Should the best hitter bat 3rd or yoban?

I think popularity has a lot to do with being the yoban choice in Japan. Frequently, the most popular hitter is also the best, but there are exceptions. The famous ON cannon had Oh batting 3rd, Nagashima 4th for most of Nagashima's career, despite Oh being by far the better hitter. Akiyama batted third in front of Kiyohara in Seibu's best days. In 1985, Randy Bass batted in front of Kanefu (if I remember correctly...) despite being the better hitter. All of the above examples are due to popularity in my opinion.

Also it seems logical to have a 3rd hitter who is speedy and can be easily driven home, which is the case in the Akiyama/Kiyohara situation... Truthfully though, it probably makes no difference in the long run.

Protecting your best hitter also comes into play here. Oh was walked many, many times across his career, but he probably would've been walked a lot more if Nagashima hadn't been batting behind him for the majority of it. Same thing with Rhodes in 2001, who had Nakamura and his 46 homers hitting behind him.

I wouldn't disagree seriously with Dusanh, but the traditional approach (which has its merits) in the majors would be that if the better hitter is high average, but not especially good at hitting for extra bases, he should hit third (or maybe leadoff). The fourth spot is generally reserved for someone with power. The theory would be that the power guy drives in runs, and the high average hitter can help set the table.

Jim Albright

I think that Jim's opinion was once valid, though in the Majors today that opinion is changing. Now the best hitter on the team in terms of total production is often hitting third for no better reason than they will get more ABs. Hoping that the table can be better set before a guy hitting fourth is an okay idea when it works, but if that guy is your best hitter, then you want to make sure he bats as many times as possible. For this reason, the hitter that Jim was referring to as a good contact/on-base guy is now hitting 2nd, while your best hitter is often hitting 3rd.

Two seasons ago, when Jeff Torborg switched Vladimir Guerrero to the 3rd spot (from the 4th spot), his reason was that he wanted to get Vladi up in the first inning. At the time Guerrero got out of a rut, and he has hit in the 3rd spot until the last game of last season. I've also heard (on TV broadcasts) that your best hitter should hit third. I interpert your best hitter as the player who can hit for average then for power. So I think the Mark McGuire's of this world should stick to the 4 spot.

I interpert your best hitter as the player who can hit for average then for power. So I think the Mark McGuire's of this world should stick to the 4 spot.

Either way, whether best hitter means most power or best average, it presents a dielema in the case of a guy like Godzilla Matsui, Brian Giles, and Barry who are the best average and HR hitters on thier respective teams. An even more interesting situation presents itself with Kazuo (IMHO the best all around player in the world currently) who is very powerful (36 homers), hits for a high average, and is a speed demon. Should he bat 3rd (not 4th because of his speed) or first? Is there such a thing as too much power in the leadoff hole?