Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Need Measuring Sticks?

The Braves took full advantage of a weak San Francisco bullpen late in last night’s burying of the Giants.  But there’s still an issue to settle.

I’m not so sure about this StatCast thing any more.  The Atlanta Braves always seem to get the short end of their measuring sticks when it comes to home runs.

In that decisive bottom of the 8th, Danny Santana launched a ball that would have landed inside the H&F Burgers restaurant above the Chop House – had the door been open.

Yet the StatCast data reports that it wasn’t the monster shot it seemed to be.  Heck, it wasn’t even the longest that Santana has hit this season.

On May 4th while still a member of the Twins, Santana hit a ball claimed at a “True Distance” of 441 feet at Target Field off the second deck facade, just right of center field.  Exit velocity 107.0 mph, 25.2° launch angle, mac height 84 feet… and out of 29 major league parks.

Here’s the video:

So which park that would

have been a homer? Chase Field (Phoenix), perhaps?

Last night’s blast had these stats:  106.9 mph, 31.8° launch angle, max height 109 feet – to straightaway right field.

Only 413 feet?  Check the video (this one cannot be embedded from MLB.com yet)…

Now granted – the distance to the RF corner is only 325 feet.  We can guess that 335 feet might have been necessary just to reach the wall there.

But check this:

At least the ESPN hit tracker acknowledges that this would have been a homer in every major league park.  Probably a few national parks as well.

First, a hat tip to @marshall_musser for the ID:  Mike McLeod was the surprised burger patron just missing out on the souvenir, which then rebounded below the Chop House.

The RF wall is 16 feet high.  The Main walkway in front of the Chop House is roughly another 12 feet (estimated) above that.  Add another 15 feet to get to the level where the H&F Burgers place is located.  Now add 7 more feet of elevation where the man is reaching in his catch attempt.

Heck, if the ball had been another 2 feet further, Santana would have clipped the roof where the Coors Light electronic banner is and that ball would have bounced clean out of the entire stadium!

So it was 335 feet to the wall, but at an elevation of 50 feet above the playing surface.

So it seriously would only take about a 415-420 foot poke to get a ball out of SunTrust Park?  Really?

I’d ask for a Replay Review from StatCast, but considering that they are having a real hard time getting plays right from New York anyway (even if they favor the Braves), I don’t think I’d go there.

So let’s just all sit in awe of what Santana just missed out on – nearly the first ball to leave the Park.

Ender would agree.

UPDATE:  Seems there are some differing opinions…

Another 4 feet… we’ll take what we can get, I suppose.

Here’s the box score from last night’s happy result.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Next: Any Prospectors Around These Parts?

Could you ever have imagined a Game Score of 76 from a knuckleball pitcher?  You saw that last night from Dickey!  We get to try again tonight:  7:30pm with Matt Moore and Julio Teheran on the hill for their respective teams.