Last week, the Top 7 looked at some of the most famous batting stances of this era due to their originality or downright silliness.  It was also evident from the feedback that people take their stances very seriously—leaving Ken Griffey Jr. off of the list was a sacrilege.  I was actually saving Griffey for this week’s list—the most identifiable swings of this era, be it because of their “sweetness”—a term 100% of the time used for left-handed swings—or because the swing is so ferocious that the crowds “ahhs” each time that it is taken, and should the ball connect with it, it goes an insanely long way.  I’m sure that I am going to miss some of the top swings of the era, so I apologize in advance again…but here we go.

7. Eric Davis
As is the case with many on this list, the stance of Eric Davis was merely anticipation for his violent swing, one that made a 390-foot homer look like it was going 590 as it came off the bat.  Davis would absolutely swing with everything that he had and annihilate the ball.  Many times he would also do a bit of a Rickey Henderson after his swing, which I guess could be yet another list next week—best post-swing behavior in baseball this era.



6. Phil  Plantier
It may seem like an odd choice to be on the list, but anyone that ever followed him on their favorite team knows what I am talking about.  Plantier would sit in a crouch and take a vicious uppercut swing that was almost 180 degrees upward.  There was just about no middle ground with him—he either destroyed the ball or missed it by three or four feet.  He was fun to watch hit, and his 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensation card was a hot item at one time too.

 

5. Mark McGwire
Unlike other power hitters of the era, the greatest one of them all’s swing was unlike the others.  McGwire’s was effortless, it was as if he was swinging at about a 55% capacity, and yet the ball still went 55% further than just about anyone else’s.  It made you wonder what would happen if he took as big of a hack as he possibly could and connected.  Every single park has a legendary story about a ball that McGwire hit there (like Willie Stargell in the previous era) in a game or in batting practice.



4. Barry Bonds
His swing definitely had some similarities to Griffey’s with the swing/follow-through/admire combo, but Bonds is cripplingly unlikeable.



3. Jose Canseco
The bat would look like a twig in his hands as he waved it around as the pitch approached.  Roids pumped through his veins as he swung with everything that he had.  He surely would have killed someone if anyone had stepped in the way (and sure, most swings would, but bear with me here).  When he connected with one of his all-he-had swings, the result was bombs like the one at Skydome in the 1989 ALCS, when he hit it into their 27th deck.



2. Will Clark
His nickname “The Natural” was partially in reference to his swing, so he has to be up near the top of the list.  There was a period of about two or three years where he was known as the best hitter in baseball, and one could tell by just watching him hit once or twice—the smooth swing and follow-through always had words like “sweet” and “pure” thrown at it.  It may have been the only case of many man crushes on the way someone swings a bat in history.



1. Ken Griffey Jr.
He stands, he swings, he follows through, he admires.  Anyone who was between the ages of 8 and 15 during Griffey’s peak of popularity in the 90s imitated that sequence, whipping the bat through the zone and standing there admiring their work.  When a statue of the greatest player of this generation is made, that must be the pose.





The Top 7 is written by Jason Major.  He heard Griffey, Jr. has a sweet peeing stance too.  Email him at jason@joesportsfan.com