Nick Kurtz celebrates his 493-foot grand slam. Justine Willard/Athletics/Getty Images

When Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning on Saturday, he was in an uncharacteristic slump and 0-4 for the game. The bases were loaded and the A’s had a slender two-run lead over the Cincinnati Reds when Kurtz took his swing, crushing a 91.9mph fastball out to center field.

The ball left his bat at 114.6 mph (184.4 km/h) and sailed 493 feet for the longest home run in Major League Baseball since Shohei Ohtani hit one the same distance more than two years ago, a stunning grand slam that sealed an 11-5 victory for the A’s.

The list of records goes on. It was the longest grand slam and longest A’s homer since Statcast began tracking data in 2015 as w

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