Frank Robinson Hits a Home Run Out of Memorial Stadium

On May 8, 1966, Baltimore Orioles right fielder Frank Robinson hit a home run completely out of Memorial Stadium, the first and only player ever to do so. The blast came off Cleveland Indians starter Luis Tiant in the first inning of the second game of a doubleheader, a two-run shot that landed in the parking lot roughly 540 feet from home plate.

Robinson stepped to the plate with one out and Luis Aparicio on second base. Tiant threw a low-and-inside fastball. Robinson hammered it down the left-field line, and third-base umpire Cal Drummond signaled fair as the ball soared over the bleachers, cleared 50 rows of seats near the foul pole, and disappeared beyond the back wall of the stadium. The crowd of 49,516 gave Robinson a standing ovation as he circled the bases.

The Orioles had acquired Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds the previous December. Reds general manager Bill DeWitt had called Robinson "an old 30." Robinson made DeWitt pay for that assessment with one of the greatest individual seasons in baseball history. He won the American League Triple Crown in 1966, batting .316 with 49 home runs and 122 RBI. He swept both the regular season and World Series MVP awards and led the Orioles to a four-game sweep of the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Until the Orioles moved to Camden Yards in 1992, a flag with the word "HERE" flew from the spot where the ball left the stadium. The flag became a landmark for fans sitting in the upper sections of the left-field bleachers, a permanent reminder of a swing that bent the physics of a concrete ballpark.

Robinson hit 586 career home runs across 21 seasons. The one on May 8, 1966, was the only ball that ever left Memorial Stadium entirely.