Brew Crew Blasts, #8: Corey Hart's Fast Start

This is Part Three in a ten part series looking at the Brewers' longest home runs of 2011 as measured by Hit Tracker Online. Part One of the series ran on Tuesday, and Part Two ran yesterday.

From the moment the 2011 schedule was released, I think many of us suspected that the Brewers' eleven game post-All Star Break west coast road trip would be an important measuring stick for this team. They left Milwaukee half a game back of first place in the NL Central, and would need a solid performance to keep things close.

After splitting a four game set in Colorado, the Brewers moved on to Arizona and dropped the first game there. They picked up a big win the next night, though, and Corey Hart got the scoring started early:

Hit Tracker Online measured that blast at 443 feet. It was Hart's first leadoff home run since July of 2007, and he went on to hit four more in 2011.

The Brewers went on to score four more runs off Barry Enright in the first inning and won the game 11-3. They eventually split the four game series in Arizona and lost two of three in San Francisco to close out a 5-6 road trip and return home tied for first place. They then went 26-5 in their next 31 games to open up a 10.5 game lead.