DENVER (KDVR) — It’s been more than two decades since baseball’s biggest sluggers had a home run exhibition at Coors Field, and the prospects of seeing record-setting dingers is tantalizing for fans.
Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby gets underway at 6 p.m. local time in Denver and will feature some of the league’s brightest stars, from Shohei Ohtani to reigning champion Pete Alonso and Rockies shortstop Trevor Story.
Back in 1998, the slugging battle between baseball greats from Mark McGuire and Ken Griffey Jr. to Alex Rodriguez and Chipper Jones was legendary. Griffey Jr. took the title that year at Coors Field with 19 home runs.
With new rules surrounding how the MLB is handling baseballs this year, not using the humidor to soften up balls, baseball experts are forecasting the longest home run ever hit could happen Monday night at 5,280 feet above sea level.
Mark McGuire hit a home run that went 510 feet back in 1998 at Coors Field. The longest home run hit in a regular game at Coors Field was Giancarlo Stanton’s at 504 feet.