Baseball's Ultimate Power: Ranking the All-Time Greatest Distance Home Run Hitters

by Bill Jenkinson

Overview

The “tape-measure home run” is the greatest single act of power in the game of baseball, and the tales of these homers are the most cherished legacies players and fans hand down through the generations. Each long-distance shot has become fable; they are baseball's versions of the feats of Paul Bunyon, Hercules, and Samson.

No one but Bill Jenkinson could separate myth from fact and actually study, rank, and describe in riveting detail baseball's strongest long-ball hitters. Fully illustrated with player photos and aerial ballpark photos showing the landing spots of each stadium's longest home runs, Baseball's UltimatePower is the definitive book on the tape-measure home run and its practitioners. Jenkinson travels through the decades to give us the distances, descriptions, and comparisons of the forty longest hitters in major league history, the ten longest-hitting active players, the five mightiest from the nineteenth century, and the five best tape-measure batsmen from the Negro League era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493055555
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Edition description:	Updated Edition
Pages:	348
Sales rank:	681,761
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Bill Jenkinson is the author of the critically acclaimed The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs. The top expert on the history of long-distance home runs, he has been a consultant for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball, the Society for American Baseball Research, the Babe Ruth Museum, and ESPN. He lives in Willow Grove, PA.

Editorial Reviews

Here we have the carefully researched, imaginatively argued contrary position. Great reading for any baseball fan, but especially those whose passions are ignited by comparisons of players from different eras.

Booklist

Praise for Bill Jenkinson's previous book, The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs:

In a fresh perspective on Ruth's position in the pantheon of sport and American heroes, we are spared ‘gee-whiz’ adulation and presented with meticulous research that stands on its own.

The Denver Post

Comparisons of athletes from different eras are always fraught with difficulty—different rules, equipment, nutrition, and training to name a few. Since baseball is very much a game of statistics, this is particularly true of its players. Nonetheless, Bill Jenkinson’s impeccably researched book effectively makes these comparisons, leaving little doubt as to whom was the best of the best. We consider The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs a must read for any fan of the Babe or baseball.

Julia Ruth Stevens and Tom Stevens

All baseball fans know that Ruth was one of the greatest and most beloved ballplayers of all time, and this work of incredible research explains in great detail his dominance of the game.

Cal Ripken Jr.

Praise for Bill Jenkinson's previous book, THE YEAR BABE RUTH HIT 104 HOME RUNS: "This fascinating, in-depth study (based on 28 years of research!) argues that Ruth hit baseballs farther than any man in the game—ever." —Playboy "In a fresh perspective on Ruth's position in the pantheon of sport and American heroes, we are spared ‘gee-whiz' adulation and presented with meticulous research that stands on its own." —Denver Post "Here we have the carefully researched, imaginatively argued contrary position. Great reading for any baseball fan, but especially those whose passions are ignited by comparisons of players from different eras." —Booklist "All baseball fans know that Ruth was one of the greatest and most beloved ballplayers of all time, and this work of incredible research explains in great detail his dominance of the game." —Cal Ripken, Jr. "Comparisons of athletes from different eras are always fraught with difficulty—different rules, equipment, nutrition, and training to name a few. Since baseball is very much a game of statistics, this is particularly true of its players. Nonetheless, Bill Jenkinson's impeccably researched book effectively makes these comparisons, leaving little doubt as to whom was the best of the best. We consider The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs a must read for any fan of the Babe or baseball." —Julia Ruth Stevens and Tom Stevens, daughter and grandson of Babe Ruth

From the Publisher