Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb Highlight 1927 Opening Day
On April 17, 1953 – 1953: Dialing long distance is what home runs are called, and it’s arguable that nobody ever dials longer than Mickey Mantle does today. Batting right-handed, the New Yankees’ 21-year-old slugger blasts the ball out of Griffith Stadium in Washington off left-hander Chuck Stobbs. The homer is measured at 565 feet.
The towering drive soars way over the wall in left-center (which is 391 feet away), beyond the 55-foot high bleachers, then nicks a beer sign (which is 460 feet away) next to the football scoreboard. The ball caroms off to the right and flies out of sight.
A 10-year-old boy finds the ball in the street and Arthur Patterson of the Yankees’ front-office staff gives him $5 for it. Patterson gives the ball to Mantle.
Later in the Yankees’ 7-3 victory, Mantle also gets one of the longest bunt singles in history. From the left side, he drags a bunt that lands in front of second base and goes into center-field.
Some claim that Babe Ruth once hit a longer homer, but Clark Griffith, the Senators’ 83-year-old president, says Mantle’s drive went farther. “No doubt about it, that was the longest home run ever hit in the history of baseball,” he says.
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