Okay, maybe I should be less skeptical. I think the term tape-measure came from Mantle's home run out of Griffith Stadium in 1953, but I can't say for sure home runs were not accurately measured in 1921. Although, would people really think of doing that at the time? And for every home run Babe Ruth was said to have hit over 500 feet?
I guess the upshot for me is that I also can't figure out why, for an athletic feat that basically requires strength and coordination, people do not hit the ball farther than they used to.
My conclusion was that maybe they didn't really hit the ball as far as people say they did. But, absolutely, I could be wrong about that. Especially because essentially I am saying we don't really know how far they hit the ball back then.
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Last edited by molenick; 08-04-2021 at 03:02 PM.
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