2011's Big Bombers

While run-scoring was down for a sixth straight season in 2011 (from 4.86 runs per team during the go-go days of 2006 to 4.28), hitters still went deep a combined 4,552 times. On average, those homers traveled 395 feet from home plate to the cheap seats. But some batters blew past that average, routinely hitting tape-measure shots. Here's a look at the hitters with the highest average home run distance in 2011 (minimum 10 HR):

A few observations:

- Brent Morel (76 OPS+), Adam Dunn (56 OPS+) and Gordon Beckham (72 OPS+) had miserable offensive years for the White Sox, but apparently they tried to make up for all those outs by knocking the balls they did connect on clear out of Chicago. Alas, those bombs still only count once on the score board.

- Mike Stanton's moon shots at the Miami Marlins' new stadium will activate this . In spite of this, Marlins fans will still root for Stanton to go yard.

- All together, Matt Kemp's homers traveled just short of 3.1 miles. He could cover those 3.1 miles with a straight line of $100 bills and still have about $156.8 million left on his new eight-year, $160 million contract extension. This is a random, nerdy way of saying it pays to have Herculean power.