“That’s my best ball for sure,” Casas said. “I had one hit harder, exit velo-wise, last year. But that Ted Williams seat is starting to feel more and more like a myth.”
Casas isn’t alone in his take that it’s impossible to hit a ball three-quarters of the way up the bleachers. Another left-handed Red Sox slugger, David Ortiz, made his feelings on the impossibility of the feat abundantly clear during his 14 years with the club. On Saturday, Casas thought he had a chance to come close to the iconic seat — only to realize how short he had fallen.
“It’s looking more and more out of reach as I hit balls better toward that direction,” Casas said. “I think that was literally lined up in that row. I took a peek right before it landed. It felt good initially, but I was kind of demoralized when I saw where it landed compared to where I thought it was going to.”
After a shutout loss during which the Red Sox only had three hits Friday night, the offense started out hot against Canning, who Boston also beat last Friday in Anaheim. Wilyer Abreu doubled and Masataka Yoshida singled to plate the game’s first run before Casas made it 3-0. Ceddanne Rafaela’s RBI single gave fill-in starter Cooper Criswell a 4-0 lead and the Red Sox tacked on two more runs in the second.
Triston Casas on long HR: ‘That Ted Williams seat feels more like a myth’
BOSTON — Triston Casas got all of a Griffin Canning changeup in the first inning Saturday, hitting it about as well as he could have. But the two-run homer, much to Casas’ chagrin, fell well short of the red seat in the right-field bleachers that signifies Ted Williams’ famous 1946 home run that is the longest in Fenway Park history.
Williams’ blast nearly eight decades ago is said to have traveled 502 feet. Casas’ two-run shot Saturday, which helped the Red Sox take a big early lead in an eventual 7-2 win over the Angels, was measured by Statcast at 429 feet. Casas doesn’t think he could possibly hit a ball better than when he crushed the pitch with an exit velocity of 111.9 mph. In that vein, he’s starting to doubt that Williams actually hit one 33 rows into the stands.
“That’s my best ball for sure,” Casas said. “I had one hit harder, exit velo-wise, last year. But that Ted Williams seat is starting to feel more and more like a myth.”
Casas isn’t alone in his take that it’s impossible to hit a ball three-quarters of the way up the bleachers. Another left-handed Red Sox slugger, David Ortiz, made his feelings on the impossibility of the feat abundantly clear during his 14 years with the club. On Saturday, Casas thought he had a chance to come close to the iconic seat — only to realize how short he had fallen.
“It’s looking more and more out of reach as I hit balls better toward that direction,” Casas said. “I think that was literally lined up in that row. I took a peek right before it landed. It felt good initially, but I was kind of demoralized when I saw where it landed compared to where I thought it was going to.”
After a shutout loss during which the Red Sox only had three hits Friday night, the offense started out hot against Canning, who Boston also beat last Friday in Anaheim. Wilyer Abreu doubled and Masataka Yoshida singled to plate the game’s first run before Casas made it 3-0. Ceddanne Rafaela’s RBI single gave fill-in starter Cooper Criswell a 4-0 lead and the Red Sox tacked on two more runs in the second.
