Another first for the Mick

Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium

Mickey Mantle hits plenty of tape-measured home runs during his career.

Hello there Yankee Stadium façade and, yes, more out-of-the-ballpark greetings in Detroit’s Tiger Stadium and Chicago’s Comiskey Park.

By some accounts, the Mick during his Hall of Fame career launches six baseballs with each one traveling more than 620 feet and another four traveling at least 525 feet.

The home run Mantle hits 68 years ago today in Baltimore does not reach 500 feet, but at 460 feet the ball he hits becomes the first to clear the hedges beyond the center-field fence at Memorial Stadium.

The homer off Orioles right-hander Ray Moore comes with teammate Enos Slaughter on base with one out in the top of the first inning, giving the Yankees an early 2-0 lead in a game they eventually win 6-3 before a Saturday night crowd of 36,366.

This homer in 1957 also is the second of six Mantle hits off Moore during a career that ends in 1968 with 536 home runs.

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