Posted by: Sam Procito () on Sat Jul 10 16:46:15 2004

hi, i was reading about Micky and i found that he hit alot of 500, 600 foot homeruns, and i even read of one going over 700 feet,
> > > > i was wondering if anybody new how he generated such power and why none of todays players hit balls that far
> > > > Thanks alot
> > > > Ron
> > >
> > >
> > > In 20 or 30 years from now, a lot of Bond's shots will be said to have went 700 feet also.
> >
> >
> >
> > Good Point. Mickey Mantle was very strong, especially for his size 5ft 11in 200lbs. But for him to have hit balls 600 to 700ft is probably a stretch based on either projected distance or where a homerun ball was found (including the bounces). He did possess excellent rotational mechanics and swung from his heels (probably swung harder than Sammy Sosa). The fact that no one has ever hit a fair ball out of Yankee Stadium suggests that he probably did not hit balls 600ft or more. >
> > > Time has a way of healing things and it also seems to have a way of stretching things.
>
> Hi,
>
> There is no reliable evidence for a Mantle home run longer than about 506 feet. As Adair talks about in his book, "The Physics of Baseball", the so-called longest home run of Mantle was the ball hit out of the old Griffith Stadium, quoted by numerous people to be 565 feet. Adair shows in his book that based on the dimensions of the park, where the ball cleared the park, that a much better estimate of that actual home run was 506 feet.
>
> As the previous poster pointed out, no one - not Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Reggie Jackson, etc. ever hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium (though legend has it that Josh Gibson hit 2 balls out). Thus, Mantle's 506 foot blast still appears to be the longest ball ever hit, but not absurdly further than the 475 foot home runs hit from time to time even today.
>
> -JJA

I dont think that any of todays players should be mentioned in the same sentence as Mantle. Mantle lived a life styple that hindered his performance, he was a drinker. Today's hitters take performance enhancing "stuff," play in smaller parks with a more lively ball.

To day's numbers are irrelevent to the history of the game. That history has been destoryed.

S Procito