The Top 20 Cub HR Of All Time - #15 Glenallen Hill 5/11/2000

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2008 8:13 AM CST in Baseball Stories

This one still gets talked about, eight years later. Glenallen Hill, in the second inning on May 11, 2000, against the Brewers, slammed a Steve Woodard pitch onto the roof of the building at the corner of Waveland and Kenmore. Woodard was a pretty bad pitcher -- he gave up a Ruschesque 26 HR in 147.2 IP in 2000, and didn't even finish the year with the Brewers (he was traded to Cleveland in July).

Still, that's pretty damn impressive. That building has been there almost as long as the ballpark, and that is, to my knowledge, the only time anyone has hit a ball that made the roof. (The building has a much larger seating structure on top of it today than it did in 2000.)

2000 was a pretty bad year in Cub annals. They lost 97 games, third-most in club history. They were already 9 games under .500 and 7.5 games out of first place on May 11. And look at the starting lineup they trotted out that day:

J Huson 2B R Gutierrez SS S Sosa RF W Greene 3B G Hill LF J Zuleta 1B D Buford CF J Girardi C S Downs P

Man, that's bad. And the Cubs didn't even win that game -- six Cub pitchers gave up 14 runs and they lost 14-8 (check out who the starting catcher was for Milwaukee that day; there are two other former or future Cubs in that Brewer lineup).

But the Hill HR is memorable. Had Hill been given a regular DH spot by some AL team early in his career, he might have hit 300+ HR. It's surprising the Blue Jays didn't try this -- they really didn't have a regular DH when Hill first came to the majors. He's now a coach for the Rockies.

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Three

Al, I think there are actually three other former or future Cubs in that Brewer lineup...Jose Hernandez, Marquis Grissom and Jeromy Burnitz. But who is counting? But Jeff Huson? Shane Andrews? Charlie Hayes hitting cleanup for Milwaukee? Or the who's who of marginal or worse pitchers for both teams...the amazing thing was that the listed attendance was greater than 21,000. To see those guys play? Just wow.

Eighty-five percent of the f*ckin' world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here. -- Lee Constantine Elia, 1983.

by krummy12 on Jan 29, 2008 8:30 AM CST reply actions

Grissom...

... never played a regular season game for the Cubs; he was a Cub only during spring training in 2006.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2008 8:34 AM CST up reply actions

Correction

True enough, I stand corrected. I'll substitute David Weathers and include the words pitching staff to get to three additional former or future Cubs from that Milwaukee lineup...just for fun.

Eighty-five percent of the f*ckin' world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here. -- Lee Constantine Elia, 1983.

by krummy12 on Jan 29, 2008 8:44 AM CST up reply actions

True enough.

I think we can both agree that both those teams were pretty bad in 2000.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2008 8:48 AM CST up reply actions

Oh yes.

Bad indeed. And the truly fascinating thing was that these lineups were trotted out in May, not September. For whatever reason, possibly selective memory, I don't recall much of the 2000 season but there is no difficulty figuring out why that Cubs team lost 97 and the Brewers team lost 89.

Eighty-five percent of the f*ckin' world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here. -- Lee Constantine Elia, 1983.

by krummy12 on Jan 29, 2008 9:09 AM CST up reply actions

I just

emailed a friend this morning when I first saw the Hill clip and the Cub lineup that day and mentioned how little I remember of that year. Those lineups are atrocious, but it was nice to see my wife's "favorite" player (in name only) on that squad: Damon Buford! Wow.

"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young

by Kegler on Jan 29, 2008 9:50 AM CST up reply actions

You're also forgetting

Henry Blanco

"Dad gum right this games gonna be played under protest. . . I guarantee this is gonna be one protest that's upheld." --Hawk Harrelson, 6/24/07

by RynoHoF on Jan 29, 2008 9:10 AM CST up reply actions

Famous quote from "Bull Durham"

[after Ebby didn't listen to Crash, and the ball became a home run]
Crash: "Man that ball got outta here in a hurry. I mean anything travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don't you think?
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: You told him didn't you?
Crash Davis: Yup

Piniella: "This is a tougher job than I thought it would be, I'm going to be honest with you."

by Ivy Walls on Jan 29, 2008 8:48 AM CST reply actions

I was watching...

...this game on WGN. I was going to school at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, about a week away from graduation.

Sort of halfway writing a paper and watching the game at the same time, I was interrupted by heavy rain and tornado warning sirens going off everywhere. Hill hit his homerun, I stood in awe for a bit, then I made a beeline for the basement after the power went out.

No tornado ever touched down, but the two moments seemed timely.

An open invitation to visit Des Moines and watch the Iowa Cubs...

by IowaCubs- on Jan 29, 2008 8:58 AM CST reply actions

Do I know you?

Iowa Cubs, I too was attending UNI at the time. I was actually at this game. It was the one game I went to that year. A friend (from UNI) and I drove over from Cedar Falls. It was spitting rain before the game. Luckily, no rain out.

I was sitting about halfway down the 3B line, halfway up in the stands. Normally when a player hits a homer, the crowd immediately reacts. My recollection of Glenallen's homer was stunned silence as the ball flew through the air. The ball landed on the roof, and there was another pregnant pause. THEN the crowd erupted.

I could not believe what I had just seen. I didn't see the flight of the ball because of the overhanging upper deck. I just saw it land. And couldn't believe it.

by MikeIowa on Jan 29, 2008 4:18 PM CST up reply actions

Obligatory steroid reference!

Please continue with your discussion...

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Chicago Cubs starting outfield: Soriano-Pie-Fukudome. Let it be.

by daver on Jan 29, 2008 9:15 AM CST reply actions

Hill Gets Pissed...

I just saw this on youtube next to the rooftop homerun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFbmrFCle8k

A worthy click for sure.

An open invitation to visit Des Moines and watch the Iowa Cubs...

by IowaCubs- on Jan 29, 2008 9:36 AM CST up reply actions

Heh

Now that's priceless.

"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young

by Kegler on Jan 29, 2008 9:46 AM CST up reply actions

re: Hill Gets Pissed...

LOL. This clip is definitely worth a click -- pretty hilarious. I'm not sure why someone took the time to make and post this video last year, when Hill was long out of baseball (as a player) and not really that big of a star to begin with. (And it was even posted before the Mitchell Report.) In any case, funny stuff.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Chicago Cubs starting outfield: Soriano-Pie-Fukudome. Let it be.

by daver on Jan 29, 2008 12:26 PM CST up reply actions

Now that's funny!

n/t

"Harlem Furniture......You'll like our style!"

by Imtrejo on Jan 29, 2008 6:19 PM CST up reply actions

Street Report: This one went right over my head...

Literally.

I was out on Waveland for this one and had Glenallen played perfectly. I was standing in the doorway of that building when I heard the crack and saw this white meteor heading right towards me. I ran in a few steps toward the street then quickly realized I had misjudged it so I headed back towards the building. I was already thinking it'd be so cool to jump up against the building and rob one a la Torii Hunter.

Didn't take long to realize I had misjudged its flight yet again as this ball was clearly going to hit high off the building so I ran back towards the street.

Mind you, this all took place in a matter of moments, but I felt confident I was now in perfect position to snag any rebound off the building. Sure there were a few people milling around the sidewalk area, but they didn't quite grasp what was going on yet. The other couple ballhawks out there that day had been playing Glenallen more towards left-center so they were just arriving on the scene.

So there I am, like a Little Leaguer pounding his glove in anticipation waiting for the ball to come to him. I see it coming down and I'm getting more and more excited because I can tell that ball is going to hit pretty high off the building. Real high. Mike-Piazza-in-batting-practice high. And there's going to be a huge bounce, right to me in the middle of Waveland 'cause I'm the only one in position to catch it. And I follow that ball all the way to the building...

...and then it just disappears. No impact, no bounce, and no ball. I'm dumbfounded for a few seconds. Where did it go? I was watching it all the way. There were no windows in its path - only bricks. It never occurred to me that it was even remotely possible for it to make it all the way to the roof. But that's what happened. And as badly as I wanted to catch that ball, in hindsight, I wish now that I had a picture of my face at that moment - it would have been priceless.

What an amazing blast...

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Jan 29, 2008 9:20 AM CST reply actions

Did your face look anything like this?

Great story, by the way!

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Chicago Cubs starting outfield: Soriano-Pie-Fukudome. Let it be.

by daver on Jan 29, 2008 9:31 AM CST up reply actions

Close - except I still have both ears...

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Jan 29, 2008 9:53 AM CST up reply actions

Always

enjoy your posts, Ballhawk. In another life, maybe I choose to live yours. Love your perspective. Thanks, man.

"Just because you've had enough/ doesn't mean you wanted too much." -Dean Young

by Kegler on Jan 29, 2008 9:47 AM CST up reply actions

I wasn't there that day......

But lets face it, I would have dropped it anyway!

by toaster on Jan 29, 2008 10:00 AM CST up reply actions

It must have been the shoes

"Hey.....Cubs win!!!" ---Harry "I strongly dislike Steve Stone." ---Hammer

by Hammer on Jan 29, 2008 9:26 AM CST reply actions

The earlier big Z

Julio Zuleta! I always thought he could turn into a good ballplayer, or at least a good hitter.

This helps to explain why I have never been employed as a big-league scout.

Et tu, Augie, et tu?

by mlf on Jan 29, 2008 9:47 AM CST reply actions

Zuleta

I had him on my fantasy team. Turned out to be a wasted pick.

"Have Keith Moreland drop a routine fly. Give everybody two bags of peanuts and a frosty malt, And I'll be ready to die." -Steve Goodman

by danimal15 on Jan 29, 2008 4:43 PM CST up reply actions

IIRC that game

also was famous at the time for another reason. It was the longest 9-inning game in MLB history. The 1:20 game start time yielded an ending time around 5:30-6:00; no rain delays. There were an astounding 30+ BB that game and well over a dozen total pitchers.

I remember getting back to my LF bleacher seats - just past the CF camera hut - when he launched it. The apex was right over the bleachers, maybe even the back wall of the park. GlenAllen was notorious for wearing some funky red colored shoes that season.

Not 5 days later was the Dodger-game brawl highlighted by the fan grabbed Chad Kreuter's hat near the bullpen seating area (club boxes). That was a night game. Even from LF, we could see lots of beer being splashed around, some 400' away.

by blackhawk24 on Jan 29, 2008 9:57 AM CST reply actions

Although some of the players.........

........were wearing short sleeves, the wind had made the game pretty damn cold for the fans in the seats.

That same wind also aided GA in his bid for the roof tops.

I recall looking up from my seat in the left-center bleachers, and as it was clearing the fence, the flags were blown stiff - straight out to Waveland. This would have been a homer on any day, but the howling wind pushed this ball to boldly go where no ball had gone before.

by tville on Jan 29, 2008 9:21 PM CST up reply actions

Didn't the great Shane Andrews end a

Cub opening day with a homer? I would say Biittner's, Billy Williams' and Willie Smith's opening day walk-offs will all be here. Says a lot about Cub Septembers and Octobers that at least 15% of the team's greatest homers will be with 161 games left in the season.

Any chance that ARam's third game NLCS grand slam will make it? Sure was a lot bigger than his walk-off against the Brewers last season. I really thought the Cubs had it at that point and it was still only the first inning.

I think I remember hearing that ARam was the all-time Cub leader in postseason RBIs by the end of that game. What a rich, proud history. It took him three games.

PS- If a Larry Biittner opening day homer must be included, maybe a top TEN Cub homers of all time? Best eight? Nicest five?

by TR on Jan 29, 2008 10:24 AM CST reply actions

Sorry, it was the fourth game.

So it did take ARam four games to break the record. Now four games, that's not so embarrassing.

by TR on Jan 29, 2008 10:25 AM CST up reply actions

Actually...

...try 7 (3 games in the NLDS, 4 in the NLCS)....

by Chadnudj on Jan 29, 2008 11:16 AM CST up reply actions

Actually, try 9 since the NLDS went 5.

Still a depressing stat for a team that's had over a hundred chances to play in the post season.

by TR on Jan 29, 2008 12:26 PM CST up reply actions

I remember seeing this on tv, too

And sorry if anyone mentioned this, as I skimmed the last half of the posts, but notice the lineups that have been listed on the past two homer entries. Maybe you should do a list of "The 20 Worst Cub Lineups of All Time."
It could be fun to laugh at...or be an excuse to start a drinking binge.

by JDay on Jan 29, 2008 12:17 PM CST reply actions

LOL

Wow, that's an idea. Maybe next offseason, for comic relief.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2008 12:49 PM CST up reply actions

followed by....

the ten worst announcers of all time.

by toaster on Jan 29, 2008 3:24 PM CST up reply actions

DAB GUMMIT......I MIGHT MAKE THAT LIST..

.....bring back Wayne Larrivee

"Hey.....Cubs win!!!" ---Harry "I strongly dislike Steve Stone." ---Hammer

by Hammer on Jan 29, 2008 3:31 PM CST up reply actions

Huson

Had no business batting lead-off in a college lineup, let alone an MLB one. Feel sorry for Don Baylor if that was the best guy he had to put there (I think he was the manager that year - or was Riggleman on his last legs?)

"Have Keith Moreland drop a routine fly. Give everybody two bags of peanuts and a frosty malt, And I'll be ready to die." -Steve Goodman

by danimal15 on Jan 29, 2008 4:44 PM CST up reply actions

That was Baylor.

n/t

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2008 6:28 PM CST up reply actions

Huson

was probably subbing for EY. Young is in the dugout, and he hit leadoff most of that year.

by elgato on Jan 29, 2008 10:58 PM CST up reply actions

Forgot all about EY

Can't really blame me, though, as the entire 2000 season was eminently forgettable.

Only game I remember from that year was a crazy contest with (I believe) the Expos in May that I think the Expos won something like 17-15. A back and forth contest. We listened on the radio on the way to Michigan. My son, who's now almost eight, was an infant.

By the way, about the Hill home run, I don't take it too seriously. Everyone knows the balls and the players were juiced in that era. Good riddance.

"Have Keith Moreland drop a routine fly. Give everybody two bags of peanuts and a frosty malt, And I'll be ready to die." -Steve Goodman

by danimal15 on Jan 30, 2008 2:42 PM CST up reply actions

Hill's game face

In addition to that home run, the thing I remember most about Hill is that he had the scariest (and best) game face I've ever seen in baseball. He always looked like he wanted to line one up the middle right through the pitcher.

by Mike Vails Evil Twin on Jan 29, 2008 4:27 PM CST reply actions