David Ortiz infers Ted Williams 502' HR Was a Fraud (Disrespected Again)

[ShaneDawg85]

Didn't he actually say that Brooks was awesome, but he thought Beltre was better? That's not quite the same, although I'm sure some will still never forgive him his blasphemy.

That is what he said, but the brush back was absolutely nothing compared to the ridiculous heat that Cal got.

[baltfan]

Kind of strange that he would say a 502 foot homer was bogus. We know for a fact that McGuire hit multiple homers that far. Now, maybe he is just doubting it can be done without roids, but the distance isn't out of reach.

http://www.themick.com/macvsmick.htm

Big Mac's Ten Longest Home Runs:

1. 545 ft. ? 5/16/98, vs. Florida, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Livan Hernandez

2. 538 ft. ? 6/24/97, vs. Seattle, at Seattle, Pitcher: Randy Johnson

3. 527 ft. ? 5/12/98, vs. Milwaukee, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Paul Wagner

4. 527 ft. ? 9/16/97, vs. Los Angeles, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Ramon Martinez

5. 514 ft. ? 4/20/97, vs. Detroit, at Detroit, Pitcher: Brian Moehler

6. 511 ft. ? 7/17/98, vs. Los Angeles, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Brian Bohannon

7. 509 ft. ? 8/26/98, vs. Florida, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Justin Speier

8. 504 ft. ? 9/02/97, vs. Chi. White Sox, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Jaime Navarro

9. 502 ft. ? 8/22/99, vs. New York Mets, at New York, Pitcher: Octavio Dotel

10. 501 ft. ? 8/30/98, vs. Atlanta, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Dennis Martinez

[Number5]

Ex-Oriole Dave Nicholson hit a mammoth home run while with the White Sox in the 1960's. Not sure of the details, but I recall it being said to be one of the longest ever hit.

[Redskins Rick]

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/art_hr.shtml

Good article at that link and explaining how the old era home run distances were not quite correct.

In order to fully understand and appreciate long-distance hitting, a frame of reference should be established. Any drive over 400 feet is noteworthy. A blow of 450 feet shows exceptional power, as the majority of major league players are unable to hit a ball that far. Anything in the 500-foot range is genuinely historic. For perspective, consider the computerized measuring system implemented by IBM in most major league cities in 1982. By 1995, the sponsorship had changed, but the program had been expanded to include every big league ballpark. During those years, only one drive of 500 feet was confirmed by this system. Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers is credited with powering a ball 502 feet in the air over the left-field bleachers at Milwaukee's County Stadium on September 14, 1991. Such renowned sluggers and extraordinary physical specimens as Jose Canseco and Juan Gonzalez have never come genuinely close to the 500-foot threshold. The best effort on the part of either player was Canseco's famous blast into the fifth level at Toronto's Sky Dome during the 1989 American League playoffs, which was estimated at 484 feet. It should be noted that those regular references over the years to 500- and 600-foot home runs were born out of scientific ignorance, misinformation, or even deliberate exaggeration. The most common cause for overstatement has been the basic misconception about the flight of a batted ball once it has reached its apex

[weams]

Kind of strange that he would say a 502 foot homer was bogus. We know for a fact that McGuire hit multiple homers that far. Now, maybe he is just doubting it can be done without roids, but the distance isn't out of reach.

http://www.themick.com/macvsmick.htm

Big Mac's Ten Longest Home Runs:

1. 545 ft. ? 5/16/98, vs. Florida, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Livan Hernandez I

2. 538 ft. ? 6/24/97, vs. Seattle, at Seattle, Pitcher: Randy Johnson

3. 527 ft. ? 5/12/98, vs. Milwaukee, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Paul Wagner

4. 527 ft. ? 9/16/97, vs. Los Angeles, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Ramon Martinez

5. 514 ft. ? 4/20/97, vs. Detroit, at Detroit, Pitcher: Brian Moehler

6. 511 ft. ? 7/17/98, vs. Los Angeles, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Brian Bohannon

7. 509 ft. ? 8/26/98, vs. Florida, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Justin Speier

8. 504 ft. ? 9/02/97, vs. Chi. White Sox, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Jaime Navarro

9. 502 ft. ? 8/22/99, vs. New York Mets, at New York, Pitcher: Octavio Dotel

10. 501 ft. ? 8/30/98, vs. Atlanta, at St. Louis, Pitcher: Dennis Martinez

I am told that Ortiz was not impugning the reputations of any of those folk. Or of Ted Williams. Just the historical inaccuracy of the account of a poke that is small compared to them. Or maybe he just does not believe that without all the Chemical help he has had in his career they could even accomplish such feats. Like Carl Everett. And Dinosaurs.

[weams]

Ortiz is the measuring stick for baseball historians. No player should be allowed to be in the HOF that played between Ortiz first year with Boston through when he retires. Just shows how the PED testing is a joke during that time period.

Truer words have never been spoken. But he did test dirty. We just are not supposed to know about that. Even though he admitted it finally.

[weams]

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/art_hr.shtml

Good article at that link and explaining how the old era home run distances were not quite correct.

But the seat was hit. So how is that relevant here?

[weams]

I think the most impressive home run I ever saw on TV was the one Reggie Jackson hit in the 1971 all-star game.

The ball hit a transformer that was about 100 feet above the field. According to this article, its distance if it hadn't hit the transformer would have been 530 feet. http://www.realclearsports.com/lists/top_10_mlb_allstargame_moments/reggie_jackson_1971_homerun.html?state=stop

Reggie could hit them. He was not any bigger than Ted. Was he?

[Dipper9]

Is this the Baltimore equivalent of Manny saying that Brooks wasn't that good of a third baseman?

It was Cal, not Manny.

[Tx Oriole]

I hate to agree with Big Sloppy, but he's right.

I never saw Ted Williams play, but I know that he wasn't nearly the size of a roided up Ortiz. And he still hit it 50 feet farther than Ortiz ever has? I seriously doubt Williams ever hit to the red seat. And if he did, there must have been a hurricane behind it, as Ortiz said.

If you never saw him play how do you know? I wouldn't give any credence to big

Papi.

[Moshagge3]

Something I've been wondering is, how does Darryl Strawberry still have the longest HR ever at Camden Yards at 465 feet? That was almost twenty years ago. According to ESPN Home Run Tracker there have been 12 homers so far *this year* longer than 465 feet. Why is nobody hitting these long HRs at Camden Yards, where we're told all the time "the ball really flies"??

[Crabcakes]

Don't understand Ortiz's (& others) doubts about Williams HR...wasn't Williams the first player to hit a home run out of Tiger (Brigg) Stadium?.......just because Roidtiz didn't do it doesn't mean it can't be done...

[Old#5fan]

I think that it's possible that in the past balls were significantly livelier than they are today. Or at least the quality control wasn't nearly as good and some balls were significantly livelier. Otherwise it's hard to reconcile stories of very long homers in prior eras when all the other known conditions should have led to much shorter home runs. If Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and others of that era couldn't hit a steady diet of 90+ mph fastballs anything remotely close to 565 feet, then how did Mickey Mantle supposedly do that before weightlifting, rock-hard maple bats, with slower pitching, etc? The physics don't make sense unless the ball was different.

While what you espouse is probably true as back the people didn't have steroids but what they did have was "working man strength that came from hard work and manual labor. I would put a similar size farmer back in those days up against these steroid aided phonies today and they would put them to shame.6

[weams]

Don't understand Ortiz's (& others) doubts about Williams HR...wasn't Williams the first player to hit a home run out of Tiger (Brigg) Stadium?.......just because Roidtiz didn't do it doesn't mean it can't be done...

He wants you to believe that though. Also Ted was bigger Than Reggie Jackson. He was.

[weams]

While what you espouse is probably true as back the people didn't have steroids but what they did have was "working man strength that came from hard work and manual labor. I would put a similar size farmer back in those days up against these steroid aided phonies today and they would put them to shame.6

Tipping Cows and such? Laying railroad ties in the off-season?