2006 MLB's Top 5 Power Bats
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by user Timothy Moreland(Bball3345)
Matt Holliday hit the longest home run of 2006 at 496 feet. With wind, temperature, and altitude factored in, Reggie Abercrombie led the league with the longest home run, traveling 490 feet. Ryan Howard came within two homers of 60. The question is, who compiled the most impressive rap sheet of home run distances?
1. Alex Rodriguez
While he may have been booed by New York Yankees fans, A-Rod led the majors in highest average standard (wind/temperature/altitude adjusted) distance with 416.1 feet. His longest standard distance was 479 feet, third overall. This home run came off of Cliff Lee in Yankee Stadium. No one did a better job in 2006 of making sure there was "nooooo doubt about it," when the ball came off the bat.
2. Jim Thome
Thome ranked fifth in average standard distance, but had six homers travel over 158 feet. Unlike ARod, who primarily pulled his homers, Thome evenly scattered his across the field. On July 1st, Thome hit a ball off of Greg Maddux that traveled 398 feet. Standardized, this ball would have only traveled 326 feet, but the wind added 65 feet and the temperature 5 more.
3. Ryan Howard
Howard had four balls with standard distances of 460 or over. Like Thome, Howard does not only pull the ball. The big Philadelphia Phillies slugger utilizes the whole park and is willing to take the pitch the other way for a homer. His longest "true distance" was to straight-away center off of Sergio Mitre in Citizens Bank Park.
4. Prince Fielder
While Fielder only hit 28 home runs, this rookie made the most of them, distance-wise. His average standard distance of 404.5 ranks sixth in the majors. The rookie's longest home run was a standard distance of 472 feet on May 12th. This was one of the top 10 standard distances.
5. Lance Berkman
Berkman recorded the fourth longest standard distance of the season in the first inning of a game against the Washington Nationals. He drove a Zach Day offering 476 feet.
Most Surprising Home Run
4/19/06: Reggie Abercrombie hits the ball 481 "true" feet (490 standard) off of Michael Gosling into the upper deck at the Great American Ballpark.
- Hit Tracker keeps a record of the distance traveled by every home run hit. As well, they adjust the distances to determine how far the ball would have traveled in a "normal" environment.
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