Re: Ok, you asked for it... a story...
| October 02, 2018 06:17AM |
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JamesJM
I could go on and on about the '75 series.. most of which I heard on the radio while picking cotton... tromping cotton trailers. BUT.. this story is about Bench.
I promise you this happened. I was at Candlestick... Reds vs Giants. I was sitting maybe 2 or 3 rows up right by 3rd base. Bench came to the plate.... he hit a line drive that the 3rd basemen jumped for... out of reach but not by much.... we watched the ball scream just over the 3rd baseman and past us..... and then something that defied the laws physics occurred...
the ball didn't obey the law of gravity... just over the 3rd baseman's reach it continued to gain altitude... more, then more, then even more. it cleared the left field wall, home run.
I have seen many superhuman hard hits in baseball in my life. I remember watching Harmon Killebrew hit home runs that didn't get deep into the bleachers but I'm sure could have hit jets landing or taking off at SFO. But I don't believe I've ever witnessed any hit that was hit harder than that Johnny Bench homer.
Meat of bat meets meat of ball....bye bye
Nothing at the professional level (Not remotely close), while playing softball (stationed in Utah, Hill AF
I played a alot of base and downtown leagues. During one of the local tourneyments my team played, we faced a team (I don't remember where they were from...maybe Ogden Utah) that had Shawn Miller....yep the DT that played for us in the 80's. I played left field and when he got up we backed up.Our pitcher delivers and Shawn hit a linedrive over the shortstop (Tony could NOT have seen it) that one hopped the fence (300 foot). When he hit the ball I started a cross over step to go get it in the air....before my foot touched down the ball had already hit the fence. I could not get one step in before that ball got past me.
I have never seen anyone hit a ball as hard as that. I feared for our SS and 3rd baseman the rest of that game.
73Ram
