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DHH seems to have gotten plenty "filthy rich" hitting singles: http://david.heinemeierhansson.com/racing

People who swing for the fences generally fly out to shallow center. You can score lots of runs hitting single after single after single.



I always find it interesting that Babe Ruth was, at the same time, the home run leader and the strike out leader. If you swing for the fences, chances are, you will fail more than you win. Hitting singles, consistently, is actually far more beneficial for both you and the team that you work with.


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.)


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.


Having a sports car fits into the "you can live a good life on hitting singles".

Having your own private jet, is when you're filthy rich.


This is well beyond your neighbour owning a Ferrari. It takes serious money to race in those leagues.

And if I recall correctly I remember seeing a video of him racing one of my personal favourites, an Aston Martin V12 Vantage (Could have been a DB9/DBS, can't recall exactly).

I would personally consider anyone who can drop six figures annually on a hobby filthy rich. The one's "living a good life" did the kind of racing I used to do, and the wealthy guys there only dropped 20-30k/ year racing around in parking lots.


Well the sports car in question is a one-off custom-build, purely for him, and rumoured to have cost a few millions of dollars. Not quite a private jet, but I would put that into "filthy rich"

UPDATE: Link - http://www.luxist.com/2010/09/06/one-of-a-kind-pagani-zonda-...


See, for example, the 2002 Angels.




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