Going Long or Going Home: Rob Deer School of Hitting
| 6
|
by user 67.52.4.34
Baseball adages dot our language, as we encourage people to “swing for the fences” or “go down swinging.” Our lexicon appreciates this type of all-or-nothing mentality, but it’s often not true in baseball. We celebrate players that are multi-talented and hit for high average, field well, and contribute in multiple ways. Something about “wins” that managers are so concerned with. But there’s something about the all-or-nothing slugger that’s intriguing to fans. We appreciate the exhaustive effort of the homerun swing–hit or miss. Here’s my salute to the greatest free-swinging sluggers in modern baseball (1960-present).
In the selection of any such list, criteria are necessary. Several years ago, Baseball Prospectus came up with a tongue-in-cheek statistic called Three True Outcomes —the percentage of a player’s plate appearances that are “true” or independent of fielding (HR, K, BB). While intriguing, 3TO’s emphasis on walks and the relatively low weight of the longball made it not quite the right measure for my prototype free swinger. For this list, I considered walks to be a negative–they give hitters a bat for a reason–and weighted heavily for HRs. Also, being completely one-dimensional is considered an asset–it’s all about the long ball. On to the list!
Greatest Free-Swinging Sluggers
1. Rob Deer , OF (’84-’96) — With his flowing golden mullet and sweet porn-stache, Rob Deer epitomizes 1980s baseball. After breaking in as a Giant, Deer made his mark as a Brewer, reminding nostalgic Milwaukeeans of preceding masher, Gorman Thomas. Deer posted some of baseball’s strangest statlines in his career, hitting .220 for his career with 230 HR and only 600 RBIs. Deer’s finest season may have been his first, hitting .232 with 33 HR (it was the 80s!) and 86 RBIs. In terms of slugging and swinging, 1991 was perhaps his finest as the Tigers somehow let Deer get 448 AB, despite him hitting .179 and notching 175 strikeouts. How could it be the Rob Deer school of hitting without Rob Deer?
Rob Deer hit some of the most massive foul balls int he history of the game. He didn't swing for the fences, he swung for the MOON!
Ok, I'm gonna click the link and continue reading, but if Jonny Gomes isn't on it, it's bunk...