Kansan Gil Carter is pictured in this photograph from the late 1950s. In 1957, Chicago Cubs scout Buck O'Neil signed Carter to a minor league baseball contract. He spent the next three seasons playing for teams in the Cubs organization, including the Carlsbad Potashers (1958-59) and the St. Cloud Rox (1960). Carter is best known for the home run he hit on August 11, 1959 for the Potashers. The official scorekeeper put the home run distance at 650 feet. However, estimates based on aerial photograph measurements were reported at 700-733 feet, which would make it the longest home run in baseball history. In his three years in the minors, Carter batted for a .264 average, hit 72 home runs, and had 266 RBIs. He led the Sophomore League in home runs in 1959, with 34; he was named to the Northern League All-Star Team in 1960. In the early 1960s, Carter was the starting left fielder for the Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners, a team that won national semi-pro baseball championships in 1962 and 1963. His national tournament performance in 1962 (.484 batting average and six home runs) earned him a spot on the National Baseball Congress All-American Team. Carter was born and raised in Topeka. He lived in Wichita for nearly four decades before returning to Topeka in 2000. Digital reproduction of the photograph was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.
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