Five Longest HR’s in MLB History
Five Longest HR’s in MLB History
When researching this, I was amazed to learn the longest ever recorded HR was hit by the immortal Babe Ruth over 100 years ago and the next four longest were all hit in the 1970’s (*except the equal 5th longest, hit in 2004). More HR’s are hit each year now than ever before but they aren’t hitting as far as they used to, despite the advances in the quality of the bats and the increased strength of the hitters.
Here are the five longest:
1. Babe Ruth, 575 Feet (1921)
This 575-foot dinger at Navin Field in Detroit was officially measured. Unofficially it’s rumored the Great Bambino hit one over 600 feet in 1926 but it wasn’t proven. Wow! All this with old, heavy, inferior bats and balls that supposedly didn’t fly as far through the air. What a freakish talent the Babe was!
2. Mickey Mantle, 565 Feet (1953)
Urban legends of Mickey Mantle’s power prowess have run wild. Initial estimates credited him with hitting a 656-foot bomb in college, a mark that seems impossible, even for an MLB star using performance-enhancing drugs. However, the story of his 565-foot moonshot is factual. The date was April 17, 1953. The place was Washington’s Griffith Stadium and the poor pitcher who threw the cookie was Chuck Stobbs.
3. Reggie Jackson, 539 Feet (1971)
Reggie Jackson’s 1971 blast was in the all-star game against Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Dock Ellis, who entered the Midsummer Classic sporting a 2.11 ERA. He had given up just four homers during the first half of the season. If not for hitting a transformer on Tiger Stadium’s roof, the baseball would have traveled 539 feet at an unthinkable speed of 124 mph off the bat. If you watch the ball rocket off his bat, it appears the roof might have stopped it from clearing Detroit altogether!
Tied 4. Willie Stargell, 535 Feet (1978)
Willie Stargell scorched plenty of moonshots over his career, with this hack on May 20, 1978 going further than any ball ever hit at Montreal Stadium. (535 feet). The HR was off Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton who said, “I never saw anything like it…He doesn’t just hit pitchers, he takes away their dignity.” This wasn’t even peak Stargell. He was 38 years old in this, his 16th season. The following year, his five postseason home runs led the Pirates to a World Series championship.
Tied 4. Adam Dunn, 535 Feet (2004)
The most recent historic blast was by left handed Adam Dunn at the Great Cincinnati’s American Ball Park on Aug. 10, 2004. The bomb was off the Reds pitcher, Jose Lima. Dunn finished the season with a career-high 46 long balls. Few sluggers were stronger in their prime, making him one of baseball’s most feared batters despite his strikeout woes.