The baseball world is blessed that the moment—a six-and-a-half-second sequence from Wertz’s contact to Mays’ release—was captured on black-and-white film, permitting generations of fans to witness a once-in-a-lifetime play that never will be duplicated. Big-league ballparks aren’t Polo Grounds–sized anymore. The farthest to dead center in the majors is 420 feet at Detroit’s Comerica Park. When Jack Brickhouse broadcast The Catch, he noted in his call the 483-foot marker in center at the back end of a recessed area and surmised with partner Russ Hodges that the ball must have traveled 460 feet.
