All-Time [insert trait here] lineup

[johnr42]

A-Rod and Schmidt come to mind for SS and 3rd base.

[PcB]

How about that fella from the D-Backs that K's like 200 times a year? I can't remember his name right now.

[bz]

PCB was thinking of Reynolds.

Mickey Tettelton at Catcher. There's also Cust and Pena.

[veryzer]

These are all guys that strike out a lot. What sets Guerrero apart is that he's a free swinger that rarely strikes out and hits for a high average. That's not easy to do.

I don't know if Dimaggio was a free swinger, but he's another guy that didn't walk a lot and rarely struck out.

[BT]

<!--quoteo(post=106054:date=Jul 18 2010, 02:37 PM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Jul 18 2010, 02:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Most sluggers have inflated walk totals when you factor in IBB and ABs where they are pitched around and walked (pretty much an IBB but not recorded that way), and that explains why Sammy had such high OBPs in his elite years. He was still a free swinger even during those seasons.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's all true, but there is no denying that Sosa's career took off after he learned to lay off the slider low and away (and he took all those steroids). He was intentionally walked a lot, but he was not an automatic strikeout for anyone with a slider and decent location. I don't know if the steroids caused that, but he was absolutely a more selective hitter in those days.

[rok]

<!--quoteo(post=106148:date=Jul 19 2010, 08:12 AM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Jul 19 2010, 08:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=106054:date=Jul 18 2010, 02:37 PM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Jul 18 2010, 02:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Most sluggers have inflated walk totals when you factor in IBB and ABs where they are pitched around and walked (pretty much an IBB but not recorded that way), and that explains why Sammy had such high OBPs in his elite years. He was still a free swinger even during those seasons.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's all true, but there is no denying that Sosa's career took off after he learned to lay off the slider low and away (and he took all those steroids). He was intentionally walked a lot, but he was not an automatic strikeout for anyone with a slider and decent location. I don't know if the steroids caused that, but he was absolutely a more selective hitter in those days.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There's absolutely no denying that he became a more selective hitter in the late 90s, but I still don't recall that he ever was considered one of the more patient hitters around by baseball people. Obviously over time he matured as a hitter, because you just don't all of a sudden start hitting for average and putting up ridiculously high OBPs overnight if you are constantly swinging at pitches out of the zone. Still though, for the majority of his career (1989-97 and 2003-07), Sosa was considered a free swinger, and I think that is all that people are saying.