More than anything - more than the backwards hat, and the video games, and the unforgettable cameo in Little Big League - Ken Griffey Jr. is remembered for that swing of his, an inimitable stroke equal parts beauty and violence that pummeled 630 home runs and inspired legions of copycats.
On Wednesday, the Kid will be granted his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, possibly as the museum's first unanimous electee, and will unofficially lay claim to the sweetest swing in Cooperstown. In honor of Griffey's forthcoming induction, let's take a look at some other players with comparably eye-pleasing (though unquestionably inferior) strokes:
5. Barry Bonds
Bonds was to baseball what Steve Jobs was to technology, or Jerry Seinfeld was to neurotic humor. During his prime, Bonds was a veritable demi-god in the batter's box, dismantling baseball's standards of excellence and the laws of physics with a picturesque stroke that produced 762 regular-season homers.
4. Alex Rodriguez
He may be an attention-craving narcissist, but with a swing like that, can you really blame him? Unnervingly quiet at the plate and remarkably balanced throughout his swing, Rodriguez's stroke is a thing of beauty, whether you like him or not. There's a reason why, at age 40, he can still bash 33 homers and square up 95-mph heaters.
3. Ted Williams
Not only was Williams history's most famous student of hitting, but the Red Sox icon also wrote perhaps the most authoritative book on the subject. A thousand prospects could study for a thousand years, though, and still not come close to replicating Williams' swing. Despite his best efforts, Williams' gifts couldn't be imparted through scholarship. It's like saying to Pavarotti, "Teach me to sing like you."
2. Albert Pujols
It's not hard to see why Pujols, the most plausible candidate to break Bonds' all-time home run record, is affectionately referred to as "The Machine." Even with all the force contained within his swing, every part of Pujols' cartoonishly muscular body remains perfectly synchronized as he unloads, without one iota of wasted energy. It's downright robotic.
1. Ken Griffey Jr.
Perfection. Every baseball-loving kid born in the last quarter-century has tried to mimic Griffey's swing, with that unmistakable waggle preceding the most re-watchable sequence of biomechanical beauty.
(Videos courtesy MLB.com)
