Historic Homer

The pitch came up to the plate waisthigh. The Yankees' young (21) Outfielder Mickey Mantle swung smoothly, put the full weight of his well-muscled (5 ft. 11 in., 175 Ibs.) body behind the blow. The smack of ball on bat echoed through

Washington's Griffith Stadium. Riding a tailwind, the ball sailed over the left-centerfield bleachers 460 ft. away, bounced off a 60-ft. sign, and came to rest in a backyard 565 ft. from home plate. "I unloaded on it," said Mickey Mantle. "I guess it was the longest ball I ever hit in my life."

Sportswriters agreed. In fact, the records suggested that only the mighty Babe Ruth might ever have hit one higher or farther. Switch Hitter Mantle hit the homer righthanded; but just eight days before, hitting lefthanded, in an exhibition game at Pittsburgh, he had become the third man ever to pole one out of the park over the right-field stands. (The others: Ruth and Ted Beard.) Looking back over his 42 years in baseball, Yankee Manager Casey Stengel said: "Mantle is probably the most powerful switch hitter the game has ever known."

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