CY--Said it for years, he may be the greatest righthanded hitter of our generation........even if he is not, those that appreciate and understand the game of baseball like you do, realize what a tremendously fundamentally sound and truly incredible hitter he is.......in his own way.
Also, the jokes of his defensively ability are actually way overblowen..........sure, he will make the occassion bonehead of all bonehead plays(but 9x less than he used to), but he has actually "worked"(I know some of you dont believe that) his way into at least an average all around defensive LF'er if not better.
Another thing way overblowen is his reaction to homers.........90% of these people that complain about this are also the same individuals that complain baseball is boring. As a player or fan, I could care less what a batter did or does when he hits a ball 500 ft.................the only time I dont like to see it is when occassionally the ball stay in the park and the showboating costs a player an extra base........but on no doubters, give me a break people, if you cant handle the heat, watch golf.