The Philadelphia Phillies hold their spring training games at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Fla. It’s a facility that is oddly located adjacent to Florida’s Highway 19 beyond the right-field stands. Nothing says baseball quite like the sound of passing traffic.
In theory, that could make for a dangerous commute for motorists driving by the stadium as Phillies lefty slugger Bryce Harper steps to the plate. The last thing anyone wants is to take a Harper home run through a windshield. That would be awful for everyone involved.
On Wednesday, that scenario seemingly (but not actually) came true when Harper launched a massive home run out of the stadium to right field. Accounts like MLB, SportsCenter and Fox MLB were certain that Harper pulled off an epic highway shot. After all, he smoked that baseball.
But we can probably cool it with the “Highway Harper” nicknames because a highway shot would border improbable. Just look at where Highway 19 actually sits in relation to the ballpark.
Yeah, there’s no chance.
According to Google Maps’ measurements, about 200 feet of shrubbery and trees separate the ballpark from Highway 19. In all, it’s about 279 feet from the right-field wall to the highway. To reach the highway, Harper would have needed to hit a 609-foot home run.
The baseballs aren’t quite that juiced.
Impressive as the blast was, a highway shot didn’t happen here.
