re: Longest Home MLB Home Runs "Historical" Discussion.

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The day after, Harry interviewed Mark Grace

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Pretty sure that was in 1999 and Harry was dead by then

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. I honestly think people have no idea how far 580+ feet actually is

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That’s certainly what it is. They have no idea how far 500 feet is. Most of it has to do with stadiums—we almost never see where huge home runs are ever allowed to actually land, only where they are predicted to have landed we’re there not stands in the way. So we’ve all been conditioned—based 99% on information we’ve consumed on 2-dimension TV—to, in a split second perceive where the ball hit on the bat, the angle we see it come off in limited frame, the speed it comes off in that same limited frame or 2, and sometimes the sound it makes, and compare it to where it lands in the seats relative to where it went out, and the distance we’re given by the production team.

And honestly, if you’ve watched enough baseball, we’re pretty good at predicting those distances before they’ve been given because we’ve seen so many before. We “know” what a 420 ft home run is supposed to look like. We know what a 450 ft home run is supposed to look like. Because we’ve been conditioned take what we see, process it, and just believe what we’re told. But actually taking a tape measure and walking those distances on an open field is a totally different thing. Because we’ve been conditioned to use the field and stadium in our mental calculations. 500 feet is a fricking long way away from home plate.

That said, I don’t think there’s any way Mickey Mantle hit one 565 ft., but he was a fricking freak and it wouldn’t surprise me if he had hit 1 or 2 as far as anybody ever. He may never have lifted a single weight, but was born a specimen and grew up in Oklahoma, probably chopping wood and bailing hay all his life. Cockstrong as a motherfricker.

Though, gun to my head, and all things being equal (ball, wind, etc…), I’d bet that Bonds’ bomb off Percival would have landed farther from home plate than any other home run I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure it’s possible to hit a ball harder. The torque that dude generated was simply unbelievable. Even when he was a lanky little Pirate. Add to that the extra mass and strength he was working with at that point in his career, I’d bet the math would confirm that were it possible to accurately ascertain.

there is just such a big gap between "mickey mantle hit the furthest homer ever" and "he could have hit a ball 580 feet and i can use my eyes to determine the distance"

the former is absolutely reasonable. the latter is beyond laughable

I thought so as well, I was at Minute Maid towards the end of the season, when Mcgwire hit one out of Minute Maid that high off the building behind the stadium. It may have even landed on the roof. I don't know the distance it was, but it was a moonshot.

That was a great World Series in general, but it had some scuds hit too. That Bonds homer is just next level though. Percival was aggressive and gave him 96 belt high…

Being an 8 iron out on a golf course and then picturing someone hit a baseball that far is long as shite

Let me ask you this question… does stat cast have the capability to take an old footage of a homer, say Bonds in 02 series, and apply launch angle and exit velocity to provide an estimate of distance?

I just looked and the home run off Percival is estimated 485 feet. Seems low to me.

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Let me ask you this question… does stat cast have the capability to take an old footage of a homer, say Bonds in 02 series, and apply launch angle and exit velocity to provide an estimate of distance?

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I don’t really know. I would presume that it can be done. But the quality of the estimate would be based on the quality of the footage and the available angles.

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That’s still the furthest ball I’ve ever seen hit.

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Sup, Troy.