2011 Major League Baseball: Mammoth homers
In the world of baseball, a home-run occurs when a ball is hit with such force that the batter is easily able to round up all the bases within one play without committing any errors while doing so. This is typically done by hitting the ball over the out-field
fence in between the foul poles. The ball must not come in contact with the ground before crossing the fence and if that is the case, then a home-run is scored.
Informally known as a homer, it is without a doubt the biggest draw to the game of baseball. Home-run hitters are loved by fans and as a result prolific home-run hitters are among the highest paid athletes in a team. Ralph Kiner, a Hall of Famer who used
to be a slugger for the New York Mets described the difference between home-run hitters and single-run hitters by saying, "Home run hitters drive Cadillac’s, and singles hitters drive Fords."
Barry Bonds remains as the All Time Run Record holder in Major League Baseball where as Sadaharu Oh holds the official All Time World Home Run record.
A long home-run is a compliment to baseball greatest feat of raw strength. In the effort to appreciate a home-run, many fans forget about the poor pitch that allowed it in the first place.
Below mentioned are names of five players who belted out the biggest home-runs this season. The names mentioned are not for those players who are the best home-run hitters, but names of those who have this year’s biggest homers.
The ultimate bomb dropper of the season came courtesy of Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers who unleashed an inhuman 486 feet home-run against the Houston Astros. Brett Myers who was pitching let out a haphazard pitch that went directly in the centre
of the strike zone. Before the ball crossed the field, everyone knew that this wouldn’t turn out to be just some random home-run and that is exactly what happened.
The second biggest was belted out by Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks against Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals. The homer flew for a strong 478 feet and bagged three runs for the Diamondbacks. Miscommunication between the catcher and the
pitcher is what resulted in this homer. It almost seemed like a deliberate effort to get the ball in the middle of the strike zone.
Catcher Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves asked pitcher Brandon Beachy to throw an inside fastball to ward off Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies. Beachy pitched and instead of McCann’s plan of Howard being warded off, the ball crossed the 470 feet
mark and became the third biggest homer of the season.
Ronny Paulino, catcher for the New York Mets requested a slider. Mike Pelfrey, the pitcher delivered a slider that was too high. What came as a result was Mike Stanton’s 465 feet home-run. The Florida Marlins were left more than overjoyed with Stanton’s
play.
Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants was ready to catch, Madison Bumgarner in an effort to throw a first pitch down, threw one that went to the centre of the zone, which Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks used to his advantage and belted out a 464 feet
homer that left nothing for Posey to do behind the plate. This marked the fifth biggest home run of the 2011 season.
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