As part of our celebration of America 250, MLB's content team has created 25 top 10 lists that capture the plays, people, rituals and moments that made baseball America’s game. We’ll be revealing five lists per week over the course of five weeks.
1. Pujols sends one to the moon in Space City
2005 NLCS Game 5 vs. Astros
The only thing standing between the Astros and a World Series berth was Albert Pujols. In Game 5 of the 2005 NLCS, trailing 3-1 with two aboard, Pujols hit an iconic, mammoth home run off Brad Lidge that cleared the Crawford Boxes and train tracks. On the flight to Game 6, Astros catcher Brad Ausmus joked over the PA that the ball could be seen outside the plane. Houston still won the pennant.
2. Reggie puts one on the roof
1971 All-Star Game
Before he was "Mr. October," Reggie Jackson jolted July. In the 1971 All-Star Game, Jackson pinch-hit against Dock Ellis and hammered a fastball into Tiger Stadium's rooftop transformer. Broadcaster Ernie Harwell called it the hardest-hit ball he had ever seen. The blast propelled the AL to a 6-4 win and likely would have gone over 500 feet if the transformer hadn't stopped it.
3. The Babe's "called shot"
1932 World Series Game 3 vs. Cubs
In Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, Babe Ruth broke a 4-4 tie with a mammoth home run. While debate rages over whether he actually "called his shot" or was just gesturing at the Cubs dugout, the legend lives on. Teammate Lou Gehrig insisted the Babe "told the world he was going to sock one and then did it." For baseball history, that is more than good enough.
4. Cecil Fielder clears Tiger Stadium's roof
Aug. 25, 1990 vs. A's
After playing a season in Japan, Cecil Fielder dominated 1990 with 51 homers and 132 RBIs for the Tigers. The season's highlight was a massive home run off the A's Dave Stewart that cleared the Tiger Stadium upper-deck roof entirely. Fielder became just the third player ever to hit a ball completely out of the historic park, joining Harmon Killebrew (1962) and Frank Howard (1968).
5. The Splendid Splinter's red seat blast
June 9, 1946 vs. Tigers
On June 9, 1946, Ted Williams launched a mammoth 502-foot home run deep into the Fenway Park bleachers, striking a fan 37 rows up. Helped by a strong wind and the lack of a modern scoreboard to block it, the "Splendid Splinter's" blast stands as the longest in the stadium's history. Decades later, the Red Sox permanently painted that lone bleacher seat red to mark the historic spot.
6. Glenallen Hill's rooftop shot at Wrigley
May 11, 2000 vs. Expos
While many players have hit homers out of Wrigley Field onto Waveland Avenue, Glenallen Hill went next level on May 11, 2000. Against the Expos, Hill crushed a Steve Woodard fastball at least 500 feet, landing it directly onto the roof of a three-story apartment building across the street. The sheer disbelief on the faces of the Montreal outfielders said it all.
7. Mantle and Gibson's mythical mashes
April 17, 1953 vs. Senators // 1930 Negro National League championship series
It’s a tie between two mythical home runs. In 1930 at old Yankee Stadium, Negro Leagues legend Josh Gibson reportedly hit a ball completely over the left-field grandstand. In 1953, Mickey Mantle launched a blast at Washington’s Griffith Stadium that struck the scoreboard and rolled into a neighborhood backyard. The Yankees' PR director measured the final distance at a staggering 565 feet.
8. Wynn takes the expressway
June 11, 1967 vs. Reds
Diminutive Astros outfielder Jimmy Wynn proved why he was called "The Toy Cannon." Wynn launched a prodigious blast off Sammy Ellis that cleared Crosley Field's famous 58-foot-tall scoreboard. The ball bounced directly onto an exit ramp for the Interstate 75 freeway among oncoming traffic, forever locking the home run into Cincinnati baseball lore.
9. Canseco finds the fifth deck
1989 ALCS Game 4 vs. Blue Jays
In Game 4 of the 1989 ALCS, A's slugger Jose Canseco famously christened Toronto's brand-new SkyDome. Unloading on a Mike Flanagan pitch, Canseco hit a blast so high the camera struggled to track it. The home crowd watched in stunned silence as the ball kept climbing, eventually landing in the third row of the stadium's highest seating tier (the fifth deck).
10. Big G's colossal crack at Coors
Aug. 6, 2016 vs. Rockies
Giancarlo Stanton is no stranger to big bashes, but his Aug. 6, 2016, blast at Coors Field was legendary. Stanton crushed a Chad Bettis fastball 504 feet to left-center -- the longest home run ever hit at the stadium (since tied by C.J. Cron in 2022). What made it spectacular was its low, 18.3-degree launch angle and a blistering 115.8 mph exit velocity. Carrying a ball that far that low took pure brute strength.
Honorable Mentions
Adam Dunn hits one out of Great American Ball Park: Watch >
Willie Stargell's record blast at Veteran's Stadium
Mark McGwire's monster Kingdome homer off Randy Johnson: Watch >
Bo Jackson's leadoff blast at 1989 All-Star Game: Watch >
Josh Hamilton at the 2008 Home Run Derby: Watch >
Ken Griffey Jr. hits the warehouse in 1993 Derby: Watch >
Reggie Jackson's third homer of 1977 World Series Game 6: Watch >
Aaron Judge's 496-foot moonshot in 2017: Watch >
Nomar Mazara's 505-foot HR, the longest of Statcast Era: Watch >
Andres Galarraga's monstrous grand slam: Watch >
Darryl Strawberry hits the roof in Montreal: Watch >
Mo Vaughn goes halfway up the Shea Stadium scoreboard: Watch >
Dave Kingman's third homer of the game leaves Wrigley: Watch >
Barry Bonds' Yankee Stadium blast that was "headed for New Jersey": Watch >
Carlos Gonzalez finishes cycle with monster walk-off blast at Coors Field: Watch >