also hit for power. His 19 home runs in 1921 ranked fifth in the American League, and he ranked among the league leaders in home runs 11 times. On July 8, 1921, Heilmann hit a home run off "Bullet Joe" Bush that traveled over the center field fence in Detroit and "actually made the patrons gasp in astonishment." Heilmann's home run was widely reported to have traveled 610 feet, eclipsing Babe Ruth's longest home run of 465 feet. Detroit's grounds keeper was more conservative, reporting that no measurement was made, but estimating that it traveled more than 500 feet. In a column published after the 1921 season, Grantland Rice rated Heilmann as the premier scholar in the American League's School of Swat, ahead of Cobb and Ruth. The entire Tiger lineup hit remarkably well in 1921. In addition to Heilmann and Cobb's 1–2 finish for the batting title, Detroit's third outfielder, Bobby Veach, was also among the league's best at .338. The 1921 Tigers finished the season with a team batting average of .316, the highest in American League history and second highest in major league history. However, true to the baseball adage that good pitching beats good hitting, the 1921 Tigers lacked good pitching and finished in sixth place, 27 games behind the pennant-winning Yankees. The 1921 season marked the start of a seven-year stretch in which Heilmann compiled a .380 batting average, .452 on-base percentage, .583 slugging percentage, and averaged 116 RBIs, 41 doubles, 11 triples, 15 home runs, and 104 runs scored. Batting style and speed Heilmann was known as a line drive hitter who clubbed the ball harder than any batter of his era with the exception of Babe Ruth. His one major handicap as a player was a lack of speed that led to his being known by the nickname "Slug". He was long known as "one of the slowest men in baseball." Hall of Fame sportswriter Tommy Holmes noted: "Heilmann was never much faster than an ice wagon on the base paths. Without doubt, he is the slowest moving great hitter who ever lived." According to Holmes, Ty Cobb's speed added 50 hits a year to his output, while Heilmann's lack of speed robbed him of infield hits. Sportswriter Harry Grayson later wrote that Heilmann's inability to beat out infield hits was the one thing that kept Heilmann from matching Rogers Hornsby as the