I was scrolling around on HitTracker when, to my surprise, discovered that Wladimir Balentien had the top home run of 2009.
The M’s former top prospect is known to have tremendous power, otherwise he would probably be working at Steak ‘N’ Shake, because that’s about all he has going for him.
But on Oct. 3 against the Pirates, he decided to showcase exactly what makes GM’s continue to give him chances.

In the first game of the final series of the year, Balentien belted a solo shot against Pittsburgh’s Daniel McCutcheon that, if it hadn’t been for the upper deck bleachers in left field, would have traveled an estimated 495 feet. I believe that qualifies as a “moon shot.”

His blast cleared Mark Reynolds’ second-place distance by a good 14 feet. Additionally, the calculated speed off the bat came in as the fastest at 122.3 mph. 

For those of you who would like to see the epic dinger for yourself, here you go .

In case you were wondering, the Reds lost that titanic struggle 3-1. 

Now, if the Reds could only teach him how to hit .