Some guys, like Barry Bonds and Bobby Abreu and Brian Giles can finagle a walk just about anytime they want. Others, free swingers and first-ball hitters, won't take a walk if handed to them on a silver platter. Below are some current players who'd rather swing than watch. They are rarely complimented with a shout of "good eye," but they are rarely embarrassed by getting called out on strikes.
Jeff Francour, 26 BB in 798 AB, once every 30.7 at bats
Shea Hillenbrand, 130 BB in 3205 AB, 24.7 BB/AB
Neifi Perez, 226 in 5030, 22.3
Sandy Alomar, 211 in 4486, 21.3
Garret Anderson, 334 in 6917, 20.7
Deivi Cruz, active through 2005 (perhaps in minors now, I don't know) beat Francour in refusal to take a gift, walking just 132 times in 4124 AB, once every 31.2 AB. Sometimes Hispanic players have a reputation for being free swingers, but whites and blacks are represented on this list, too. It would seem to me that these guys' lack of walks, and therefore lower on-base percentage, would be a detriment to their production. And I would think that pitchers would take advantage of their ways by throwing them lots of junk outside the strike zone for them to chase. Nevertheless, guys like Francour, Hillenbrand and Anderson (and Alomar, in his day, when not hurt) are solid, all-star caliber players. Go figure!
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