Many MLB stadiums have an area that hitters dream about reaching. In Baltimore, it’s Eutaw Street. In Pittsburgh, it’s the Allegheny River. The promised land for home run hitters at Houston’s Minute Maid Park is unquestionably the train tracks, which run 90 feet above left field and center field. It takes a mighty swing to get a baseball onto the train tracks at Minute Maid Park, and these home runs only come along every so often. Spoiler alert: Some of the following 10 home runs are train track shots.
In this list, we’re counting down the 10 longest home runs at Minute Maid Park as of the conclusion of the 2021 season. It’s important to note that these home runs are only from 2015 onward, when MLB’s Statcast began to officially track the distance of each MLB home run. This list features a trio of dingers from a former Astros leadoff hitter, a long ball from baseball’s first Brazilian-born player and a blast from one of the most consistent power hitters of his generation. (All videos appear courtesy of MLB.)
Here’s a look at the 10 longest home runs at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
9 (t). Yordan Alvarez — 454 feet
Houston’s Yordan Alvarez hit 27 home runs during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2019, and his 26th dinger the season stands out the most. Facing Rangers starter Lance Lynn in a game on September 17, Alvarez crushed a fastball with an exit velocity of 112.1 mph to straightaway center field. The baseball landed high in the Budweiser Patio seats, a whopping 454 feet from home plate.
9 (t). George Springer — 454 feet
Former Astros outfielder George Springer’s first “Springer dinger” on this list measured 454 feet, and was hit against Seattle’s Wade Miley on July 4, 2016. Springer’s 19th long ball of the season had an exit velocity of 113.9 mph and smacked off the facing just below the Minute Maid Park locomotive in left-center field.
6 (t). George Springer — 455 feet
Squaring off against Texas starter Kyle Cody on September 15 of the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB season, Springer crushed a fastball with an exit velocity of 111.9 mph. The 455-foot home run, his 10th of the season, left the field in a hurry and flew over the Phillips 66 Home Run Pump in deep left-center field.
6 (t). George Springer — 455 feet
George Springer’s 455-foot home run in 2020 isn’t the only blast of this distance that he hit in Houston. A few years earlier, on May 11, 2016, Springer connected with another 455-foot shot. This one, which had an exit velocity of 112.3 mph, came against Cleveland’s Danny Salazar. The home run is also notable for being the 1,500th Astros home run at Minute Maid Park.
6 (t). Starling Marte — 455 feet
Starling Marte owns two of the longest home runs at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, but a blast on June 27, 2019 got him in the record books in Houston, too. Marte smacked a slider from Cy Sneed (there’s a phrase you can’t say three times fast) 455 feet with an exit velocity of 106.8 mph. The ball hit the facing above the Home Run Pump in left center.
5. Yan Gomes — 457 feet
Cleveland catcher Yan Gomes earned fifth place on this list with a 457-foot shot on May 21, 2017 against Joe Musgrove. The home run, which was the Brazilian-born Gomes’ third of a 14-home run season, had an exit velocity of 110.2 mph and landed high above the Crawford Boxes in left field.
4. C.J. Cron — 467 feet
During a matchup on June 21, 2016, Los Angeles’ C.J. Cron took advantage of a hanging curveball from Collin McHugh and walloped the ball 467 feet with an exit velocity of 110.1 mph. The home run was Cron’s sixth of the season and landed close to the train tracks in left field. He went on to hit 10 more long balls in 2016, but none flew farther than his shot in Houston.
2 (t). Nelson Cruz — 469 feet
One of two 469-foot home runs on this list belongs to Nelson Cruz, who hit a long home run on May 1, 2015 in his first season as a Seattle Mariner. Cruz went deep to left center field against Luke Gregerson, hammering a slider with an exit velocity of 107.7 mph. The home run was the 11th of the season for Cruz, who went on to his 40 in one of his best overall offensive seasons.
2 (t). Jake Marisnick — 469 feet
Jake Marisnick is the owner of Minute Maid Park’s other 469-foot home run, which he hit on June 18, 2017, against David Price. Marisnick squared up a fastball with an exit velocity of 107.8 mph, driving the ball onto the train tracks in left center field.
1. Randal Grichuk — 471 feet
Randal Grichuk isn’t the most physically imposing player on this list, but no one has hit a baseball farther at Minute Maid Park in the Statcast era. As a member of the Blue Jays and facing Will Harris on June 25, 2018, Grichuk crushed a cutter 471 feet with an exit velocity of 110.2 mph. The baseball slammed off one of the ballpark’s light posts well above the train tracks, and it might be a while before someone else hits a ball this far in Houston.
The 10 Longest Home Runs at Minute Maid Park are:
1. Randal Grichuk — 471 feet
2 (t). Jake Marisnick — 469 feet
2 (t). Nelson Cruz — 469 feet
4. C.J. Cron — 467 feet
5. Yan Gomes — 457 feet
6 (t). Starling Marte — 455 feet
6 (t). George Springer — 455 feet
6 (t). George Springer — 455 feet
9 (t). George Springer — 454 feet
9 (t). Yordan Alvarez — 454 feet