Longest HR at Miller Park (Reply 30: FSN censors Branyans raw power! Is there a Houston feed?)

[InsomniacInkRoss]

I love Branyan just as much as the next guy, but Jim Powell just credited him with the longest HR at Miller Park

 

I know it's a very arbitrary measuring system, but I would think Adam Dunn's monster shot into the Dew Deck last year would trump Branyan's

 

A note on the Dunn shot, it is the most impressive homer I have ever seen in person, and it also (in my mind) was one of the last few blows to my hopes for last season

[JoeHova]

That longest home run was not the one he just hit, it's one he hit a few years ago. I can't recall exactly which one it was though.

[TooLiveBrew]

480' off Maddux (CHN) in Russell's first game back with the Crew in 2006 (iirc...?)

[InsomniacInkRoss]

The Maddux one is the one I was referencing, how accurate is 480' though?

[Hammer]

To me, that seemed like a modest tape that evening. I was in the Dew Deck for the game on a company function and can honestly say we all thought that he hit it 500 feet. It was that big of a shot...

[jwill535]

wasnt that the one that went off the middle of the scoreboard?

[MJLiverock]

I remember the opening day shot Branyan hit a few years ago. I was at the game and it hit near Geoff Jenkins name in the lineup on the scoreboard iirc, or at least that is how I remember it. I think Jenks was either batting 3rd, 4th, or 5th, at the time so if you want to look at the scoreboard today to get an idea where it hit at that is where I would focus.

[rluzinski]

The Maddux one is the one I was referencing, how accurate is 480' though?

 

It's definately just an estimate. They note where the ball lands and try to adjust for its trajectory. If it lands outside the park, it's more of a guess than anything else.

[JoeHova]

***If it lands outside the park, it's more of a guess than anything else.***

 

I would think the opposite. If it actually lands somewhere, you can easily measure the distance from home plate. If it hits way up on a wall, that is where you have problems.

[berniebrewer4life]

wasnt that the one that went off the middle of the scoreboard?

IIRC, it was the one that hit off of the roadrunner sign in Right Center field.

[rluzinski]

I would think the opposite. If it actually lands somewhere, you can easily measure the distance from home plate. If it hits way up on a wall, that is where you have problems.

 

There isn't a video of where the ball even lands at Miller Park, is there? The only time I've seen an outside view is during the home run derby.

 

This place tries to be more exact about the calculations:

 

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/index.php?h=MIL&p=&b=

 

They only have 5% of 2005 done and I can't find the Branyan HR.

[Hammer]

wasnt that the one that went off the middle of the scoreboard?

IIRC, it was the one that hit off of the roadrunner sign in Right Center field.

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner. This is the one that I was referring to as well...

[jason21nl]

I was there for the Dunn shot, and I have never seen a ball hit further.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

To be fair, I don't remember seeing the Branyan ones (whichever it is), I am just putting the Dunn one up against the folklore I have always heard

[rluzinski]

Opening Day 2005

 

The 480' was in 2004. No video that far back.

[Baldkin]

Branyan's scoreboard shot was his first one on Opening day 2k5.

 

Prince hit one... 470+ off the Road Runner sign in right center (was at the game... still in awe).

[crewcrazy]

Home Run distance estimations are always fishy when it comes to the road teams...you get the feeling that the club doesn't want a visiting player to hold the record, and it's not just the Brewers that "tone down" the distance on visiting teams' homers. I'm sure Prince's 470-foot blast in Houston last year is a conservative guesstimate since he was a visiting player. If Lance Berkman hit it, they'd probably say it went over 500 feet.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

Dunn shot is here:

 

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/multimedia/tp_archive.jsp?c_id=cin&ym=200708

 

Aug 17th Two Run Homer

 

Hit Tracker calls it 467'

[PrimeTime955]

wasnt that the one that went off the middle of the scoreboard?

IIRC, it was the one that hit off of the roadrunner sign in Right Center field.

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner. This is the one that I was referring to as well...

That was prince that hit the road runner sign.

 

[LouisEly]

I'm sure Prince's 470-foot blast in Houston last year is a conservative guesstimate since he was a visiting player. If Lance Berkman hit it, they'd probably say it went over 500 feet.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but two slightly related questions:

 

1) How far did they estimate the "double" that Sexson hit off the pole in centerfield in Houston? That pole sits what, 430' from home and he bounced it off the pole halfway up? You can still see the mark on the pole. And since the pole is in play, it was not a HR.

 

2) How far did they measure the home run that Hart hit in Boston two weeks ago? I was there, and that puppy was up in the lights - literally, it crested in the lights above the Green Monster. I saw Prince's 465' blast that landed six rows from the top in Dodger Stadium last year; it was the hardest-hit ball I have ever seen leave a bat, but I think Hart's went farther.

[wisconsinfan47]

I'm sure Prince's 470-foot blast in Houston last year is a conservative guesstimate since he was a visiting player. If Lance Berkman hit it, they'd probably say it went over 500 feet.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but two slightly related questions:

 

1) How far did they estimate the "double" that Sexson hit off the pole in centerfield in Houston? That pole sits what, 430' from home and he bounced it off the pole halfway up? You can still see the mark on the pole. And since the pole is in play, it was not a HR.

2) How far did they measure the home run that Hart hit in Boston two weeks ago? I was there, and that puppy was up in the lights - literally, it crested in the lights above the Green Monster. I saw Prince's 465' blast that landed six rows from the top in Dodger Stadium last year; it was the hardest-hit ball I have ever seen leave a bat, but I think Hart's went farther.

Hittracker measures it at only 400. It seemed like more than that to me too. Interestingly enough, the Braun homer off Papelbon earlier that day that anded in the 2nd row of the monster was measure at 399. That ball got out in about 1.5 seconds.

 

 

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/

 

[flosses like fossas]

two points here:

 

1) i was at the branyan opening day '05 game and the dunn shot last year. ironically, given the new argument about a visiting player being credited with the longest shot, last year during the cleveland-anaheim snowed-in series in milwaukee travis hafner hit what i think is the longest home run i've seen in miller park. he hit a ball to right center (to the center field side of the bleachers) that hit off the back screen/window panel about as high as the second deck (i believe there used to be/are at&t and us bank signs out there). it was an absolute bomb. i remember watching it and glancing for a second at the people on the concourse below and seeing them just look up. the reason i think it was the longest is because it was on more of a line than the branyan moonshot.

 

2) didn't burnitz loft a shot up onto the dew deck in 2002? did i dream that?

[mtrebs]

I know this wasn't at Miller Park, but it was a very memorable home run for me...I remember a game against the Reds at their old stadium. The construction for their new stadium was under way and Sexson hit a blast that went out of left-center field and landed in the construction area waaaaayyy out of the park. It landed near a port-a-potty if I recall. When I saw that I thought to myself that it was 500+, but the announcers said it was estimated to be something way lower (like 425). Does anyone else remember this?

[owbc]

I thought the two longest HR hit by Brewers at Miller Park both hit the signs located in the RF power alley. The Branyan one (not related to Opening Day) hit the top part of the sign. The Prince Fielder one from May 12, 2006 against the Mets hit the roadrunner sign. The Branyan one hit the Cingular sign, which is located slightly farther away from home plate since it is to the left. Thus, I firmly believe that Branyan's HR is the longest.

 

I don't think any home runs that hit the CF scoreboard can qualify. The scoreboard is only about 405 feet from home plate. The HRs have it it maybe 30-40 feet up at most. So I don't see how anything that hits the scoreboard can be more than 440. Furthermore, the back wall at Miller Park is much farther back than the scoreboard, as the ball has to clear the opponents bullpen and a large concourse.

 

I don't know enough about the Dew Deck shots to comment, but I have never personally seen a ball hit there. The farthest HRs came during the home run derby in 2002 when Sammy Sosa hit one completely over the LF bleachers and out the window, which was estimated at over 500 ft.

[RightFieldCoder]

IIRC, the scoreboard is over the field of play, so it's "only" 402 feet away from home.

 

During warmups for the HR derby, I saw Vlad hit the ball farther than anyone I've seen. He hit the scoreboard by the ?Pepsi? sign next to the color scoreboard. The one at the top of the stadium. Sosa hit one during the contest that went out but wasn't as far. Vlad's ball was just reaching it's apex when it smacked off the sign. When Sosa was later caught with a corked bat, I started to wonder if they were all using corked bats during warmups. Vlad, Sosa, and someone else (don't remember who) where in the same group and were launching them wayyyy farther then what they hit during the contest.