I was at a game when Frank Catalonatto hit a ball onto the RF roof down the line, but the ball rolled back off the roof and fell on the field. The big guy came to Detroit in 1990 as a free agent after a season in Japan. The Tigers' Kirk Gibson hit a home run onto the street in 1983 but it was less than 600 feet. I put the location into google maps off I went. In 1932, the muscular "Double X" almost equaled Ruth's season record of 60 home runs. The home run cleared the right-field pavilion, hitting a bus outside the stadium. By his own account he hit the longest home run of his career on May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. On September 10, 1960, with two out and two on in the seventh, Mickey worked the count to 2-0. . A-Gon Goes a-Golfing 19 of 20 Just when we thought we had seen everything from Adrian Gonzalez, here he is hitting the longest home run in the history of PetCo Park, a ridiculous pitcher's. But there are others. 452 Feet - Eric Davis (While playing for the Detroit Tigers) hit a 452 foot shot on Sept. 26th 1993. Sosas home run was hit off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher David Williams. On June 3, 1987 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, Meyer hit the longest verifiable home run in the history of professional baseball. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. On June 23, 2015, Miami Marlin Giancarlo Stanton hit a 479-foot home run to left-center field off of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez. Must have been 1977 or 1978. Did you know that the SABR book (Home Run Encyclopedia) lists details about every Major League home run hit by every player since 1876? Dozens of players have peppered the left field roof at batting practice, though. On July 6, 1974, he powered a torrid drive that crashed against the roof facade in deep left-center field at Tiger Stadium. A table displaying leaders in Statcast metrics such as Sweet Spot % (SwSp%), Barrels, Exit Velocity (EV), Batted Ball Distance (DST), Projected Home Run Distance (HR-DST), Launch Angle (LA) and Batted Ball Events (BBE) . Mark McGwires shot off Randy Johnson (June 24, 1997)Big Mac is one of the few players to ever launch a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium, but were highlighting this one instead thanks to the quality of the pitcher. Franchy Cordero's 489-foot bomb was the longest home run of the season coming into the night per Statcast. Barry Bonds at Yankee Stadium (June 8, 2002)Has there ever been a more satisfying payoff from a hitter stepping to the plate and doing exactly what everyone hopes he would do? But, Mee noted, there was but a slight breeze blowing that day. Allen may have hit some of his sport's longest home runs, but neither he nor anyone else ever hit a baseball nearly that far. A blow of 450 feet shows exceptional power, as the majority of major league players are unable to hit a ball that far. A careful analysis indicates, however, that accounts of 450- to 500-foot home runs in those days are almost certainly apocryphal. While those feats would shatter Meyer's mark, there was no technology or tool that could give an exact measure of those distances. Yon Moncada, April 19, 2019 (458 feet)The ball doesnt normally carry well at Comerica Park during cold weather early in the season, but Yon Moncadas drive off Jordan Zimmermann had no regard for the 40-degree temperature at first pitch. The Metrodome home run record is owned by Ben Oglivie, who was with Milwaukee when, on July 27, 1983, he parked one about 12 rows back in the upper deck in right-center. On September 26, 1997, future Hall of Famer, Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a 496-foot home run to left-center off of Colorado Rockies reliever Darren Holmes. We could hit the ball as far as they hit today, or farther. Back in 21, Navin Field did not yet have the upper deck in center field that would later be a haven for diehard fans. The first time, though, was in 1977, when Jason Thompson clubbed one out, literally seconds after my dad told me I think Thompson is gonna crush one out of the stadium. The home run was the 100th of Howards career in his 325th game. Martinezs 113.1 mph drive off a Taijuan Walker fastball hit the roof of that perch, more than midway up the batters eye. Ruth played during the height of American's newspaper culture, when approximately 10 New York papers gave first hand accounts of each Yankee game. however, subsequent investigation indicated that the ball landed on the back of the roof before bouncing into the night. Estimates on this baby began at 579 feet before being lowered to 529 and then 468, almost as if no one believed a baseball could really be hit that far. Windy days at Wrigley are the best. I thought I saw Tony Clark hit a monster on the roof, but Im so old my memory is shot. Mike Piazza at Coors Field (Sept 26, 1997)Our obligatory Coors Field selection goes to this Piazza blast that just kept going and going. Griffey shared center stage the following year in Pittsburgh with Frank Thomas, as the two men took turns bombarding the upper decks at Three Rivers Stadium. Mizzou opened its home slate with a 17-2 run-rule victory over . Simply clearing the first row of shrubs beyond the center-field fence is a big deal. The longest home runs hit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit by Dan Holmes on January 24, 2022 I could hit for average, but that's not my job. Mike Piazza at Coors Field (Sept 26, 1997), skyscraper in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series, Cecil Fielder at Tiger Stadium (Aug. 25, 1990), physicist from Montreals McGill University. However, fans don't need additional inducements to maintain their fascination with "tape measure" home runs. One other aspect of misrepresentation should be explored. One might say the Reds fans sitting up there werent expecting a home run souvenir that day, but then again, they were already plenty familiar with Wily Mos work. Sadly, the COVID pandemic denied fans the chance to marvel at this drive in person, save for the few fans enjoying dinner atop the Detroit Athletic Club across the street. FAQ. Oliva was in the dugout with the rest of the Twins when Killebrew hit what is still known as the longest home run in Twins history. Before he retired after the 1973 season, he had performed even more extraordinary feats of long-distance hitting in the junior circuit. Did Ted Williams red-seat blast really clear 500 feet? The lore has it that Mickey Mantle hit a 565-foot home run against the Washington Senators in 1953. . Based upon that belief, this drive has commonly been estimated at about 620 feet if left unimpeded. Source: wikimedia.org. A local youngster finally ran it down some 825 feet from home plate. Purchased a New Era Gruff Michigan Syaye hat, and I absolutely love it. Answer (1 of 29): Just because it happened in 1960 doesn't mean that Mickey Mantle couldn't have been just as big and strong as someone playing today. In the years he played for his hometown team, Kirk Gibson frequently displayed his power. That ball is measured at 634 feet by the Guinness Book of World Records, but few really believe it went that far on the fly. This dinger off Torontos Giovanni Carrara was pretty much that scene come to life. Bonus points for clubbing this off As ace Dave Stewart, when Smoke was near the peak of his powers. Dock Ellis was the pitcher, and Jim Palmer is among those who. Recently got a blank jersey stitched at Vintage Detroit and the finished product looks awesome! 1. He can still hear the ball . Ruth hit the ball clear out of Navin Field (Tiger Stadium) to center field, a shot Jenkinson estimates would have traveled 575 feet unencumbered, Sports Illustrated recapped. As is often the case at Wrigley, Kingmans home run had a strong wind behind it. Killebrew hit 44 home runs in 1967 and entered the Hall of Fame with 573. A six-city mystery. Cardinals switch-hitter Rip Collins hit 35 in 1934. 5. "You guys got to see this kid we have in camp. by Richard Bak on January 4, 2012. Its estimated that the Babes blast traveled at least 575 feet in the air. Probably well over 600 feet in total. On a 499-foot blast, Barry Bonds hit the longest home run at Oracle Park. This home run was hit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on September 10, 1960. The blast had an exit velocity of 111.6 to right-center field. As of 1995, the Mantle of baseball's longest hitter can probably best be worn by Cecil Fielder. Im here to drive home runs. Lynn worked with me to swap out to something similar excellent customer service. Perhaps the ball had already flown over 400 feet, whereupon it was interrupted in midflight at a height of 70 feet above field level. Moving into the eighties, Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice, and Darryl Strawberry set the pace at a time when modern technology permitted us to better understand the limitations of the flight of a batted ball. On July 18, 1921, Babe Ruth hit what is believed to be the longest verified home run in Major League Baseball history. That's not a little guy right there, and he was always known for great length on home runsbecause he liked hitting them that way and frequently . Back then, Oliva said, fans liked to see games that were 3-2, 2-1 or 1-0.. Storys 487-footer from 2018 reached the concourse down the left-field line; Piazza hit the concourse in the left-center power alley. On September 25, 2020, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., hit a 495-foot home run to left-center field off Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Mazza. In order for the ball to be rising at roof level, it would have to have been traveling at a lower angle than that which produces maximum distance. One of the greatest quirks in baseball history is that Jimmie Foxx, following immediately in the footsteps of Babe Ruth, was to establish the second-greatest distance legacy in the annals of the game. While All-Stars like Joey Gallo, Shohei Ohtani and Salvador Perez will try to crush balls deep into the Denver . Unlike the 1971 All Star game blast when his Famous homer hit the light tower in right center and came back onto the field, his 1984 blast TOTALLY cleared the roof and left the stadium. The 34 home runs were the most by a Cardinal since Stan Musial hit 35 in 1954, and the most by a Cardinals right-handed batter since Ken Boyer had 32 in 1960. The 2021 Home Run Derby begins at 7:00 p.m. Amazingly, many of those records remain unequaled, which is to say that Ruth is a true athletic anachronism. On June 27, 2007, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard launched a 505-foot home run off of Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Aaron Harang. COLUMBIA, Mo. Hyperbole has always been part of the phenomenon of long-distance home runs, and this factor must also be considered. These were men of great skill and power, and they unquestionable set the distance standards for their times. I measured it at 435 feet, said Tom Mee, longtime Twins public relations man and official scorer. I also saw Reggie Jackson with the As strike out about 3 times late in the 1969 season at Tiger Stadium. photo source: sabr.org In Hollywood, California, Dierker was born. 3. The homer had an exit velocity of 111.6 and was Healys tenth home run of the season. Excited to work with Vintage Detroit on future orders. I saw Frank Howard hit his homer over the left field wall in Tiger stadium. Thome had over 600 home runs in his career. It is for that reason that we find their actions so thrilling, and will always want to identify them for special reward and distinction. But that massive outfield makes it all the more majestic when sluggers crush tape-measure homers, making this ballpark somehow look small. Many of them even rivaled the Babe's for distance. Mickey Mantle famously hit a ball 565 feet (or so the Yankees then-publicist claimed) into a neighborhood behind Washingtons Griffith Stadium, and he clubbed another that came feet from clearing Yankee Stadium. J.D. The vast popularity of major league baseball's home run hitting contest before the annual All-Star Game is ample evidence that we remain enamored of the players blessed with unique levels of power. I was on Trumbull listening to the game on the radio Ina car parked outside a bar when it came off and over the roof. A former football player, Gibby was sort of like a tight end without the shoulder pads in the outfield for Detroit. Reggie Jackson's 1971 All-Star Game shot at Tiger Stadium would have travelled more than. Franmil Reyes, Aug. 14, 2020 (462 feet)Reyes hit four of his nine home runs in 2020 off Tigers pitchers, but this was the memorable one. The distance traveled through the air has been obscured with the passage of time and herein lies an interesting aspect of this subject. The 22-year-old, who was called into England camp under Eddie Jones, fell awkwardly after being tackled by Tommy Reffell and injured his leg. Benjamin Tetteh scored his first goal for . Houston Astros Jake Marisnick hit a 469-foot home run to center field off Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price on June 18, 2017. Such a batted ball would require literally superhuman velocity, which would render the batsman capable of authoring 700 foot home runs. According to former Tiger Stadium groundskeeper Frank Feneckit, it took almost a howitzer to send a ball over the left-field grandstand at The Corner. It would have left Tiger Stadium, like Fielders shot, if not for a transformer perched on top of the right-field roof. It was estimated at well over 600 feet but later was reported to have hit a house three lots beyond Waveland Avenue, 530 feet from home plate. He was an honest, sometimes even self-effacing individual, who was never known to overstate his accomplishments. In 1921, major league teams averaged 59 home runs. Glenallen Hill - 500 Feet. There were no American League stadiums where Mantle played where he did not hit a home run of at least 450 feet to both the left and right sides of the field. When gargantuan Frank Howard hit a mighty home run off Robin Roberts in Philadelphia on September 1, 1958, the next great tape measure home run career was initiated. Zack Short hit his second home run in as many days in the fifth. Batting for the Reds against the Cardinals, Wally Post boldly launched a baseball where none had gone before at the original Busch Stadium in St. Louis. I don't live nearby so the ability to have it shipped for $10 was well worth the cost. 565-foot home run at Washington's Griffith Stadium on April 17, 1953 considered to be . Anything in the 500-foot range is genuinely historic. Others who should be recognized are Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey, Jr., Frank Thomas, and Andres Galarraga. Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers is credited with powering a ball 502 feet in the air over the left-field bleachers at Milwaukee's County Stadium on September 14, 1991. He is also the author of"Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball's Most Off-the-Wall Team Names.". . No player has ever cleared the left field roof. From a functional standpoint, it makes no difference by what margin a ball clears a set home run barrier. Ruths mammoth homer is the only ball to be confirmed to have left Navin Field/Briggs Stadium/Tiger Stadium in center field. The next truly great slugger in the chronology of long-distance hitting was Ted Williams, who arrived on the major league scene in 1939. Almost predictably, it is not the winners of the formal contest who receive the greatest admiration. 5:30 pm Darryl Strawberry hitting the large clock at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on October 1, 1985. 5. Honorable mentionsWe could go on all day, of course; dinger lore is wide and vast, and for the ones above we focused on more recent homers with ample video footage. And Zoilo (Versalles) hit some long balls, too. One of the most common question asked here at Baseball Almanac is who hit the longest home run ever. They did not or could not find a way to further reward the batter who hit a ball significantly farther than the established home run distance. Brubaker. At least six cities claim the Bambinos biggest blast. Cecil Fielder at Tiger Stadium (Aug. 25, 1990)The roof at the old Tiger Stadium was one of the most time-honored and imposing challenges for right-handed launchers, but it was bested in style by Detroits hulking slugger. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Ruth took a train to Wilkes-Barre two days after the 1926 World Series (imagine Kris Bryant playing an exhibition game later this weekfor a couple thousand people) and tattooed a ball 650 feet, according to members ofWilkes-Barre's City Government. That list is topped by the legendary Josh Gibson, and includes George "Mule" Suttles, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, and John Beckwith. Before, if you had power, you could hit the ball, said Oliva, who hit 220 home runs in 15 seasons. The ball was hit on August 16, 1935. The ball cleared the wide breadth of Grand Boulevard and landed on the sidewalk approximately 470 feet from home plate. With each passing year, others will join the long list of true tape measure champions. During the 1971 All-Star Game from Detroit's Tiger Stadium "Mr. October" delivered a massive game changing three-run homer to right field that cleared the entirety of the stadium's impressively high standing bleachers. St. Petersburg, Fla. Ruth was getting ready for his penultimate season when he drilled a spring training pitch off a hotel on March 25, 1934. And yet, everyone in attendance was apparently moved to awe and admiration by this single event, which resulted in the scoring of the lone run. Ted Williams called it one of the hardest hit balls hed ever seen. In order to fully understand and appreciate long-distance hitting, a frame of reference should be established. Hitters have been going well beyond that for over a decade. A suitable example can be identified in Ruth's classic Comiskey Park rooftopper on August 16, 1927. . The center field home run was Confortos 13th homer of the season. Top 10 Tigers homers of the decade. This was the second, as he jumped on a 3-2 fastball from then-Marlins pitcher Dustin McGowan and hit it off the base of the brick wall behind the seats. Where was it hit? Returns & Exchanges If not for the obstruction, the ball would have carried . The home run is memorialized with a red seat in the right-field bleachers. Before participating in the varsity squad of William Howard Taft Charter High School, he developed his baseball skills in the West Valley Little League. & quot;According to the Detroit Free Press book "The Corner", the following have hit HR's out of Tiger Stadium: Norm Cash (did it 4 times) Mickey Mantle (did it 3 times) Kirk Gibson (did it 3 times) Jason Thompson (did it twice) Mickey Tettlton (did it twice) Tony Clark . As long as baseball has been played, observers and participants alike have been fascinated with those rare individuals who have been capable of batting balls farther than others of their time. This is dramatized by the fact that Connor's blow was the only home run he would hit that season. Any drive over 400 feet is noteworthy. Tell us in the comments. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alan Foster. Along with Roger Connor, the longest hitters in the early days of the major leagues during the 19th century included such men as Harry Stovey, Buck Ewing, Jocko Milligan, and Ed Delahanty. Note aperture." 18 Sources In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. The home run went to straightaway center field, clearing the stadium and landing into the street. Perhaps the mightiest of all the early sluggers was Big Dan Brouthers, who played for several National League teams before the turn of the century. The homer was Machados 11th of the season. Reggie came off the bench in the 1971 Midsummer Classic and golfed a ball off Pirates righty Dock Ellis that traveled an estimated 530-some odd feet. That magnitude of Ruth's accomplishment can be understood with the knowledge that, because home plate had been moved, the distance to the grandstand for Gibson was 341 feet, while for Ruth it was 365 feet. Ruths barnstorming team traveled to Fort Wayne shortly after the Yankees won the 1927 World Series. Friday 3 March 2023 21:59, UK. That was the start of modern long-distance hitting, and it is a testimony to Ruth's uniqueness that he was able to set objective standards of performance that have never been surpassed. Allen walloped 18 home runs over the 75-foot-high left-field grandstand at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium, but his opposite-field drives to right and right-center fields may have been even more impressive. His tremendous blow to right-center field in Detroit on June 8, 1926, has often been reported as traveling over 600 feet. The ball eventually landed in the left-field upper deck, where no man had gone before. I remember watching the 1971 blast as a 12 year old on TV with my family living in Michigan at the time. I think the Tigers won that game in the bottom of the 9th, when they were losing but then Jim Northrup hit a grand slam to win the game. This ball might have evaporated into the clouds if the Big O roof wasnt in its path. Who is baseball's mightiest batsman and how far can he hit a baseball? In: MLB Detroit's Tiger Stadium (the name was changed from Briggs Stadium) was a favorite Mantle hunting ground for legendary home run blasts. A Mickey Mantle homer was originally estimated to have gone 734 feet. One of the major highlights as a kid back then was that game and especially that Jackson blast that Curt Gowdy called for a national viewing audience. The greatest confirmed home run distance in Major League Baseball is about 575 feet (175 m), by Babe Ruth, to straightaway center field at Tiger Stadium (then called Navin Field and prior to the double-deck), which landed nearly across the junction of Trumbull and Cherry. Check the home run lengths of all seventy Mark McGwire blasts and all sixty-six Sammy Sosa's shots in the fabulous feats section. The trajectory had it coming near me but it just never came down inside the ballpark! Such renowned sluggers and extraordinary physical specimens as Jose Canseco and Juan Gonzalez have never come genuinely close to the 500-foot threshold. The drive to left had an exit velocity of 109 mph, according to Statcast, and reached the base of the brick wall behind the left-field seats. I was a little concerned it would let look as good as I hoped, but when I put it on, I loved it. Similarly, Comiskey's left-field roof was also visited by many batted balls, but only one is confirmed to have cleared it on the fly. On June 2, 2017, Manny Machado hit a 465-foot home run off Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello. Accounts from that gray afternoon put Hills rooftop homer at 490 feet; Hill told the Chicago Tribune to move that up to 700 feet. The same process was at work for Mantle on September 10, 1960, in Detroit, where his right-center-field rooftopper was reported to have traveled more than 600 feet. Ruth hit the ball clear out of Navin Field (Tiger Stadium) to center field, a shot Jenkinson. Despite the scarcity of film on Ruth, we can still make definitive evaluations of the approximate landing points of all of his 714 career home runs. Since 2015, Nomar Mazara owns the longest homer distance at 505 feet. Chicago White Sox right fielder Joe Borchard hit a 504-foot home run to right-center field off of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers. Ted Williams, June 9, 1946. Paul was great to work with and offered to delay shipping when I told him I would be on vacation on the original delivery date. Enjoy the dingers. Miguel Cabrera later became known for reaching the camera perch above that. On July 7, 2021, Texas Rangers Joey Gallo hit a 462-foot home run off of Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize. Thats 59 home runs for each team for the entire season. Little could they have anticipated how great and immediate would be the return on their investment. On the first strike out , he threw his bat, so the fans were booing loudly, and banging the wood seats each time he came up to bat! The blast had an exit velocity of 118.3 mph and was Judges 52 home run of the season. As I recall, it was a sunny Sunday afternoon that day. Jason Thompson. Here, in no particular order, are 12 absolutely massive homers we wish came under Statcast tracking. By 1995, the sponsorship had changed, but the program had been expanded to include every big league ballpark. No one had hit one that far before. Well, the whole Yankees roster did in 1929 for an exhibition against Sing Sing Correctional Facility inmates. As a lifelong Tigers fan, I have been fortunate enough to see two players clear the fence. There have been claims . Longest home run in the history of every single MLB stadium BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 26: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees at bat during the top of the first inning of the. Certainly, this drive was propelled somewhere around 500 feet in the air, which makes it legitimately historic, but proof that it traveled 600 feet cannot be found. Barry Bonds holds the all-time home run record in Major League Baseball Sadaharu Oh, pictured here in 2006, holds the officially verified all-time world home run record in professional baseball. Those are amazing stats, and yet they dont measure to Killebrews 522-foot blast. In the case of Nicholson, who was a powerful man, as was Kingman, the figure of 573 feet was provided by "White Sox mathematicians." Randy Johnson went 20-4 with a 2.28 ERA and 291 strikeouts in 1997, but in this case, power collided with power. It may be appropriate to cite another example of this same optical illusion. San Diego Padres Franmil Reyes hit a 479-foot home run on June 5, 2018, against Atlanta Braves pitcher Luke Jackson. Ruth later claimed this was the longest home run he ever hit, the News-Sentinel reported. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Mickey Mantle 1973 - His Last Home Run in Yankee Stadium, OTD, 8/11/1973 YanksAtShea 6.23K subscribers 1.4M views 11 years ago YanksAtShea finds another archival goodie (some video-audio. The same home runs that had once been described as 500 footers were now being scientifically calculated in the 450-foot range. The rules of baseball were made and refined by men; they have limitations. Fort Wayne, Ind. Thats one of the reasons fans in Detroit were dumbfounded on July 18, when The Big Fella, a muscular slugger for the Yankees named Babe Ruth, did something no one had ever done before. On September 30, 2017, New York Yankee Aaron Judge hit a 496-foot home run to left-center field off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman. The longest home run in the seven-year history of Montreal's Olympic Stadium came off the bat of retired Pittsburgh slugger Willie Stargell. Ted Williams' most famous home run was his last, No. Mo Vaughn at Shea Stadium (June 26, 2002)When the Shea Stadium workers put up that giant beer ad, did any of them think someone would hit a baseball off the blue part, three-quarters of the way up? Though its difficult to get an official handle on home run distances, the clout would rank, by any measure, among the longest of all time. 3. In case you're not familiar with it, Jackson hit what I believe is the longest home run of my lifetime, and I've been around a while. Tampa, Fla. Ruth was wearing a Red Sox spring training uniform when he drove a 587-foot round-tripper on April 4, 1919 in Tampa. And then, wouldnt you know it, big Cecil did just that. - The University of Missouri baseball team will open its first home series of the 2023 season this weekend at Taylor Stadium, hosting Texas Southern for a three-game set consisting of two seven-inning games on Saturday (March 4) and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday (March 5). Awed by such a demonstration of power, the writers would then describe the event for posterity as a 500-and-some-foot home run. Dismiss, Copyright 2022 Vintage Detroit Collection, Spinnaker Center, 44692 Helm St, Plymouth. Babe Ruth was said to have hit a home run over 600 feet. This feat was accomplished at a time before home runs were hit with enough frequency to be considered a regular part of the game. Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa hit a 484-foot home run to left-center field on April 12, 2002. When Kingman launched his wind-aided blow in Chicago, The New York Times somehow concluded that it had flown 630 feet. If you have the power, you hit the ball; if you dont have the power, you dont.. The second one was Gibbys blast in 1983, when some friends and I got bleacher tickets, and sat dead center, giving us a great view of the ball as it sailed out of the ballpark. TAMPA, Fla. - The No. Hank Greenberg and Willie Horton might also qualify as long time Tigers. Oliva said it was harder to hit one out at Metropolitan than at the Metrodome. On April 4, 2001, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Vinny Castilla hit a 478-foot home run to left field off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Joey Hamilton.