The Longest Home Runs Ever Hit

Richie Sexson stood so tall in the batters box you would think that he was tall enough to play in the NBA. The 6’6″ journeyman outfielder had great extension, enough to hit 306 career homers, mostly during his prime with the Seattle Mariners and the Milwaukee Brewers. He smoked his longest career home run in Arizona off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Francis Beltran. The majestic shot actually hit the scoreboard above the centerfield fence.

When Adam Dunn strides to the plate, it is usually a 50-50 proposition. The slugger will either strike out or mash a hanging curve ball into the bleachers. And just because he bats from the left side, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to strategize by putting a southpaw on the mound. In September 2008, Dunn crushed a fastball from Colorado lefty Glendon Rusch that hit the Jumbotron at Chase Field. Besides Dunn, only Mickey Mantle and Mark McGwire appear twice on this list, proving Dunn swings a mean bat. The Dunn homer is at 6:20 in the video.

Big Mo struggled with injuries late in his career, but you’d never know it witnessing this moon shot he hit as a member of the New York Mets. His prime years were spent as a fan favourite in Boston, where his big frame and patented swooping, uppercut type of swing produced a lot of dingers. He was Big Papi before Big Papi. The tater in this video caused a ripple in the giant right field Jumbotron at Shea Stadium.

Thome had a sweet, sweet home run swing. Enough to belt 612 big flies in his 22-year career and enough to get him into the Hall of Fame when he’s eligible.  As popular a player who ever donned a Cleveland Indians uniform, Thome victimized Kansas City Royals hurler Don Wengert for a homer that made it right out of Jacobs Field, to the amazement of the fans, TV commentators, coaches and teammates alike. It may not have been the only home run ever to leave Jacobs Field, but it was memorable.

Affectionately known to Red Sox fans as Big Papi, Ortiz unloaded on many a hapless pitcher, sending home runs rocketing past Pesky’s pole at Fenway. After playing a major role in the Red Sox 2004 championship drive, Ortiz joined an all-star team for a tour of Japan. In a 5-3 win against the Japan Stars at the Tokyo Dome, Ortiz drove a ball into the lights high above the upper deck in right field. Domo Arigato, Big Papi.

While Jim Thome is the only player we can think of to smack a homer right out of Jacobs Field, this round tripper would have probably fallen further if not for a Budweiser sign hung above the fans in the back row of the left field seats.  The A’s McGwire hit the ball so hard off of Cleveland’s Orel Hershiser that it caused the veteran pitcher to mouth the word “wow” as the ball sailed into the left field bleachers. Though this home run is impressive, it pales in comparison to the one later in this list, an absolute blast against future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.

There really is nothing like getting the head of the bat out on a high fastball. The Straw Man was one of the best at it, as evidenced by his dinger that hit the lights on Opening Day at Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 1988. It was quite the shot, something that had never been seen at the ‘Big O.’ Strawberry even stopped at second base after the ball hit the roof of the stadium, unsure whether to complete his home run trot, until the umpire gave him the go-ahead to touch them all.

One big advantage of being a slugger for the Colorado Rockies are the friendly confines — and thin air — of Coors Field. However, the longest home run in Rockies history came in a road game against the Florida Marlins in May, 1997. This particular homer came courtesy of “The Big Cat” Andres Galarraga, who absolutely smoked an inside pitch from Marlins’ ace Kevin Brown into the top deck of the old Pro Players Stadium. Brown wasn’t known for giving up a lot of home runs, but the Cat sure lit him up.

A familiar feat for power hitters at venerable Wrigley Field is to hit a home run onto Waveland Avenue. Then New York Mets slugger Dave ‘King Kong’ Kingman one upped everybody that came before him though, and everybody that has played at Wrigley Field since. Kingman didn’t just hit the ball onto Waveland Avenue, he hit it well beyond, bouncing the ball off of a fan’s front porch. Kingman hit at 13:57.

Mr. October was the architect of many classic post-season memories while wearing New York Yankees pinstripes. One of his greatest moments, however, came in a game that didn’t mean anything. In 1971, Reggie was representing the Oakland Athletics in the All-Star Game at Tigers Stadium. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Jackson crushed an outside fastball that eventually rang off of a transformer at the top of the stadium. Tiger Stadium was famous for its low roof and a few players have hit balls completely out of the ballpark, but Jackson’s 532-foot home run stands as one of the longest on record.

The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati isn’t a classic hitter’s field, statistically at least, but Adam Dunn sure tamed it. The Big Donkey, as he is known, hit 270 home runs for his original club, and none longer than the deep, deep bomb he drilled off a high Jose Lima fast ball in 2004. He could just have easily struck out, given his penchant for swinging freely, but the gamble paid off in a big way.

Not only did Big Mac hit this shot into the second deck of the Seattle Mariners’ former home, the Kingdome, he hit it off the back wall behind all the fans. It was as “no doubt about it” a home run as could possibly be. What’s most impressive about the moon shot is that McGwire hit it off of Mariners’ ace Randy Johnson, who would go on to win 20 games that year and nearly capture his second Cy Young. The surefire Hall of Famer was made to look like a minor leaguer, at least for one at bat.

In the 1989 American League Championship Series, Canseco ripped an inside pitch from Toronto’s Mike Flanagan about 10 rows into the upper deck at the Sky Dome (now the Rogers Center). It’s by far the longest home run ever hit at the Rogers Center and few players have gotten the ball up to the top deck. Canseco and fellow ‘Bash Brother’ Mark McGwire teamed to hit their share of monstrous homers with the Oakland Athletics, none bigger than this blast. And, the fact that this bomb came in the post-season makes it even more impressive.

Seven years before Mickey Mantle hit the longest home run ever recorded in a baseball game, he hit what was then the longest tape measure shot. That’s right, Mantle actually topped himself. This particular home run came off of a pitch by Senators’ right hander Chuck Stobbs in Washington D.C. in April, 1953. The New York Yankees’ travel coordinator estimated the distance of the home run to equal 565 feet. He used a tape measure to determine the exact distance of the home run, giving birth to the term “tape-measure shot.”

Historian Mark Gallagher estimated that the home run Mantle hit in September of 1960 at Tiger Stadium traveled a whopping 643 feet. The ball actually sailed right over the right field roof of the ballpark, which is mind-boggling to contemplate. This dinger off the bat of ‘The Mick’ went an estimated 140 feet further than the 15th longest home run on this list, which makes it that much more impressive.