5/26/2024

502 feet, can you imagine?


In late April, I watched a Red Sox game on TV. In the game, the Red Seat was shown. The seat is painted bright red and it’s where Red Sox legend Ted Williams blasted a home run that went 502 feet back in 1946.

 

I went to Boston before and for me, a key thing to do was to visit Fenway Park. Hence, I participated in a stadium tour. The tour was amazing and I really like the tour guide. He just showed a lot of passion about the Red Sox. Of course, he told the story about the red seat. While seeing the red seat on TV again, I began to think about a question. Did any players recently crush a home run that went as far as Ted Williams did?

 

To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the statcast website.

 

Home Run (Projected Distance>=500, 2015~2023)

Player

Distance (ft.)

Date

Nomar Mazara

505

2019.06.21

C.J. Cron

504

2022.09.09

Giancarlo Stanton

504

2016.08.06

 

The statcast data has become available since 2015. From 2015 to 2023, there were 3 players who blasted a home run that went at least 500 feet.

 

On August 6, 2016, Giancarlo Stanton played for the Marlins. He crushed a home run in the top of the 5th inning at Coors Field. That home run’s projected distance was 504 feet. No one will ignore Stanton’s power and his ability to hit the ball hard and far. Stanton already blasted 400+ home runs in his career. From 2015 to 2023, there were 34 times that Stanton hit a home run that traveled at least 450 feet.

 

In addition, Nomar Mazara hit a home run at Globe Life Park in Arlington on June 21, 2019. And that home run went really deep with a projected distance of 505 feet. Nomar Mazara played 7 seasons in the majors and he crushed 85 home runs. In his career, there were 5 times that he smashed a home run that went at least 450 feet.

 

Finally, on September 9, 2022, C.J. Cron blasted a home run in the bottom of the 4th inning. That home run was hit at Coors Field and that ball’s projected distance was 504 feet. C.J. Cron hasn’t played any games in the majors so far this season. From 2015 to 2023, Cron had 176 home runs. Among those 176 home runs, 23 HRs went at least 450 feet.


From 2015 to 2023, as we can see, only 3 home runs went at least 500 feet. Additionally, none of those home runs were hit at Fenway Park. And, interestingly, 2 of those 3 home runs were hit at Coors Field. Without doubt, Ted Williams is certainly a legendary hitter in baseball history. However, it’s not easy to see a player hit a home run that went as far as the one that Ted Williams hit at Fenway Park. In particular, it might be really hard to hit a home run that reaches 500 feet at Fenway Park. It will be interesting to see which player will be the next one to hit a home run that travels at least 500 feet. Perhaps, we can take a look at some games at Coors Field and see who's next.



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