Mickey Mantle's Homer - April 17, 1953
Towering Drive by Yank Slugger Features 7-3 Defeat of Senators

Washington, April 17, 1953. Newspaper Clipping, Special to "The New York Times", By Louis Effrat.- Actual Wording - "Unless and until contrary evidence is presented, recognition for the longest ball ever hit by anyone except Babe Ruth in the history of major league baseball belongs to Mickey Mantle of the Yankees. This amazing 21 year old athletic today walloped one over the 55 foot high left-field wall at Griffith Stadium. That ball, scuffed in two spots, finally stopped in the backyard of a house, about 565 feet away from home plate. This remarkable homer, which helped the Yankees register a 7-3 victory over the Washington Senators was Mickey's first of the season, but he will have to go some, as well will anyone else to match it.

Chuck Stobbs, the Nats southpaw, had just walked Yogi Berra after two out in the fifth, when Mantle strode to the plate. Batting right-handed, Mickey blasted the ball toward left center, where the base of the bleachers wall is 391 feet from the plate. The distance to the back of the wall is sixty-nine feet more and then the back wall is fifth feet high. Atop that wall is a football scoreboard. The ball struck about five feet above the wall, caromed off the right and flew out of sight. There was no telling how much farther it would have flown had the football wall not been there. Before Mantle, who had cleared the right-field roof while batting left-handed in an exhibition game at Pittsburgh last week ( only Babe Ruth and Ted Beard had ever done that) had completed running out the two run homer, Arthur Patterson of the front office staff was on his way to investigate the measure. Patterson returned with the following news: - A 10 year old lad had picked up the ball. He directed Patterson to the backyard of 434 Oakdale Street and pointed to the place where he found it. The boy, Donald Dunaway of 343 Elm St. accepted an undisclosed sum of money for the prize; which was turned over to Mantle. The Yankee was to send a substitute ball, suitably autographed to the boy. Some years ago, Joe DiMaggio bounced a ball over, but Mickey's accomplishment was on the fly. Later in the contest,

Mickey dragged a bunt that landed in front of second base and he out-sped it for a single. Thus in the same afternoon, it would appear, the young man from Commerce, Okla., fashioned one of the longest homers and the longest bunt on record. Everything else that occurred in this contest, was dwarfed by Mantle's round-tripper which traveled 460 feet on the fly. There was a third-inning homer by Bill Martin, which gave the Yanks the lead. The Nats tied it against Eddie Lopat in the same frame on a single by Wayne Terwilliger, a sacrifice by Chuck Stobbs and Eddie Yost's single. However, Hank Bauer doubled and counted on a single by Joe Collins for a 2-1 edge in the fourth - then it was that Mantle connected with a fast ball and wrote diamond history." Newspaper clipping April 18, 1953 - baseballhistorian.com archives