Growing up I always heard how Ken Griffey Jr. had “the sweetest swing.” While I didn’t quite know what that meant when I first heard it, all you had to do was watch Griffey’s swing and the swing itself kind of defined the statement. The sweetness of the swing doesn’t guarantee the sweetness of the results. Guys like Prince Fielder, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Giambi, to name a few, had what I’d consider ugly swings but they were very good players. While we definitely spend time ranking players or grouping them based on statistical merit, there was always a place in the conversation for the guys with the sweetest swings.
GAVIN SPITTLE
Ken Griffey Jr.
Barry Bonds
Tony Gwynn
Cecil Fielder
R.J. CHOPPY
Rafael Palmeiro
Ken Griffey Jr.
Robinson Cano
R.J. Choppy
…yes, he nominated himself.
CORY MAGEORS
Juan Gonzalez
Jim Thome
Frank Thomas
JEFF CAVANAUGH
Ken Griffey Jr.
Will Clark
The end
…he then added Mickey Tettleton because his swing “was hilarious.”
MIKE BACSIK
Ken Griffey Jr.
Albert Pujols
Francisco Lindor
MY LIST
Ken Griffey Jr.
Will Clark
Chipper Jones
…A lot of people say that Ted Williams deserves to be in the conversation and I have no doubt about that, but I never saw him play and what video of his I saw was sparse and grainy so I didn’t want to put him on my list to sound smart but felt like it was worth noting that many feel like his swing was as sweet as it came.
Anyway, these are our favorites. Who are yours?