

Stanton's epic homer longest at Marlins Park

The Marlins were conservative in their assessment of Giancarlo Stanton's shot over the Budweiser bar.

The majestic two-run homer Friday off San Diego's Eric Stults was announced as 458 feet. ESPN's Home Run Tracker later calculated a true distance of 484 feet, making it the longest at Marlins Park by a comfortable margin.

Home Run Tracker assesses all home runs hit in the major leagues, using factors including trajectory, speed of the ball off the bat and atmospheric conditions to measure the full flight of the ball back to field level. In addition to being the longest in the majors this season, Stanton's blast had the greatest speed off the bat at 118.8 mph.

Stanton was clearly pleased to reclaim the Marlins Park standard from Logan Morrison's 467-footer last September. He thought his 2012 shot that disabled part of the secondary scoreboard, officially 462 feet, was the equal to Morrison's.

Third baseman Casey McGehee, who watched from the on-deck circle as Friday's launch took flight, expects Stanton to top it.

"It seems like every time he squares one up it's more impressive than the last one," McGehee said, adding that when Stanton hits one, "it's got a different sound and a different look to it that I haven't seen before. I think that's why it's so exciting [because], every time he stands in there you truly have a chance to see something you've never seen before."

McGehee is familiar with prodigious power from hitting behind Prince Fielder in three seasons with the Brewers, but said he's never seen anyone hit a ball as hard as Stanton. The low laser shot to the opposite field off the video board above the Marlins' bullpen earlier in the week was another example.

"Prince has got about as much power as anybody, but the first homer [Stanton] hit to right field, I don't know if anybody else can do it," McGehee said. "Sometimes I watch and wonder, what does that actually feel like in your hands when you hit a ball that hard and that far. I've hit balls good, but I can't even imagine what that feels like."

The middle of the order is providing much-needed production behind Stanton. Last season Marlins cleanup hitters had 79 RBI. The No. 4 spot had already driven in 11 runs through Friday, 10 of them by McGehee, who set a Marlins record for the most RBI in the first five games of a season, also most in the majors.

Manager Mike Redmond said it is too early to assess if teams will pitch differently to Stanton than in the past, but that an increase in runners on base is creating opportunities that are generating runs.

"I think the beauty of our lineup right now is guys are just taking what they're given and not trying to do too much," Redmond said. "We don't need the ball to go in the seats, we just need hits."

McGehee said he worked on that while playing in Japan last year. He drove in runs Friday with a sacrifice fly and a single up the middle.

"I learned I'm a much better hitter when I'm not trying to drive the ball out of the ballpark. In doing that I ended up hitting the ball out of the ballpark by just taking good swings and trying to make solid contact," he said. "I think, especially in this ballpark, it's not a secret, it's big. … You've just got to take your hits."

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