On Dunn and Dingers

Last off-season, Stan Kasten remarked on how the team was going to have to open up RF for batting practice at Nats Park because of all the balls that would be hit there by recently (at the time) acquired slugger Adam Dunn.  These were gladly welcome words to Nationals fans.  In the opening year of their new park, and with a team full of hitters that were touted by the Washington front office because of the supposed power that lurked in their bats, the Nationals did not go yard very often.  In fact, only the Giants and Twins finished with less homers than the Nationals (117) that season.  In the dinger department the team was led by Ryan Zimmerman (14) and Lastings Milledge (14).  No one finished with more than 15 HRs.  The signing of Adam Dunn brought a guy that had hit 40 home runs per a season for the last five years.  And in 2009, right field got a lot more crowded.

image generated by the HitTracker website

Dunn hit 19 home runs in Nationals Park, out of which eleven ended up in the right field bleachers (tip to those that want to try to catch a Dunn HR ball: section 238).  16 of the homers came against righties and 10 of the 11 to right field were against lefties.  Dunn ended up with the most home runs in Washington's park (Zimmerman was second with 17) and as the overall leader in home runs for the team for 2009.  sing data like wind speed, temperature, altitude, etc. hittracker's website is able to determine the "true" distance of home runs.  The record for longest "true" home run in the history of Nationals Park (two years)?  You guessed it, Adam Dunn.  In an odd entanglement of coincidences, Adam Dunn hit this home run, his 300th career, on the Fourth of July.  Below is a trajectory of that milestone home run, thanks to images from hittracker:

Adam Dunn's 300th HR

So what does any of this mean?  Not much, but with spring training just starting up there is not much to talk about.  It is just fun to keep these types of things in mind, because home runs are one of the more thrilling aspects of the game.  The addition of Dunn gave the Nationals a bona fide slugger in the lineup.  With the return of Ryan Zimmerman and the addition of Josh Willingham, the Nationals home run totals went up last season, but they still finished in the bottom third of the league in that category.  While home runs are not a vital part of the game, guys like Adam Kennedy and Elijah Dukes knocking some out of the park would certainly aid the efforts already put forth by Dunn, Zimm, and Willingham. 

While looking into Dunn's home runs at Nationals Park I compiled a list of the top 10 longest "true" distance dingers hit in Nationals Park:

1.  Adam Dunn - 4 July 2009 - 458 ft.

2.  Ryan Howard - 21 May 2009 - 448 ft.

3.  Jayson Werth - 9 September 2009 - 444 ft.

4.  Lastings Milledge - 21 June 2008 - 441 ft.

5.  Ryan Zimmerman - 1 September 2008 - 440 ft.

6.  Wily Mo Pena - 24 June 2008 - 440 ft.

7.  Ian Stewart - 17 August 2008 - 439 ft.

8.  Ryan Zimmerman - 18 May 2009 - 438 ft.

9.  Jason Varitek - 24 June 2009 - 436 ft.

10.  Ryan Zimmerman - July 24 2009 - 435 ft.