NEWS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Bill Jenkinson: 267-250-2568 - billjenkinson@verizon.net100th Anniversary of the Longest Home Run Ever Hit in a Major League Game__________Hit By Babe Ruth on July 18, 1921Against the Detroit TigersAt Navin Field in Detroit_______Adapted from"Fact Transcends Myth: Babe Ruth in 1921"
Throughout 1921, Babe Ruth slammed jaw-droppingly long home runs, shattering record after record around the league and country. As documented in "The Year Babe Ruth Hit It 104 Home Runs", it remains the greatest individual slugging season of all time. No one has ever hit baseballs with as much power and dominance as Babe Ruth did in 1921. Among his many historically long slams in 1921 was the longest home run Babe Ruth ever hit, against Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. It remains unmatched to this day, one-hundred years later.
"At Detroit’s Navin Field on July 18, 1921, Babe Ruth did something that no one had ever done before, or since, and possibly never will again. Facing left-hander Bert Cole in the 8th inning, Ruth powered a baseball which carried a confirmed minimum distance of over 550 feet. To be sure, the conditions were perfect, but that linear flight measurement is hard to fathom."
"Ruth had walked in all four prior at-bats, so he must have been pumping adrenaline like a wild man when he faced Cole in the eighth. Even more importantly, a strong wind was blowing from the southwest at about 21 MPH straight toward the center field corner. That’s where Babe directed his thunderous blast. As the ball soared on and on, according to multiple first-hand newspaper accounts, the fans gasped in utter astonishment. How could they not? Ultimately, the horsehide sphere flew high over the junction of the right and left field walls which perpendicularly met at the remote corner of Trumbull Avenue and Cherry Street. Incredulous club officials produced stadium blueprints proving that the subject exit point was situated 560 feet from home plate."
"Not surprisingly, there was a nearly hysterical reaction to the event, and Navin Field soon became a kind of sacred pilgrimage destination. For months afterward, folks showed up to see for themselves. That included future Hall of Fame slugger Sam Thompson who had been one of the 19th Century’s mightiest batsmen himself. Sam had actually seen the drive in person, but had been so overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude that he kept coming back with invited friends."
"Estimates and alleged measurements abounded, ranging from 575 feet to a ridiculous 666 feet. Respected Detroit Free Press writer Harry Bullion eventually produced an affidavit swearing that the exact flight distance had been 585 feet. Let’s be conservative, and acknowledge that Babe’s historic masterpiece flew about 575 feet. As of 2021, it remains the best credentialed entry for the claim of the longest drive in the history of official Major League games.
