On June 25, 1971 – Willie Stargell hits the longest home run in the history of Veterans Stadium in the second inning off starter Jim Bunning during a 14-4 Pirates rout of Philadelphia. The spot in Section 601 where the ball landed will be eventually commemorated with a black “S” inscribed within a yellow star inside a white circle, later to be painted black when the Hall of Famer dies in 2001. The star remained in place until the stadium’s 2004 demolition.

Remarkably, the longest home run ever hit at Veterans Stadium came just 3 months into its 33 year history. Others came close (Thome missed it by a few feet), but no-one ever went further at the Vet than Willie Stargell did on June 25th, 1971.

Said Bunning, who served up the meatball:

“The Stargell Star was a high slider that I used to get Stargell out on, only I didn’t throw it hard enough and didn’t get it in. It got over the fat part of the plate. He couldn’t hit it any further.”

Bunning probably would agree with Don Sutton, who once said of “Pops”, “He doesn’t just hit pitchers. He takes away their dignity.”

Said Larry Bowa:

“That ball was still going up. As an infielder, when a guy hits one that you know is a home run, you give it a casual look. When he swung, you didn’t take your eyes off it because you wanted to see where it was going. It was majestic.

“I couldn’t believe how far that ball went. It would take me three swings to get one up there — from second base.”