When I think of the many home runs I’ve seen on my baseball travels over the years, one from batting practice quickly comes to mind.
It happened way back in April of 2014, during an early-season road trip to Manchester, NH. The memorable home run came off the bat of Yusuf Carter. It was unlike any of the countless BP homers I’ve witnessed.
If you’ve been following my travel adventures for a long time, you might remember this story. But since a lot of you readers are new, I thought this was a tale that bears retelling — especially now that I’ve discovered the joys of Google Maps’s Measurement Tool. (Perhaps you’ve seen my swimming pool splash hit post or my natural body of water splash hit post, both of which use this tool.)
For those to whom this story is new, here’s a recap:
One of the defining traits of Manchester’s Delta Dental Stadium is the hotel that stands just behind the outfield fence. That hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Manchester Downtown, is the hotel that first ignited my love of field-facing rooms. When you have a field-facing room at this hotel, it’s a great vantage point for watching batting practice. Another option is to go down to the patio that sits between the hotel and the fence in left-center field. On a chilly April afternoon, that’s exactly where I was standing as I watched the Fisher Cats hit. Here was my view from the hotel’s patio:
As I stood on the patio, I wondered how often baseballs might land among the tables and chairs. Or, maybe even hit the hotel itself. This sign served as a warning of this very thing:
It wasn’t long until I got my answer in the form of a home run from Carter. I didn’t see the ball come off his bat, but I heard members of the Fisher Cats shout “heads up” from left field. A split second later, I heard a thudding crash just a few yards behind me. When I turned around, this was the scene:
The baseball punched a perfect, ball-sized hole in the glass of one of the patio doors. The entire pane hadn’t fully shattered into shards, indicating that the door was equipped with some type of safety glass. Of course, my first instinct was to scramble and pick up the offending baseball:
There was a lot of excitement about this turn of events. Several Hilton staff members emerged to look at the damage curiously. Meanwhile, players on the Fisher Cats were hopping up and down in the outfield in an attempt to see the broken glass.
The hotel is so close to the outfield fence that Carter’s home run wasn’t particularly long, but I’ve often wondered exactly how far it flew in the air. The outfield fence is 380 feet in left-center. With a little help from our friends at Google Maps, I’ve estimated Carter’s home run to have flown about 417 feet before breaking the glass. Here’s a map screenshot that shows a white circle at the position of the door in question:
And, just for fun, here’s a 3D map rendering that again shows the position of the door and provides a little more context about its location:
Eventually, hotel maintenance staff carefully removed the rest of the broken glass and partially covered the door with tape. For some reason, this long-distance shot is the best image I have of the condition of the door during the game. I’m dumbfounded as to why I didn’t return to the patio to document things up close:
Between the end of batting practice and the start of the game, I hung around the home team’s dugout to catch Carter’s attention and update him on his home run. I’m sure he knew about breaking the glass, but I thought it’d be fun to talk to him about it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to speak to him, nor did I encounter him again in my travels. He played in just 23 games during that 2014 season, and that year ended up being his 10th and final season of pro baseball.
Carter didn’t make it to the big leagues, but I won’t soon forget him when I think about the memorable home runs I’ve seen on my travels.