These monster home runs were absolutely crushed

Here's a universal truth about home runs: the farther, the better. Need proof? The jaw-dropping blasts below should cover that.

These monster homers are some of the most memorable in big league history.

Barry Bonds, Giants
June 8, 2002, at Yankees

In his long and storied career, Bonds played just three games at Yankee Stadium, but he sure made the most of them. With the Giants visiting the Yankees for a three-game series in June 2002, Bonds hit .571/.786/1.000 with six walks, three RBIs and one absolutely annihilated home run that landed halfway up the third deck in right field during Game 2. The Yanks had apparently seen enough of Bonds after that missile, as they walked him four times -- three intentionally -- in the third game of the series.

Glenallen Hill, Cubs
May 11, 2000, vs. Brewers

Although Hill was a part-time player for much of his career, he became a folk hero for his ability to send baseballs into orbit. Just a few months before he would crush an impressive broken-bat homer for the Yankees, Hill turned on a pitch from Brewers right-hander Steve Woodard and slugged a home run that traveled over the left-field bleachers, landing on the rooftop across the street from Wrigley Field.

Mo Vaughn, Mets
June 26, 2002, vs. Braves

While Vaughn, the 1995 American League MVP and one of the top sluggers of the '90s, was near the end of his career by '02, he still had plenty of power left in his bat. That much was evident when Vaughn clobbered a ball off Kevin Gryboski that hit two-thirds of the way up the scoreboard in right-center field at Shea Stadium.

Andres Galarraga, Rockies
May 31, 1997, at Marlins

The “Big Cat” was sometimes overshadowed by some of the other top sluggers of his era, but his gargantuan grand slam off Marlins right-hander Kevin Brown will live on forever. Facing Brown with three on and two outs in the fourth inning, Galarraga connected for a tape-measure moonshot that landed midway up the second deck at cavernous Pro Player Stadium.

Best of the rest

If those weren't enough to satisfy your appetite for obliterated baseballs, here are some more long-distance home runs from years past.

Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
May 12, 2015, at Dodgers

Stanton's prodigious power is well documented, and in 2015 the slugger became the fourth player ever to hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium, joining Willie Stargell (twice), Mike Piazza and Mark McGwire with a rocket off the roof that hangs over the bleachers in left field. Watch >

Adam Dunn, Reds
Aug. 10, 2004, vs. Dodgers

The story surrounding Dunn's epic homer is the stuff of legend. After clearing the 32-foot batter's eye in center field at Great American Ball Park, the ball allegedly bounced off a road outside the stadium, continued for another 200 feet and landed on a piece of driftwood in the Ohio River in a spot that is technically part of Kentucky. So Dunn may have literally hit a ball out of the state of Ohio. Watch >

Richie Sexson, D-backs
April 26, 2004, vs. Cubs

Sexson's 200th career big fly was made all the more special when the 6-foot-7 first baseman drilled a laser that cleared the 25-foot wall in dead center field and caromed off his own photo on the video board at Chase Field. Watch >

Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
June 23, 2001, vs. Angels

Ramirez's first homer in this game was certainly impressive, but it paled in comparison to the second, which bounced off the top of a light tower high above the Green Monster at Fenway Park. Watch >

Jim Thome, Indians
July 3, 1999, vs. Royals

Thome slugged 612 homers during his Hall of Fame career, and perhaps none was as impressive as the one he hit off Don Wengert in Game 2 of this July 1999 doubleheader. Thome's mighty shot cleared the center-field shrubbery at Jacobs Field (now known as Progressive Field) and was estimated to have traveled 511 feet, making it the longest round-tripper in the park's history. A statue of Thome now stands in Heritage Park near the spot where the ball landed. Watch >

Mark McGwire, A's
June 24, 1997, at Mariners

Given McGwire's power and Randy Johnson's velocity, it's not surprising that this ball went as far as it did after the A's first baseman connected off the Mariners ace. McGwire's titanic blast to left-center field nearly hit the back wall at the Kingdome, landing deep in the second deck. Watch >

Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners
April 12, 1996, at Blue Jays

While Griffey's most famous homer might have been the one he blasted off Baltimore's B&O Warehouse -- it's still the only ball to hit the building on a fly -- during the 1993 Home Run Derby, he destroyed plenty of baseballs in actual games, too, like when he homered over the Hard Rock Cafe in right-center field at the SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre) in '96. Watch >

Cecil Fielder, Tigers
Aug. 25, 1990, vs. A's

Fielder enjoyed the best season of his career in 1990, leading MLB in homers (personal-best 51) and RBIs (132) while notching the highest OPS (.969) of his big league tenure. One of those home runs was a mammoth smash to left field that cleared the roof at Tiger Stadium. Watch >

Darryl Strawberry, Mets
April 4, 1988, at Expos

Strawberry wasted little time marking his mark on the 1988 season, crushing a towering home run that amazingly struck the roof at Olympic Stadium on Opening Day in Montreal. Watch >

Dave Kingman, Cubs
May 17, 1979, vs. Phillies

Kingman belted a career-high 48 home runs in 1979, with three coming May 17 in a wild 23-22 loss to the Phils. For the third of those round-trippers, Kingman swatted a big fly to left field that sailed over Waveland Avenue and continued into the neighborhood beyond Wrigley Field. Watch >

Reggie Jackson, A's
1971 All-Star Game (Detroit)

After making an appearance in MLB.com's look at the greatest All-Star Game moments last week, Jackson's home run deserves recognition here as well. After all, the colossal clout was estimated to have traveled 520 feet before hitting a light standard on the roof of Tiger Stadium. Watch >

Mickey Mantle, Yankees
April 17, 1953, at Senators

While Mantle wasn't yet the fully formed powerhouse he would soon become, 1953 saw him hit one of the most renowned home runs in history. Batting right-handed, Mantle crushed a ball that caromed off a sign in left field and exited Griffith Stadium, ending up in a residential yard across the street. Yankees public relations director Red Patterson tracked down the supposed landing spot and declared it to be 565 feet from home plate. Although Patterson actually got to the number by counting his paces from the back bleacher wall to that spot, the distance he gave -- and the term “tape-measure home run,” stemming from the legend that Patterson had used the device to measure Mantle's homer -- has lived on. Watch >

Ted Williams, Red Sox
June 9, 1946, vs. Tigers

Less than two months into his comeback season after missing three years due to his military service, Williams hit a home run at Fenway Park that would become etched in Red Sox lore. As the legend goes, Williams' blast to deep right field pierced the straw hat of Joseph A. Boucher, a fan sitting in the bleachers. It was officially measured at 502 feet, making it the longest home run in Fenway Park history. After the bleachers were replaced with seats, the team commemorated the home run's estimated landing spot by installing a lone red seat (Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21) in what is otherwise a sea of green. Watch >