He's sitting in the batter's box and looks ABSOLUTELY FRIGHTENING

Barry Bonds is the obvious answer for me. http://www.sportskitjednik.hr/_brojevi/107/barry-bonds.jpg

Edmonds has a scary swagger up there.
http://www.caasportsmarketing.com/edmonds001a.jpg

Frank Thomas is still pretty terrifying up there.
http://www.thediamondangle.com/archive/may02/whitesox/frank.jpg

not in competition for this honor:
http://espn.go.com/media/mlb/2002/0115/photo/s_sgreen_i.jpg
http://cache.etopps.com/images/cards/025-00164fd.jpg

Manny, but only when he was w/ the Indians. Not just because I'm a BoSox fan, but because he let his fro grow out, and he looks so warm & fuzzy when that thing's blown out. And he's so adorable when a pitcher comes withing 5 feet of shaving his chin. Clean-cut, young(er), Blue Steel, "unapproachable" Manny, however, used to bring THE FEAR.

Also - Enrique Wilson, but only against Pedro, and only as a Yankee, and only through last year.

Also - Albert Belle, for many many reasons.

Also - Jose Canseco as an A, because the man swung the bat like he WANTED to twist his spinal column into a DNA helix.

Or double-helix, if you prefer.

Albert Pujols.

And maybe David Ortiz, except that I have a suspicion that underneath that Shrek-like exterior, he's just a big Teddy Bear.

Vlad! 30% intimidating for waving the bat in the batter's box, 20% intimidating for the awesome pine-tarred helmet, 50% intimidating because he'll hit anything a mile.

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sports/guerrero_vladimir0416.jpg

frank thomas is so effing huge he looks like be barely even fits in the box¡

Frank Thomas played TE at Auburn.

David Ortiz looks a bit unhinged in the battters box.

Dave Kingman looked like he was trying to chop down a tree. His swing was more Buford Pusser than Ted Williams.

I still don't know what that weird elbow fidgiting that Joe Morgan did was all about. All I can remember was that towards the end of his career it wasn't as crazy looking or as wild as during his prime with the Reds. You see some of those films of the 75 series it looks like he is getting ready to bust out some judo or go into convultions.

The Morgan Flap was widely imitated by discerning '70s youth.

I know most of you don't remember Willie Stargell, but he was an awesome sight windmilling that bat (a real heavy one, I believe) around in the box... and in the on-deck circle he swung A SLEDGEHAMMER!

On-deck circles need more sledgehammers.

Actually, seeing any hitter warm up w/ that dumbbell-looking bat thing looks pretty intimidating, but that's because I imagine the damage that'd be done if it hit someone. (As if a baseball bat is made of Nerf.)

A part of Vlad's allure that's missing from Mattbot's percentile breakdown - Vlad does all his damage WITHOUT BATTING GLOVES. Raw.

definitely craig counsell

And, hey, that Bo Jackson character, he was sorta fierce @ the plate.

Gygax, time out in the corner for 15 minutes.

Dave Parker. Kirk Gibson. And Barry Bonds.

I remember a game in maybe 1990 or 1991 when the Pirates were down a run (I think) and Lee Smith was trying to close it out in the ninth for the Cardinals. Bonds came up with a runner on and there was something about it where you just knew he was going to jack one. And of course he did.

not here so much, but Bret Boone's got that really fantastic quick swing that just looks devastating.

http://www.fistfulofsports.com/bret%20boone01.jpg

two of the top guys i would fear play on teams i like (sheffield, pujols). bonds is an obvious answer, and although i've not yet seen vlad standing in the box against my team, i don't think he _looks_ all that menacing. he's got a loose grip on the bat and usually looks surprisingly calm. not wearing batting gloves, though, is always classic.

one i'm surprised no one's mentioned yet: jim thome! he's just a hulking mass at the plate and with that baggy uniform he always looks like he's going to knock the next pitch into the great depression. but once you've heard him interviewed, the effect is greatly softened.

also nomah, if he ever starts raking at a .350 clip again, because he does the same cocked-bat thing as manny only with a lot more intensity. and i totally agree w/ dave, manny's just too much of a doofus to be intimidating.

who's the most superficially menacing hitter, a guy you have an irrational fear of just because of the way he stands in the box? as long as he keeps clicking along at a .731 OPS, for me right now it'd be (richard) HIDALGO.

Jim Thome can hit what seems like an easy pop up to the opposite field for a homer, so yeah he's a good example too.

Dave Parker.

What about Placido "stick ma butt out" Polanco?

nomar's too OCD about adjusting his shirt, helmet, and batting gloves to be frightening--it's a little like watching mackey sasser throw the ball back to the pitcher

absolutely true but for me that all goes away when he cuts the crap and steps into the box. or at least it did, in the postseason last year nomar ABs were practically something i looked forward to.

i always felt fulmer looked intimidating. not so much tho, if you look at his number for this year.

I witnessed Fulmer hitting a grand slam last week, so maybe he's getting it back a little.

What about Kevin Mench? Maybe he'd be more intimidating if he were a little taller.

THE UBERMENCH!!

MICKEY TETTLETON!

He only had a few "monster" years (as an O, and I think with the Tiggers, too), but the way he'd cock his bat like a clock hand traveling from 9 to 12 and then SLICE through the strike zone.

Also, Cecil Fielder(!), & the way he threw himself (ha ha plenty to throw ha ha) into every swing.

Rod Carew had a weird Shaolin Temple karate batting stance.

Kirk Gibson is one of the most intense players ever. That guy seemed like he would chew glass if it would help his team win. He was apart of one of the weirdest plays I ever saw when he was with the Pirates. They put on a hit and run, which at that point Gibson was really gimpy, his batting helmet fell off and somehow someway the guy that hit a ground ball to second and it got it into the helmet. It probably will never happen again in a hundred years.

Frank Robinson was known to be an intimidator in his day, but I don't remember what he looked like at the plate.

Bo Jackson was a freak of an athlete. That clip of him making a catch in the warning track and running up the wall is one of the best ever.

George Brett always looked a bit unhinged, with his helmet and bat covered in pinetar and a chew the size of a tennis ball in his mouth. Considering what happened in that game with the Yankees and that brawl he had with Nettles in the playoffs, I would say he had a short fuse.

Dave Parker is defintely one player that should be on an all badass team. Stargell was pretty badass too, so was Garner and Madlock. I'd definitely pay to see a brawl between the 79 Pirates and the 72 A's.

Reggie Jackson also had that big huge cut swing like Thome.

That 83 White Sox team, which included Luzinski above was one of the mangiest looking teams ever. They looked like a beer league softball team that liked to brawl.

Carlton Fisk
LaMarr Hoyt (Hell his name is redneck and he later got busted smuggling drugs)
Greg Luzinski
Ron Kittle (Spaz city...looked like one of those brothers in Slapshot)
Dick Tidrow (The name and the stashe...)
Rudy Law (Possibly the model for Willie Mays Hays from Major League, that guy showboated on every fly ball and would slide any time he got the chance.)
Floyd Bannister (That name is classic. Sounds like a 30s gangster.)

oh man Mickey Tettleton, good call. That guy was a helluva player too.

that's frightening for different reasons.

He totally stole that stance from Phil Plantier (sorta) (they WERE teammates).

Wells looks like he is doing tai chi.

Gaedel did have an OBP of INFINITY.

He was the Barry Bonds of his day. Nobody wanted to pitch to him.

jim ed rice broke his bat on a check swing once, and for about 5 years he was the most menacing hitter in his league. the '75 series could have been a lot different if he hadn't been sidelined with a broken wrist.

(welcome back, how was the PDX?)

thanks, it was good, nice place. hope to get back there again.