Milwaukee Brewers

StaTuesday: Longest home runs in Brewers history

Published Jun. 20, 2017 1:24 p.m. ET

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Dave Heller

There's a lot to like about a monster home run. Just ask Keon Broxton.

The Milwaukee Brewers outfielder crushed a pitch on Thursday night which was reported as being 489 feet, the longest home run hit at the new iteration of Busch Stadium.

Broxton, naturally, was impressed by his outburst of supreme power.

However, according to hittrackeronline.com -- which has tracked every home run in the major leagues since 2006 -- Broxton's homer traveled "only" 442 feet (sorry, Keon … but we're still impressed).

The website categorizes distance in two ways -- true and standard.



From the site's glossary, the true distance -- or actual distance -- is defined thusly: "If the home run flew uninterrupted all the way back to field level, the actual distance the ball traveled from home plate, in feet. If the ball's flight was interrupted before returning all the way down to field level (as is usually the case), the estimated distance the ball would have traveled if its flight had continued uninterrupted all the way down to field level."

Standard distance: "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. Standard distance factors out the influence of wind, temperature and altitude, and is thus the best way of comparing home runs hit under a variety of different conditions."

According to the website's calculations, Prince Fielder owns the longest home run for a Brewers player since 2006 at 486 feet, which occurred in Houston. He also has the longest homer at Miller Park, 484 feet.

Since 2006, Milwaukee has 39 home runs of 450+ feet and Fielder has nearly half of them with 17. Ten other players have had dingers that long, including Travis Shaw (twice) this year. Perhaps surprisingly, Rickie Weeks is second on the list with seven. Twenty-one have occurred at Miller Park.

About those two Fielder monumental blasts.

In 2006 it was reported at the time that Fielder's homer went 475 feet, making it second to only Russell Branyan's supposed 480-foot shot off Greg Maddux in 2004 in terms of longest homers at Miller Park.

The New York Times reported that Fielder took a "from-the-heels swing" with the ball such an obvious home run that Mets right fielder just stood and watched it fly while pitcher Jose Lima "looked awestruck."

The home run -- which was just the eighth of Fielder's career -- went off a Road Runner internet sign in the second deck.

"You can't try to do that," an understated Fielder said after the game. "I just try to make solid contact and let the ball do whatever it wants."

Mets manager Willie Randolph had served as a coach on the Yankees when Cecil Fielder played there.

"I remember when he was a little baby," Randolph said. "Now he comes back to haunt me. I used to give him candy."

The home run in 2011 at the time was recorded as being 450 feet, which would have made it the ninth-longest at Minute Maid Park (if that were an accurate number, that is).

"That's great but it still counts as only one," said Fielder after being told of his accomplishment.

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow, Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns

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