On September 9, 2022, Colorado Rockies infielder CJ Cron made sure to write his name in the season history books.
That day, he hit a drive to left field, deep into the night, for the longest home run of the 2022 campaign.
The rocket traveled a whopping 504 feet, and it came home, at Coors Field in Colorado.
It was the second-longest dinger of the Statcast era, which started in 2015, tied with a Giancarlo Stanton home run.
2022’s longest HR was a 504-foot blast from @CCron24. Does someone top that in 2023? pic.twitter.com/w94zUysfw3
—MLB (@MLB) January 1, 2023
The longest homer since 2015 reportedly belongs to Nomar Mazara, who hit it 505 feet in 2019.
While executives and managers often prefer players hitting homers often (the distance doesn’t matter too much for them), fans dig the long ball: they are fascinated with tape-measure round-trippers.
That night, Cron earned some new fans and the league as a whole got a glimpse at his vast power potential.
The 2022 season as a whole was very productive for Cron.
He was one of the few stars on the last-place Rockies this past season, hitting .257/.315/.468 with 29 home runs and 102 RBI.
Cron is also a decent defensive first baseman and a consistent slugger: he has hit 25 or more home runs in four-straight full, 162-game seasons.
He may not be a star, but he sure can hit the ball hard from time to time and he showed that much on September 9.
He will punish mistakes and make sure pitchers don’t dare throwing hittable pitches in the middle to him.
He did it on that 504-ft home run, and he can definitely do it again if given the chance.
