Everyone loves long homers. The longest homer of the 2013 season (so far) was hit last night at Coors Field (because of course jt was). The man behind this monstrous homer wasn't Giancarlo Stanton, or Mike Trout, or Mike Napoli, but actually Hunter Pence of the Giants. Wait, what? Hunter Pence?
That's right, Hunter Pence. Pence's bomb in the first inning off of Rockies starter Chad Bettis went 476 feet, clearing the left field bleachers at Coors Field and landing on the concourse. That's what I call a bomb.
But here's the thing about Pence: this isn't exactly rare for him. According to ESPN's Home Run Tracker, Pence is the current leader on the golden sledgehammer board, which measures the average distance of home runs hit by players at a set minimum, currently 14 homers. Pence's 422.6 foot average distance just beats out Eric Hosmer at 419.9 feet and Justin Upton at 419 feet.
Only three of Pence's 16 homers have traveled less than 400 feet, and the cheapest of the bunch traveled 388 feet. Eight of Pence's homers, including last night's, traveled over 420 feet. Last year with the Phillies and Giants, Pence's average distance was 397.6 feet, and 11 of his 24 homers went less than 400 feet while just four cleared 420 feet.
So here's to you, Hunter Pence: the 2013 golden sledgehammer champion as of August 28th. Can anyone take his crown over the season's final month?
