I thought it was Frankie Howerd....he died back in the '90's. The same weekend as Benny Hill......both died alone in their respective apartments.
Sorry my man - But it's been widely known, scrutinized, publicized and on and on that The Mick hit the one and only true tape measure home run out of the House of Ruth. His homer that day hit the advertising facade in left field, bent it and continued way beyond out into the neighborhood beyond Yankee Stadium. I forget exactly but I believe it was 550ish ft range. Do I believe Mick said that about Howards shot - of course. Mantle was that kind of guy. And Howard was that deserving of Mick's respect. But Mantle's was the longest shot ever hit out of that park. I'm just a huge Mantle fan and had to speak up.
Let me know where you're getting that info from. There never was advertising on the facade. I saw Mantle play in person. I watched him and Maris in 61. He never hit a ball out of the stadium. Two close ones; one off Bill Fisher and another off Pedro Ramos, both hit the RIGHT field facade, but not out. Hitting left-handed. He never hit the facade hitting right-handed. I also have a photo I took of the Mick going into the dugout as I sat immediately behind it.
You have my apologies Wiley - First you're not the only one to see Mantle play. I have an old b & w photo taken of him by my brother when the Yankees were in town and it was camera day at Metropolitan Stadium - new home of the old Washington Senators aka The Minnesota Twins - still owned by the Griffith family w/Calvin at the helm. (Cheapskate Cal) We all grew up Yankee fans ala my father who grew up during their best days and arguable their best players. We had all their baseball cards (until my father decided one day to clean the basement and get rid of all these worthless cards from his 7 boys - (insert groan) You see we didn't have a pro team until the Senators moved to MN Oct 1961. Every time thereafter when the Yanks were in town my dad took us to a game and plunked us out in the bleachers in left field for $2 per While he and my mom sat in boxes right behind the plate. I saw Mick collapse on the base path that fateful day when he jacked one and couldn't make it to first base. Here's where the deserved apology comes in - I went back to my source - maybe the most researched biography ever written on the Mick. "Mickey Mantle - The last boy of baseball". Written by Jane Levy. The "Tape Measure Home Run" shot was off the facade and did go into the neighborhood behind the stadium on April 17, 1953. It was also the longest home run ever hit in recorded history at 565 ft. But the "there" was Griffith stadium while playing Washington in DC. - Not Yankee Stadium. And consequently the longest hr ever hit there. So there you have it - my bad. Good catch.
That's cool. My Dad was an avid baseball fan, took me to Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. Many, many times. That shot at Griffith Stadium (off Chuck Stobbs ) actually started the "tape measure" characterization of long home runs. And all this I know from my head, not looking up a single thing. Example: regular Yankees lineup of the early 60's = Kubek, Richardson, Maris, Mantle, Berra, Howard, Skowron, Boyer, Pitcher. I was at YS when Mantle hit a 502 ft home run over the centerfield black backdrop off White Sox pitcher Ray Herbert. The Mick was my idol as a youth. I remember him telling the Frank Howard incident many years ago. He was looking up at the ball go over the facade as he was at the foul line and says the ball was fair, but the 3B ump called it foul. Frank Howard was a slugger, along with another great I admired Harmon Killebrew.
