NEWSLETTER
Are we going to remember last night’s game for a long time?
I always wonder that when there’s a combination of deeply exciting things all coming together in a single game. The Cubs beat one of the best teams in baseball in comeback fashion. There was 9th inning drama in the top and bottom halves. Addison Russell hit a walk-off double.
And, of course, Kris Bryant tied the game with a monster homer in the 8th inning, the first to hit the new left field video board at Wrigley Field
Yes, I think we’ll remember this for a long time:
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There was a lot of fun discussion after the homer, as some in the bleachers were reporting that the ball had cleared the video board, and those of us watching on video had trouble seeing where it wound up. Thanks to Statcast’s technology – see, it’s good for something! – we can see exactly where the ball wound up, and why it was hard to track. It was such a bomb that it left the video feed frame for most of its path.
Bonus fun? Bryant hit his own picture on the video board.
Statcast had that monster homer at 477 feet, though ESPN says it was just 463:
Kris Bryant’s 463 foot home run was the longest of his career pic.twitter.com/xdiTR2sdhb
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 27, 2015
Either way, it was one of the longest homers of the year. If going by ESPN, only seven homers this year went further. If going by Statcast, the homer was tied for the longest shot of the year with an Alex Rodriguez blast.
Now, for the cherry on the top of this home run sundae.
Matt sent me a video on Twitter that his friend shot from behind home plate. It’s an incredible view of Bryant’s homer … in slow motion. Make sure you have the sound on, because it is beautifully haunting:
How many times have you watched that on a loop now? I’m up to 15.
16.
17.
18 ….
