****

Jim Conrad and Irv Brown called the game for a local television broadcast that night:

“Bottom of the seventh. Two runs already in. And the Z’s lead it 8-7 in a see-saw affair...

“Ahhh!”

“Oh my! That’s the longest one yet. Upper deck!”

“Oh my. Oh my! The upper deck in left field. That may be the first one I’ve ever seen in the upper deck.”

“I saw a guy named Bill Pinckard hit one like that. But never in modern times. That thing — that thing has to be more than 450.”

“First one I’ve ever seen in the upper deck. Unbelievable.”

****

Maybe this is all just part of the homer’s mythology and mystery.

Maybe it’s better that we can’t find the seat, for it adds to the lore.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought about all the mysteries involving the home run. For one, we don’t know how much the thin air allowed the ball to soar. Moreover, the pitcher Mark Knudson firmly believes that baseballs were juiced in the 1987 season, in the minors and majors. It’s an oft-debated topic, because as writer Larry Granillo pointed out, 28 major-league players hit 30 or more homers in 1987, while only five players did so in 1988.

Also, in 1986, there had never been more homers hit in the majors, yet the following season, that number was up 20 percent. In 1987, rookie Mark McGwire hit 49, while Wade Boggs, who never before or after hit more than 11 homers, slugged 24.

Was this part of why the Meyer ball went so far?

And then there’s the question we’ve been avoiding — just how far did it really go? The measuring of home runs was antiquated in 1987, when engineers said Meyer’s homer went 582 feet. Then consider that in all the years of baseball at Coors Field, the farthest home run ever hit there, according to the Rockies, was “just” 496 feet, by Mike Piazza in 1997. You’re telling me that Meyer’s homer went 86 feet farther than that one?

Longest home runs in Coors Field history Date Player Team Distance Sept., 26, 1997 Mike Piazza Dodgers 496 feet Aug. 17, 2012 Giancarlo Stanton Marlins 494 feet Aug. 31, 1997 Larry Walker Rockies 494 feet Aug. 27, 2002 Barry Bonds Giants 492 feet Aug. 10, 2002 Sammy Sosa Cubs 490 feet Sept. 9, 2001 Barry Bonds Giants 488 feet Aug. 28, 1997 Andres Galarraga Rockies 487 feet June 22, 1999 Larry Walker Rockies 483 feet May 19, 1996 Ray Lankford Cardinals 483 feet April 4, 2001 Jim Edmonds Cardinals 482 feet Aug. 30, 1998 Sammy Sosa Cubs 482 feet

Maybe it’s better that we don’t have all the answers. That we don’t have the seat. Maybe it’s better if we just let Joey Meyer’s home run be Denver’s fish tale.

On the phone from Maui, Meyer talked about Ripken, whose bat he used to hit the homer. When Ripken retired, Meyer explained, Ripken was asked how he wanted to be remembered.

“To be remembered at all is pretty special,” Ripken said.

Joey Meyer, he of Denver sports lore, is forever remembered for the home run that hit a seat in the second deck.

“It’s awesome — that home run was a split-second,” Meyer said, “and now, so many years later, it’s something people are talking about.”