It’s common knowledge we’re living in the Juiced Ball Era (even if MLB won’t acknowledge it), but this is ridiculous. Mike Ford, who posted a sturdy .559 slugging percentage in limited at-bats during his debut 2019 season, launched a ball into orbit Monday at Yankee Stadium, seemingly breaking Statcast in the process.
Ford came to New York’s rescue with a pinch-hit blast in the ninth inning of Monday’s 2-2 tie against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. The 28-year-old New Jersey native, who the Yankees list at a considerable 6’0” and 225 pounds, made Phils reliever Mauricio Llovera pay the ultimate price for grooving a 92-mph meatball right in Ford’s happy zone. The Princeton alum’s majestic blast was no cheapie, spanning an estimated 680 feet—longer than any ball hit in human history—according to MLB’s Statcast.
Wait … what? Six-hundred-eighty flippin’ feet? And this wasn’t even at Coors Field in Denver, where every home-run reading is met with a giant grain of salt.
It’s spring training for the players and apparently for MLB’s advanced metrics as well. There’s no way that Ford’s game-tying missile to right field (which the piped-in crowd at Yankee Stadium very much appreciated) actually traveled 680 feet. That would be a 250-foot improvement on his previous career best, accomplished at the Oakland Coliseum last August, and over 300 feet further than a 367-foot jack slugged by teammate Aaron Judge innings earlier. Prior to Ford stretching the limits of mankind with his meteoric bomb, the longest home runs of the Statcast Era belonged to co-leaders Trevor Story and Nomar Mazara, with both maxing out at a jaw-dropping 505 feet.
The generous 680-foot measurement was surely a mistake on the part of Statcast, but because we all need something to believe in during these desperate times, the Internet went ahead and ran with it, celebrating Ford’s groundbreaking and completely legitimate athletic achievement.
So there you have it. On a team ripe with home-run-swatting sluggers—Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit can bash with the best of ‘em—it appears Ford has established himself as the new gold standard. Meet baseball’s new Bryson DeChambeau.
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