Bojanowski: The longest home runs in Wrigley Field history
From SABR member Mike Bojanowski at Bleed Cubbie Blue on May 12, 2016:
The following is an exercise, and an indulgence, based on the new testimony clarifying the path of one of Wrigley Field’s legendary home runs, the blast by Roberto Clemente on May 17, 1959, in the second game of a doubleheader. See the recent Fanpost by David Speed for details and new testimony regarding this home run.
The home run that has usually been regarded as the longest in Wrigley history was struck by Dave Kingman, then a Met, on April 14, 1976, which landed on the grounds of 3705 Kenmore. Baseball’s Ultimate Power (Bill Jenkinson, 2010) a comprehensive list of the longest home runs, lists the Kingman shot at 540 feet (only Babe Ruth has longer homers in Jenkinson’s listings), and the Clemente homer at 510 feet. I witnessed the Kingman home run personally, it remains one of my indelible baseball memories.
What I propose is to use the measuring tools of Photoshop to delineate, compare, and estimate the Clemente and Kingman clouts. This is meant to be fun, and perhaps instructive. In no way is it claimed to be definitive. In these days of GPS, distances to the inch could no doubt be obtained, if agreed-upon points of origin were used. But I’m going to go old school. Never thought I would write that Photoshop was “old school.”
Read the full article here: http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2016/5/12/11662836/measuring-longest-home-runs-wrigley-field-history
- Related link: Click here to read part 2 of the series
Originally published: May 12, 2016. Last Updated: May 12, 2016.