Even as the Cubs lost the series opener to the Phillies on Friday night, nobody will try to convince you they are a good team this year. At 47-82, the Phillies have the worst record in baseball, and the Cubs contributed to that last night by pushing their own record to 69-59.
And in the process of accomplishing that, the Cubs went deep a collective six times, racking up 2,426 feet worth of homers, per the figures at ESPN’s Home Run Tracker.
Let’s enjoy those six blasts again, plus the Cubs’ genius Philly-centric ‘Always Sunny’ reference:
The Gang Cracks The Liberty Bell. pic.twitter.com/PBnaESekdS
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 27, 2017
Who knows which of those dingers was the longest? Watching live, my instinct said that Anthony Rizzo’s first blast was probably the farthest, but that initial Tommy La Stella shot seemed to go WAY out.
Survey says …
It was Rizzo’s shot, at 426 feet. And second was … Rizzo’s other shot, at 424 feet. La Stella’s blast was just behind, at 421 feet, and actually, Kris Bryant’s was the same distance. Only La Stella’s second homer (374) and Ben Zobrist’s shot (360) were under 400 feet, and each of those still got out by plenty.
Kris Bryant’s shot was the hardest off the bat (107.7 mph), and La Stella’s second homer was the softest (99.4 mph). Each of La Stella’s homers were, by far, the highest of the night, at 122 feet and 117 feet.
And, as you could see in the video, of course, the players got their post-homer interview in the dugout, courtesy of Ian Happ.
Fun fact pointed out to me by Michael this morning: Citizens Bank Park – not Yankee Stadium or Coors Field – is the most homer-friendly ballpark this season. (And no, it’s not because of the Phillies’ pitching staff – the park factors system compares road and home output for teams to account for that.)
Bonus fun fact from that list of park factors: Wrigley Field is almost exactly neutral for homers this season. Given the wind and park layout, that doesn’t surprise me. Wrigley tends to play homer friendly only when the weather is warm and the wind blows out. Some years it does that more than others, and this year feels like it’s been about typical.
Bonus bonus fun fact: Marlins Park is one of the worst ballparks for home run hitters, and yet Giancarlo Stanton has still done what he’s done this year.
Gotta love that Cubs leader board, and the league-wide board: