And here is that home run, off a ball on the lower inside corner of the zone. Juan Francisco's...

And here is that home run, off a ball on the lower inside corner of the zone. Juan Francisco's Giant Splash Hit was the longest home run of the season to date, the second-longest HR in GABP history at a reputed 502 feet - and the only to clear the Moon Deck in the stadium's history.

The distance was announced over the GABP pubic address system.

As Slyde and Big League Stew notes, the 502 ft distance is disputed by ESPN's HR Tracker, which lists it at 482. That would bump it down to 6th longest in GABP history (though that list does not appear to have been updated since '08).

9 months ago RijoSaboCaseyWKRP 45 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Hit Tracker (now known as ESPN Home Run Tracker) puts the True Distance at 482 feet

Unfortunately they didn’t start tracking until 2005, so they don’t have the distance on Dunn’s blast in 2004. The longest blast they have on record at GABP was this bomb from Wladimir Balentien in 2009. Oddly enough, that HR doesn’t even appear on the Reds list of top 10 longest HR ever hit at GABP.

Follow on Twitter: @jluckhaupt. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Sep 13, 2011 9:33 AM EDT reply actions

I forgot to mention

seeing the HR live from Francisco was one of the coolest things I’ve seen at GABP all year. It was hit so hard that I was giddy when the ball left the bat. It was funny to see the fans watch the ball fly over their heads.

Follow on Twitter: @jluckhaupt. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Sep 13, 2011 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm glad I happened to be watching when he hit it.

You couldn’t even see the ball off the bat on TV, and then when the camera switched to the RF view, it couldn’t find the ball. Seems like not only did it go a mile, it got there fast.

It feels so nice to be back to normal

by nycredsfan on Sep 13, 2011 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I was there for teh Dunn home run off of Lima

Lidner was nice enough to send ticket vouchers to schools in the area, so I cashed mine on that day, and was in the upper deck. When the ball bounced off batters eye (before the fuckin boat), I looked at my girlfriend at the time and was giddy, I don’t think she fully understood why.

I break the backs of young children by shattering their dreams.

by Yossarian22 on Sep 13, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Longest HR

I can’t buy that the one Wlad hit went further than the one that Wily Mo hit that the Reds say went 498 feet. Wlad was more of a pull shot into the bleachers about half way up. Wily Mo’s was in the last section of the bleachers towards center, three rows from the top. I know that weather/wind come into play, but I just can’t buy that there was that much going on to cause a difference there.

www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Sep 13, 2011 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions

They have Wily Mo's HR at 476 and Balentien's at 495

Speed and trajectory are important too as they are estimating where it would have landed if it were unobstructed. Here’s Wlad’s HR’s path (click to see a bigger version):

Here’s Wily Mo’s:

And here’s Francisco’s:

Follow on Twitter: @jluckhaupt. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Sep 13, 2011 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Hmmm

To me, it looks like the one Wily Mo hit doesn’t have the “follow” trajectory. The ball ends in that picture right where it landed in the bleachers. Where as Wlad’s continues to go.

Did Greg change things up one year after 2005? That green landing spot for Wily Mo’s HR looks to be exactly the spot where it landed in the bleachers, and even if it were a majestically high HR, when it hit the bleachers it was probably still 150 feet in the air and wasn’t falling straight down. I am going off of memory of that HR, but I recall it seemingly landing further up the bleachers than where that marker is at. I tracked down the game article on Reds.com and it has a link to the video, but it appears that the video no longer is linked. Maybe I am crazy, but I think that Greg may have gotten that one wrong.

www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Sep 13, 2011 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

He may have changed methodology since 2005

that’s entirely possible.

Follow on Twitter: @jluckhaupt. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Sep 13, 2011 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Here's the video of the HR

Pop pop

Bart: "Dad, what's a Muppet?"
Homer: "Well, it's not quite a mop, not quite a puppet, but man... (laughs, then pauses) So, to answer you question, I don't know."

by ChiDa on Sep 13, 2011 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

WHOA.

Balentien and Francisco’s HRs were both their 3rd of the year and came when the Reds were down 3-0.

It will now be another 3 months before I comment again.

by jacob brumfield on Sep 13, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't remember the home run in question

But supposedly, one of the reasons home run distances are exaggerated is that they don’t have as much of a follow trajectory as people think. They come fairly straight down, because their energy is spent by then, but people expect the trajectory to be more symmetrical.

Actually, that broken branch is what I find really impressive about END’s homer last night. Assuming it’s legit, it’s pretty amazing that the ball still had enough oomph to break a tree branch at the point.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Sep 13, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Kinda like when Sammy Sosa was able to break an apartment window with a homerun

windows have been hit before, but they are designed for some impact, and usually the ball is losing energy by the time it gets out there.

I break the backs of young children by shattering their dreams.

by Yossarian22 on Sep 13, 2011 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I have vague memories of Dunn breaking a car window with a homer

Does anyone remember that?

There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright, Arredondo. They were shining there for you and me, for liberty, Arredondo.

by DTFH91 on Sep 13, 2011 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Not a scientist

but I think a vertical window would be harder to break than a car window. the ball will regain speed once it drops, and gravity takes over.

by Eastwindquinn on Sep 13, 2011 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions

There's an interesting SABR presentation comparing Balentien's shot

And The Mick’s fabled 565 HR in and out of Washington’s Griffith Stadium in 1953. Supposedly by trajectory and speed, the two shots are very similar. The author estimates that Mantle’s went 537 and Wlad’s went 517.

by ken on Sep 13, 2011 10:33 AM EDT up reply actions

565 "foot" HR

by ken on Sep 13, 2011 10:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Howard University Hospital was built on the site of Griffith Stadium

I live one block from Howard University Hospital. I really wish it was still a baseball stadium.

by Brendanukkah on Sep 13, 2011 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions

The top 10 list is probably based on the reds.com one, which says at the bottom it hasn't been updated since 2008

http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/ballpark/longest_hr.jsp

by ken on Sep 13, 2011 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Judging by HR tracker, it looks like that list should include

two HRs hit in in 2009 among the top 10: the Balentien HR and a Votto shot that would be tied for 10th.

Mgr., Red Reporter

"Every office I've been in, there has been a guy with weird scars that he needs to explain to you—'it was one of those old Xerox machines, with a lot of razors in it'... or a pale person with a novel of supernatural erotica that keeps getting left on the printer. Major League lineups need those guys, too." - David Roth

by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Sep 13, 2011 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I found the game story for Balentien's HR

and the estimated distance was 467 feet, which wouldn’t put it in the top 10 at GABP. However, if it was estimated using this tool, I doubt any HR distances are accurate within 30 feet.

Follow on Twitter: @jluckhaupt. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!

by Slyde on Sep 13, 2011 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I'd like to compile definitive list of longest GABP HRs

but with HR tracker going back to only 2005 – and some possible methodology changes? – I wonder if an accurate list could be done without forensic physics.

Mgr., Red Reporter

by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Sep 13, 2011 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Hit Tracker has done "true distances" for historic home runs

based on video and other historical records. Maybe they’d at least do Dunn’s. I’d like to see how it compares.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Sep 13, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

True distance is one thing

which may have been 482, but actual distance is another.

True distance is like OPS+ to actual distance’s raw OPS. END raw OPSed that ball over 500 feet.

expectations are premeditated resentments - cheshirecat

by kcgard2 on Sep 13, 2011 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I think you're thinking of standard distance

Standard distance is adjusted for weather and altitude: “The estimated distance in feet the home run would have traveled if it flew uninterrupted all the way down to field level, and if the home run had been hit with no wind, in 70 degree air at sea level.”

True distance is supposed to be the same as actual distance. The disparity between the league’s and hit tracker’s estimates show that there’s not a consensus on calculating HR length.

by ken on Sep 13, 2011 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh, my bad

thanks for the correction

expectations are premeditated resentments - cheshirecat

by kcgard2 on Sep 13, 2011 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

It was quite a shot for Francisco,

In 15 years he can tell his little monster babies, “I didn’t have a very good major league career, but in 2011 I hit the longest homerun that season”.

Then his hulking cannibal children can back to their feast of the first born sons, which they kidnapped in the middle of the night.

You had me at meat tornado. ~ Ron Swanson

by BigBabyBruce on Sep 13, 2011 10:38 AM EDT reply actions

except

Hit Tracker says Prince Fielder hit a longer one this season.

You know, the vegetarian.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Sep 13, 2011 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Fielders babies would then be especially tastey.

by Eastwindquinn on Sep 13, 2011 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Grass-fed

by Brendanukkah on Sep 13, 2011 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Nutritious but over-priced

Bart: "Dad, what's a Muppet?"
Homer: "Well, it's not quite a mop, not quite a puppet, but man... (laughs, then pauses) So, to answer you question, I don't know."

by ChiDa on Sep 13, 2011 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions

My avatar bet is looking pretty good so far

34 PA, .949 OPS.

A dope trailer is no place for a kitty.

by GlennBraggsSwingAndMissBrokenBat on Sep 13, 2011 11:06 AM EDT reply actions

I have no concerns.

Wear something sexy to my funeral.

by Pops Daniels on Sep 13, 2011 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions

How many PAs is the bet?

After last night, he’s at .845 after 38 PAs.

A bad stretch and numbers can drop fast in such a SSS.

It feels so nice to be back to normal

by nycredsfan on Sep 14, 2011 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

I believe the bet was 70.

Wear something sexy to my funeral.

by Pops Daniels on Sep 14, 2011 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

like all other statistical measurements...

This will prove to be faulty and inaccurate in time.

"the only place they lost was the scoreboard"

by Ewok on Sep 13, 2011 11:31 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Statistics come and go, but OBWOK's smugness is forever.

It feels so nice to be back to normal

by nycredsfan on Sep 13, 2011 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I went to OB Wok the other day

They were pretty smug about their General Tso’s.

Mgr., Red Reporter

by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Sep 13, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

you getting excited for the school year to begin?

It seems like you’ve been off work for months!

"the only place they lost was the scoreboard"

by Ewok on Sep 13, 2011 12:39 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Nah, that's just because I'm so efficient I have time for everything

I never really was off work. I worked a music camp all of July, then worked on and took my comprehensive exams in late August. Now I’m back at work, putting in 10 hour days.

I definitely don’t have time to be buying surfboards I’ll never use or anything like that.

It feels so nice to be back to normal

by nycredsfan on Sep 13, 2011 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs