A Chinese home run is also referred to as Chinese homer, Harlem home run, or Pekinese poke. It is a derogatory baseball term that means shortest possible home run.
How A Chinese Home Run Takes Place?
A Chinese home run occurs when a hit barely clears the outfield fence at its closest distance to the home plate. It is the shortest home run possible to happen.History of the term
The Chinese home run was used in the past during the home runs at the Polo Grounds, the home of the New York Giants. Accordingly, the distance here was short, thus the term. As for it being called “Chinese,” it is believed to have reflected the early 20th century when the Chinese immigrants came to the United States. During that time, they did menial labor and were already happy they were being rewarded for their jobs no matter how minimal the pay. The earliest known time when the term Chinese home run got used was back in 1927. The city’s Chinese-American community lobbied for sportswriters to stop using the term. Hence, the writers slowly stopped using it.The Master of Chinese Home Runs
Baseball player Mel Ott, an outfielder, is believed to be the master of Chinese home runs. He was able to hit 511 career home runs during this career from the years 1926 to 1945. Mell Ott had the physique of power hitters and had an unusual batting technique. He was a 5-foot-9-inch outfielder who dropped his hands, lifted his front leg, and stepped forward whenever the pitch came in. Accordingly, this technique made him focus on the short right-field fence. When people would kid him about his technique, he told them if it was an effortless batting style, more players should have hit home runs through it.Some even say that he could only make great hits because they were over short fences. That is not true because Mel Ott is known for making his team win during the 1933 World Series against the Washington Senators. He hit the winning ball over a long fence, which proves he was not only good at Chinese home runs.