Hit Tracker Online, http://hittrackeronline.com/, (accessed Oct 6, 2009), Table 2008 Top Home Runs, True Distance - Full List

A lone red seat in the center field bleachers at Fenway Park serves as a reminder of the prodigious talents of Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived. In his career, Williams went yard (hit a home run) 521 times, but none longer than the one he hit off Detroit pitcher Fred Hutchinson on June 9, 1946.

Hutchinson was a good player in his own right. Like Williams, he had fought in World War II, and ’46 marked his return after an absence of almost six years from the major leagues. He would go 14-11 with a 3.09 ERA that year, but June 6 was not his day.

Hutchinson lost the second game of a double header that day, 11-6, giving up eight hits and walking three before being removed from the game with none out in the fourth. Williams set the tone with a monster home run in the first inning, hitting the ball 502 feet, though it would have gone 520 – 535 feet if left unimpeded until it dropped back down to field level.

Instead, Williams’ home run hit fan Joseph Boucher in the head, puncturing a hole in his straw hat. After the game, Boucher asked, “How far away must one sit to be safe in this park? I didn’t even get the ball. They say it bounced a dozen rows higher, but after it hit my head, I was no longer interested. I couldn't see the ball. Nobody could. The sun was right in our eyes. All we could do was duck. I’m glad I didn’t stand up.”

Williams’ home run was extraordinary, likely one of the longest shots ever hit. Since 2005, the year HitTrackerOnline.com started tracking home run distances, only one home run has surpassed 500 feet: Adam Dunn’s 504-foot bomb off Glendon Rusch on September 27, 2008.

The average home run in 2008 traveled a bit under 400 feet, according to HitTracker data. As you can see in the graph, home run distances are normally distributed around that number. About 1 in 2.93 home runs are more than 25 feet either way from the mean (shorter than 375 feet or at least 425 feet), and only 1 in 20.59 are more than 50 feet from the mean. Most home runs, in other words, go roughly the same distance.

There are, however, some outliers. Dunn's home run bounced off the scoreboard a little more than 400 feet away from home plate, but it would have traveled 504 feet if it had been allowed back down to field level. On the other hand, the shortest home run of the year belonged to Corey Hart, at 249 feet. It was of the inside-the-park variety, bouncing in front of the diving right fielder and then rolling all the way to the wall.

Though it is a much less impressive-looking hit—it should have been just a single, after all—Hart’s home run actually drove in three runners, whereas Dunn’s was a solo shot. In fact, Hart’s 249-foot homer drove in as many runs as Dunn’s and Williams’ shots combined, even though they covered more than four times the distance.

Impressive as a 500-foot home run is, sometimes it’s not all about length.