It’s impossible to mention Pittsburgh’s PNC Park without discussing the view. Widely considered one of the best views in baseball, it’s hard to think of anything making it better — unless, of course, baseballs are flying off toward the Pittsburgh skyline and splashing into the Allegheny River.
In this list, we’re counting down the 10 longest home runs at PNC 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 whole lot of one ex-Pirate, a Canadian outfielder and a pair of present-day Yankees teammates who weren’t teammates when they hit home runs that landed them on this list. (All videos appear courtesy of MLB.)
Here’s a look at the 10 longest home runs at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
10. Josh Bell — 454 feet
Spoiler alert: Josh Bell makes frequent appearances on this list. The first baseman hit 86 home runs as a member of the Pirates, including multiple tape measure blasts at PNC Park. He kicks off this list with a 454-foot shot that took place on May 22, 2019. Facing Colorado’s Jon Gray, Bell hit his 15th home run of the season into the Allegheny River behind right field with an exit velocity of 116.2 mph. Here’s another spoiler: That exit velocity is the highest on this list.
9. Aaron Judge — 457 feet
All rise! The Yankees don’t play at PNC Park very often, but Aaron Judge made his ninth-inning at-bat during an April 22, 2017 game count. The towering slugger crushed a fastball from Antonio Bastardo 457 feet into the second level of seats in left center field, with an exit velocity of 115.6 mph, for his sixth home run of the season. Judge went on to lead the major leagues with 52 home runs in 2017.
8. Mike Moustakas — 459 feet
Milwaukee’s Mike Moustakas hit his 27th home run of 2019 impressively, smashing a slider from Pittsburgh’s Dario Agrazal 459 feet during a game on August 5, 2019. The baseball had an exit velocity of 111.5 mph and narrowly missed ending up in the Allegheny River. Instead, it hit the fence at the top of the seats in right field. Moustakas went on to hit 35 home runs that season, the second-best season total of his career.
7. Starling Marte — 462 feet
It takes some muscle to hit a baseball over the center field bullpens at PNC Park, but that’s exactly what Pirates outfielder Starling Marte did on May 26, 2018. Marte squared up a first inning slider from St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty, driving the ball 462 feet with an exit velocity of 108.1 mph. The blast was Marte’s seventh home run of a 20-home run campaign.
6. Tyler O’Neill — 463 feet
Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill slugged a career-best 34 home runs in 2021, including a tape measure shot on April 30 in Pittsburgh. O’Neill hit a slider from JT Brubaker 463 feet with an exit velocity of 112.2 mph. The home run, which was O’Neill’s fifth of the season, landed just behind the center field bullpens.
5. Giancarlo Stanton — 465 feet
Pittsburgh’s Tyler Glasnow left a cutter over the heart of the plate against Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton during a matchup on June 9, 2017 — and what happened next was the talk of the baseball world for the day that followed. Stanton muscled the baseball 465 feet with an exit velocity of 110.6 mph, enough to clear the PNC Park batter’s eye. The home run was Stanton’s 16th of the season. (It should come as no surprise that Stanton has hit some of the longest home runs at several other MLB parks, including Yankee Stadium and Coors Field.)
4. Starling Marte — 467 feet
Starling Marte’s second home run of the 2015 season came on April 17, and was one of his most memorable long balls of a 19-home run season. Marte caught up to a fastball from Milwaukee’s Jonathan Broxton and lined the baseball 467 feet to the second level of seats in left center field with an exit velocity of 110.7 mph.
3. Josh Bell — 472 feet
The third Allegheny River shot on this list belongs to Josh Bell, who found the water against Texas starter Shelby Miller. Bell got solid lumber on Miller’s fastball, launching it 472 feet over the right field seats and into the river. The home run was Bell’s ninth of the season and had an exit velocity of 114.9 mph.
2. Josh Bell — 474 feet
Three of the 10 home runs on this list belong to Josh Bell, and the blast he hit on April 7, 2019 is the most impressive. Bell smoked a fastball from Cincinnati’s Anthony DiSclafani over the batter’s eye for a 474-foot shot. His second home run of the season, which had an exit velocity of 113.3 mph, was the type of hit that made the PNC Park faithful yell “whoa!” in unison just after the impact.
1. Pedro Alvarez — 479 feet
In 2015, his final year in a Pirates uniform, infielder Pedro Alvarez put on a show at the plate on October 4 — the final day of the regular season. Alvarez blasted a 479-foot home run to deep right center field off Cincinnati’s Josh Smith. The home run had an exit velocity of 115.4 mph and was Alvarez’s 27th long ball of the campaign.
The 10 Longest Home Runs at PNC Park are:
1. Pedro Alvarez — 479 feet
2. Josh Bell — 474 feet
3. Josh Bell — 472 feet
4. Starling Marte — 467 feet
5. Giancarlo Stanton — 465 feet
6. Tyler O’Neill — 463 feet
7. Starling Marte — 462 feet
8. Mike Moustakas — 459 feet
9. Aaron Judge — 457 feet
10. Josh Bell — 454 feet