June 3, 1937 – One of the most prolific power hitters of all time, Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays in the Negro Leagues, crushed a ball that still makes people gasp in awe. The slugger belted a shot in Yankee Stadium that traveled some 580 feet.
That distance eclipsed anything that the American and National Leagues had to offer, even Mickey Mantle’s 565-foot HR blasted out of Griffith Stadium in 1953 years later. Legend has it that earlier in his career in 1934, Gibson did what no player had ever done, and hit a ball out of the House that Ruth built.
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