# Baseball's Sweetest Swing **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 14, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771 "2009-06-14T23:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/1 "2009-06-14T23:08:50Z")
When I was growing up, before I learned my deep hatred of the San Francisco Giants, I used to have a poster of Will Clark on my bedroom wall. Why? Because as far as I can recall, he was considered to have the prettiest swing around at the time. Graceful looking, very effortless (from what I recall). I haven’t thought about this in forever, but it dawned on me that I have no idea who has the sweetest swing in today’s game. And of course, what better audience to turn to than all of you? So, two questions, actually: 1. Who do you think has today’s sweetest swing? 2. Who has/had the sweetest swing of all time? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/2 "2009-06-14T23:13:58Z")
Ted Williams. Power and high batting average . He did not even take advantage of the Ted Williams Shift. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/3 "2009-06-14T23:22:30Z")
Ben Grieve. That sounds really stupid but I swear to god. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/4 "2009-06-14T23:26:56Z")
Ken Griffey Jr. Smooth as butter. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/5 "2009-06-14T23:27:15Z")
Certainly among active players, Manny Ramirez, whether you like him or not. ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/6 "2009-06-15T00:02:02Z")
Chipper Jones’ left handed swing, but then left handed swings usually look smoother to me anyway. I think Chipper’s is the best though. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/7 "2009-06-15T00:27:15Z")
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwogLVGtDa8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwogLVGtDa8) Teds swing ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/8 "2009-06-15T01:30:47Z")
1. Who do you think has today’s sweetest swing? Joe Mauer 2. Who has/had the sweetest swing of all time? Ted Williams ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/9 "2009-06-15T01:38:51Z")
Kosuke Fukudome It’s beautiful the way he’s already half way to the dugout by the time he’s finished striking out. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/10 "2009-06-15T02:45:58Z")
There’s a promo for one of the local sports network’s baseball coverage that includes a video of Manny Ramirez swining, and it pauses at the moment of contact, then continues. Good God, the man has a beautiful swing. It’s absolutely perfect. No wasted energy. His head is motionless through his swing, his bat kept back, his follow-through perfect. His body position is perfect, his body always vertical and square to the plate. His wrist action is amazing. At the moment of contact he is applying maximum force to the ball with every ounce of strengh he and the 'roids have. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful swing. I know it’s sacreligious to say this, but it’s as good as Ted Williams’s swing and, dare I say it, maybe better. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/11 "2009-06-15T02:52:38Z")
There’s a huge difference, of course, between the best swing ever (Babe Ruth) and the most beautiful. The most beautiful swing I ever saw on a regular basis was Paul Molitor’s. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/12 "2009-06-15T02:58:22Z")
I love the beautiful swings - Manny, Griffey, Strawberry, Williams, Clark, Van Slyke - but the ones I love the best are the break-the-mold unothodox ones. Rod Carew’s lazy, bat back stance belied the knowledge that every pitcher had knowing he was going to smack the ball somewhere, regardless of the quality of the pitch. Watching Ichiro raise his average to .360 this weekend gives me the same feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/13 "2009-06-15T03:17:37Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Ken Griffey Jr. Smooth as butter. This times 1000 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/14 "2009-06-15T03:21:20Z")
Today It’s Jim Thome. Every Swing, whether Strike or Home Run, could be put on a poster. ---
**Author:** ![Fred\_Garvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c67d28/32.png) [@Fred\_Garvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred_Garvin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/15 "2009-06-15T03:28:58Z")
Although I love Teddy Ballgame, Griffey’s got the sweetest swing by far. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/16 "2009-06-15T04:18:56Z")
Manny 100%!!! As **Rickjay** said, it is beautiful a million times over. All time? I don’t know enough baseball to make a good answer. And now…sigh…people will hate me: I don’t like Junior’s swing. It’s very iconic, good to imitate with a bad, but I just don’t see it as all that…pretty. Unique? Yes. His Own? Yup. One that works? Definitely. But pretty? Not for me. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/17 "2009-06-15T18:11:04Z")
So why is it that lefties are typically considered to have the more graceful swings? ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/18 "2009-06-15T19:56:22Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > So why is it that lefties are typically considered to have the more graceful swings? I think it looks smoother when they face right-handed pitchers, which is usually the case. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/19 "2009-06-15T22:45:22Z")
John Olerud had a really beautiful swing. ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771/20 "2009-06-16T08:09:43Z")
I’ll go with Griffey Jr. also, because of his looping, fluid swing. There aren’t any hitches, it’s all circles from start to finish. I think you come to appreciate it more if you pick up a bat and imitate it (which I did for hours and hours as a kid). I also really like Ichiro’s swing for the difficulty inherent in swinging at a pitch while taking off towards first base. It’s probably the hardest to imitate of them all. And as for form and fundamental perfection, Manny Ramirez and Mike Piazza (I always liked the stillness and balance). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseballs-sweetest-swing/499771.md?page=2)