Babe's Longest Homer

At Tampa's Plant Field on April 4, 1919, Babe Ruth, playing for the Boston Red Sox against the N.Y. Giants, hit a 587-foot home run that set a record in a pre-season game. Four thousand three hundred screaming fans saw the feat. Famed evangelist Billy Sunday, an ex-major leaguer himself, who was conducting a tent revival on the Florida Fair Grounds nearby, had pitched the first ball of the game, and the pace-setting ball was presented to him. Ruth played from 1915 to 1935. He is regarded as the most popular player and greatest slugger in history. One year he hit 60 homers.

Tampa, Florida · United States