Will Clark. "The thrill." The swagger of the bat and the sauntering Fat Joe-esque "Lean Back" on the left leg. You could see Will smoking a cigarette at the plate daring the pitcher to throw 96 mph cheese at the belt or letters. Mitch Williams knows that feeling a bit. October 1989 did not treat Mitch too kindly thanks to the swing through the zone in the NLCS.
Ricky Henderson. I loved the stutter-step before touching first even more, but everything from Ricky's strike-zone diminishing crouch to his eye at the plate to his explosive cat-like quickness exuded an aura of dominance. Over 80 leadoff homeruns with that quick, lightning stroke finished with a bat slap between the shoulder blades consistently replays in my mind.
Mike Piazza. Mr. "Pert Plus" broke my damn heart so many damn times I could chastise him eight ways 'til Tuesday. But I wish he could have been a Giant. Salomon Torres, why did you throw the fastball over the outer-part of the plate? The man could hit bombs over any part of the field at any time. Using a larger bat than most and swinging it forcefully through the zone, it was quite a sight to witness when he would connect on the barrel. That does not, however, excuse his scraggly arm - Johnny Damon could throw out a runner behind the plate at a higher percentage and that is no pat on the back there.
Darryl Strawberry. Best player to never make the Hall of Fame. So much talent wasted on drugs, women, alcohol. Seemingly nice guy, but dammit he could have been one of the 20-25 best of all-time. His swing through the zone was so fast for a man his size and stature. I still remember the ball he tattooed to the 2nd deck of the 'Stick on April 21, 1992 - my 10th birthday. Though gravity did pull that baseball down in reality, in my mind that ball has still yet to land. Just a moon shot.
Ken Griffey Jr. Obvious pick yes, but there is still to this day nothing prettier than seeing Junior in a Mariner uniform pull a fastball to right field in the Kingdome and watch it fly out. So smooth, so steady, such eloquence. It is as if God, Buddha, and Allah were behind those swings. Not that I enjoy occasional exaggeration.
Manny Ramirez. Maybe it is the hair, braided and frolicking. The smile, the aloofness. But when he swaggers his way to the batters box, motions his bat toward the pitcher with those intensely focused eyes and swollen cheek full of chew, you wait for the 2-run double or 3-run jack explosion. The RBI king of my era rarely has a dull moment at the dish.
Chipper Jones. I'll just say it, it pissed me off just looking at this guy. He looked like that arrogant athlete who knew he was better than you and because of it would not give you the time or day because his head was so far up his ass. Maybe I felt that way because he was a Brave - very possible. I disliked them probably more than the Dodgers growing up, and it wasn't even Chipper's fault. Can you say "Tomahawk Chop" without me wanting to strangle someone? No, you can't. But he makes the list nonetheless, one of the best players and sweetest swings ever.
There are many more, but these are a few of the names that stick out.
