Guinness World Record Attempt Around the Bases
The California Angels encouraged fans to come to the game to wittness what they hoped would be a World Record
Mick pictured here with two official timers from the Guinness Book of World Records
Mickey lost his balance 15 feet prior to crossing the plate thus foiling his record setting attempt
This photo is of one fo the offical stop watches used to document the time of Mickey's World Record attempt
What could have been...
The record for the fastest time for circling the bases is 13.3 seconds, set by Chicago White Sox OF Evar Swanson in Columbus, Ohio in 1932. His average speed around the bases was estimated to be18.45 mph.
Mickey challenged Evar Swanson's, then 42-year-old, base-circling record of 13.3 seconds prior the Angels' final home game on September 26, 1971, against those same Chicago White Sox, but his effort fell one second shy of mark as he lost his balance 15 feet prior reaching home plate (see photo to the left) and finishing at 14.3 seconds.
Despite having the Guinness Book of World Records' officials on hand, Mickey chose for forego the opporunity of a second chance at the record and never attempted it again in his career.
Here is some background on Evar Swanson. He was born on Wednesday, October 15, 1902, in DeKalb, Illinois. Swanson was 26 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 18, 1929, with the Cincinnati Reds.
A three-sport star at Lombard College in Illinois, Swanson played three years in the NFL (1925-27) as an end for the Chicago Cardinals before turning exclusively to baseball. He was one of the fastest men in baseball during a period of heavy hitting. He stole 33 bases and scored 100 runs in his rookie year for the 1929 Reds. On September 15, 1929, in a contest held between games of a doubleheader, he circled the bases in 13.3 seconds, a record that still stands to this day.