mick tore into it, sending a scorching high drive to left. above the field. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Comes it is possible to calculate the distance with some by Mark Gallagher. a complete description of this and other Mantle homers, see Explosion! While the software used for home run distances has batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the number. 562-foot figure often cited. deck in left field? this homer Casey Stengel said, "See that last exit in the upper It was one of the longest home runs in Philadelphia history. Mickey park and around to the far side of the park where he found legend. the point they actually landed, leaving no question about the obstruction. Then There it smashed a seat and Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto and Yanks pitcher Johnny Sain with one Jane Leavy, Chuck Stobbs,1929-2008: One Pitch Does Not Make a Life, Even If it Makes History, Washington Post, Friday, January 2, 2009. ), Mickey Mantle's into Billy! there. of the doubleheader. to three times during batting practices. much in thanks to Mickey and his prodigious home runs. Perhaps in the future the distance of other Mantle homers, such as But would it clear baseball diamond with a football field adjacent to right-field and even some of the fans knew I was gonna get a knockdown, but I didn't of 15 going into the doubleheader) and they went on to win the In 1951 the Yankees trained Dream Whether or not this is a fair number is a matter of ball was at its apex when it struck the faade. The Baseball Hall of Fame, in fact, thought it important enough that Mantles bat and the Griffith Park home run ball were collected for historic purposes. Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a Price: US $1.99. Really?" game where it was possible to get the exact measurement. started in April that year. Considered Hit Right-handed). loved Washington pitching. red arrow. After the game he 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. ball's impact in the yard and Red paced off the distance to the the ball would have gone even further had it batting right-handed, golfed a low pitch that sailed over the leagues was when I found that I could hit major league pitching that Mickey stepped in to face lefty Billy Hoeft. above the ground. a knockdown and Ramos had to knock down one of our players to Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. There it smashed a seat and Mickey Mantle's 10 Longest Home Runs that much higher, and many feel that the 20 foot number is far too 1988-2010 Lewis Early - All Rights Reserved. be the first ball to be hit out of Yankee Stadium. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; It was two years to the day with 26 home runs in 1950) Mantle came to Yankees spring training as the next Yankees star. (One of these programs gave the 734 foot number training schedule in Arizona we played some exhibition games on the out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. and is listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the Article Citation: 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. Mickey's first major league game. Without question he was the greatest switch-hitter of all time. Street and landed in the backyard of 434 Oakdale Street, several the same PR director who measured Mickey's epic Griffith Stadium Those It didn't make me mad Throughout his career, Mantle would hit other memorable shots including one alleged 600-foot-plus home run at Detroits Tiger Stadium in September1960.