Which Five Players Had The Best Swing In History

[9RoyHobbsRF]

Which Five Players Had The Best Swing In History ?

Don't have to worry about results, league quality, WAR, OPS ....

Who had majestic, beautiful swings?

To me, Reggie Jackson comes to mind, maybe George Brett, maybe Ted Williams.

who else?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Will Clark!

[9RoyHobbsRF]

I like Johnny Bench's too

[ian2813]

I always liked Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing.

And old Red Sox fan once told me Dalton Jones had the sweetest swing he ever saw.

I've heard Travis Lee's swing mentioned as being a thing of beauty too, though I don't think I ever saw him play enough to remember what it looked like.

[ol' aches and pains]

Billy Williams.

And from the right side, Joe Dimaggio.

[Nimrod]

Dave Justice and Eddie Mathews.Lot of old-timers thought Joe Jackson had a beautiful,perfect swing.

[Dude Paskert]

Mike Schmidt noted that most players who had "sweet swings" were lefties...he claimed this was because they usually faced righty pitchers and effectively had a bit more time to take a longer swing because they saw the ball better. Righty hitters mostly face righties and their core swing had to be a little quicker, making the long, sweeping swing that looks nice less practical. Mike also thought this was why many lefty hitters were so helpless against lefty pitchers.
???? Who am I to argue with Mike Schmidt? I definitely wouldn't say he had a pretty swing.

The one righty who stood out for me for having clean, attractive mechanics was Ryne Sandberg, as long as he didn't get a low, outside breaking ball. He and Dale Murphy both had such a horrible weakness for that pitch, but were still great hitters.
Beyond those already mentioned, John Olerud had a nice lefty swing, as did Darryl Strawberry. Ruth's swing was quite violent, but was also a masterpiece of timing and coordination.

[Edgartohof]

Olerud had a nice smooth effortless swing. Griffey's swing was beautiful to watch.

[pheasant]

My favorite swings are:

1. Rod Carew
2. Griffey Jr.
3. Barry Bonds
4. Pete Rose
5. Tony Gwynn

[pheasant]

For completely different reasons, I love Mel Ott's swing.

[ipitch]

Mike Schmidt noted that most players who had "sweet swings" were lefties...he claimed this was because they usually faced righty pitchers and effectively had a bit more time to take a longer swing because they saw the ball better. Righty hitters mostly face righties and their core swing had to be a little quicker, making the long, sweeping swing that looks nice less practical. Mike also thought this was why many lefty hitters were so helpless against lefty pitchers.

His theory doesn't hold much water because righty hitters are just as helpless against righty pitchers.

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

According to some, Joe Sewell had a great one. After watching Cobb, he altered his stance to somewhat mimic it. A guy who strikes out one every 100 ABs probably did have a great one

[Dude Paskert]

His theory doesn't hold much water because righty hitters are just as helpless against righty pitchers.

I think what he was getting at is that a lefty who can't hit lefties well could still hold a job in the majors since he wouldn't be facing that many of them (writing before the lefty one out reliever was common), but a righty who couldn't hit righties was either going to be out of the majors or playing more of a bit role. I think of Ryan Howard as an example...he never would have become the starting 1B for the Phils if he had been a righty batter who struggled against same-handed pitchers like he does as a lefty.
I wonder how much of it is just familiarity as opposed to mechanics, but I thought I'd pass Schmidt's interesting contention along.

The aforementioned Billy Williams is the only player I can think of who actually got a nickname from his nice cut, "Sweet Swinging Billy Williams".

[Blackout]

ty cobb for sure

[64Cards]

Agreed with the Dude, lefty's come to mind. Brett, Will Clark, Keith Hernandez, Billy Williams. Loved Stargell's windmill thing he did in the batter's box before the pitch was thrown. McCovey looked like a sweet swinging monster. And of course, 3 of the greatest lefty's, Musial, Williams and the Babe.

Aaron is RH hitter who comes to mind. Loved the wrist roll.