[jtbigwoo]

A sports-geek quibble:

Babe Ruth also had the second-best career on-base-percentage in the history of baseball. He hit a ton of singles in addition to his home runs. He was an incredible athlete and defied the current mindset to try for home runs when he thought the time was right. Sometimes he got fooled and ended up striking out, but he wasn't a pure swing-for-the-fences hitter.

(You should look to somebody like Rob Deer if you're looking for someone who swung for the fences almost all the time.)

[xiaoma]

To further your point, the very highest on base % player ever was none other than Barry Bonds, the greatest HR hitter ever. The mere threat of him connecting was enough to convince record numbers of opponents let him walk for free... much like moves by Zuck now or billg back in the day sent everyone else in the tech world scrambling.

Singles are nice. I'd love to have an Ichiro on my team. But I'd take top notch slugger over him any day.