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In 2003, Major League Baseball attempted to add a new level of intrigue to the All-Star Game by introducing a new rule that stated the league that walked away with a win in the contest would receive home-field advantage in the World Series.
However, most fans weren’t exactly thrilled with that change, and after it became clear it had caused more issues than it solved, the All-Star Game once again became essentially meaningless after the MLB reversed course in 2017.
While you kind of have to admire the league’s ambition, the ill-fated attempt to up the stakes clashed a bit with the overall philosophy of the All-Star Weekend festivities.
Sure, the players who earn an invite might be naturally competitive people, but no one expects a particularly hard-fought battle from a group of guys who’ve earned the right to have a bit of fun after essentially being deprived the vacation everyone who didn’t get to participate in the All-Star Game is allowed to take advantage of.
That spirit is perfectly summed up by the Home Run Derby, which I’d argue is really the main attraction of the Midsummer Classic; after all, how can you not love seeing some of the best players on the planet trying to hit as many long balls as possible?
The Home Run Derby has spawned some classics over the years (the showdown at Fenway Park in 1999 will always have a special place in my heart) as well as some absolute monster dingers—including one that remains the mark to beat when it comes to the most impressive home run in the history of the event.
What’s the longest home run ever recorded at the Home Run Derby?
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The concept of a “Home Run Derby” can be traced back to the 1960s, but it wasn’t officially added to the All-Star Game lineup until 1985 (despite its popularity, it wasn’t televised until ESPN ran it on a tape delay for the first time in 1993, and 1998 was the first year it was shown live).
The discussion over the longest long ball in Home Run Derby history is also a slightly tricky one when you consider the distances didn’t become officially tracked until StatCast was adopted in 2016; ESPN did what it could to estimate how far homers traveled before that point, but there’s no way to easily verify the numbers.
As things currently stand, Nomar Mazara holds the official record for the longest home run ever hit in a game thanks to the 505-foot bomb he sent deep into the stands at Globe Life Field in 2019. However, that has nothing on what players were able to achieve while taking advantage of the thin air at Coors Field during the home run derby in 2021.
There’s a chance some of the sluggers who participated in the event at that venue in 1998 came close to achieving what multiple guys did when they broke the 500-foot mark when the Home Run Derby returned to Denver for a second time.
That includes Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, who each hit a home run that measured in at 513 feet. Pete Alonso outdid them with a ball that landed 514 feet away from home plate, and while Trevor Story helped his own cause with a 518-foot dinger, Juan Soto walked away after setting the mark that remains to be beaten with his 520-foot blast.
It’s a bit hard to imagine that record will be topped at any point in the immediate future when you consider the nature of the stadium where it was set, but you never know what MLB players are going to be capable of.