{"id":5372,"date":"2025-05-30T11:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T00:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/?p=5372"},"modified":"2025-05-30T11:10:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T00:40:20","slug":"swing-for-the-fences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/","title":{"rendered":"Swing For The Fences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Babe Ruth is one of baseball\u2019s greatest players, but he also led the league in strikeouts. Over his career, he walked back to the dugout about one in every eight times he stepped up to the plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, he’s remembered as the GOAT. Why? Because when his bat did connect, it often left the park. 714 times, to be exact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what history remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an obvious parallel with investing. What matters more: a high strike rate (lots of good calls), or a high average return? They’re not mutually exclusive, of course, but if you had to pick one the choice is pretty clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider David Gardner, co-founder of The Motley Fool <\/em>and arguably the Babe Ruth of stock picking. Over the past couple of decades, six out of ten of his \u2018Rule Breaker\u2019 picks lost to the market. And yet, he managed a ~32% CAGR over that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Ruth, there were plenty of misses. But when the bat connected, it really<\/em> connected. His 2002 buy of Amazon — when it had a market cap of just US$7 billion — is probably the best example. But he was also early on Netflix, NVIDIA, Disney, and a bunch of other multi-decade compounders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, finding those names early isn\u2019t the impressive part. I doubt he foresaw the future in any detail. More likely, he just saw big potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real magic was in holding on. He could\u2019ve \u201ctaken profits\u201d at plenty of points along the way, and no one would\u2019ve blamed him. He also could\u2019ve been shaken out during the sharp and brutal drawdowns each of these stocks went through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the bit most people miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, the same hands-off approach applied to the losers. He held many of them far longer than seemed sensible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked him about that years ago (as politely as I could), his view was that position sizing takes care of itself. The winners become dominant positions. The duds fade into irrelevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not a view I fully share, but it’s hard to argue with the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just to be clear, I\u2019m not here to cheerlead for The Motley Fool<\/em>. While I\u2019m a regular on their Australian podcast, there\u2019s no commercial relationship. I just think David\u2019s approach is fascinating — and there\u2019s a lesson in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to beat the market, not just hug it, you have to be okay backing a few dogs. Because market-beating portfolios aren\u2019t built by being right most of the time. They\u2019re built by being spectacularly right<\/em> every now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do that, you\u2019ve got to swing for the fences. And have the stomach to hold on through thick and thin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this approach only works if you’re backing companies with massive upside potential. We\u2019re not talking about punting on moonshots or chasing SPACs with rocket emojis. The names you swing at should be ones with real optionality — founders with ambition, products that scale, evidence of commercial traction, and markets that have significant scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, you\u2019ll still strike out. Sometimes badly. But that\u2019s okay. You don\u2019t need to be right often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You just need to be right big <\/em>every now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strawman is Australia\u2019s premier online investment club.
Members share research & recommendations on ASX-listed stocks by managing Virtual Portfolios and building Company Reports. By ranking content according to performance and community endorsement, Strawman provides accountable and peer-reviewed investment insights. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Create your FREE Strawman account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Disclaimer\u2013<\/strong> Strawman is not a broker and you cannot purchase shares through the platform. All trades on Strawman use play money and are intended only as a tool to gain experience and have fun. No content on Strawman should be considered an inducement to buy or sell real world financial securities, and you should seek professional advice before making any investment decisions<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 2025 Strawman Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

| Privacy Policy<\/a> | Terms of Service<\/a> |<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Babe Ruth is one of baseball\u2019s greatest players, but he also led the league in strikeouts. Over his career, he walked back to the dugout about one in every eight times he stepped up to the plate. And yet, he’s remembered as the GOAT. Why? Because when his bat did connect, it often left the park. 714 times, to be exact. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nSwing For The Fences - Strawman Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swing For The Fences - Strawman Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Babe Ruth is one of baseball\u2019s greatest players, but he also led the league in strikeouts. Over his career, he walked back to the dugout about one in every eight times he stepped up to the plate. And yet, he’s remembered as the GOAT. Why? Because when his bat did connect, it often left the park. 714 times, to be exact. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Strawman Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T00:40:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T00:40:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/swing-for-fences.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"312\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Page\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sage_simian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Page\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Andrew Page\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c19fbf9f9087255d8072b447b883fdea\"},\"headline\":\"Swing For The Fences\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-30T00:40:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-30T00:40:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":676,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/swing-for-fences.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/\",\"name\":\"Swing For The Fences - Strawman Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/swing-for-fences.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-30T00:40:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-30T00:40:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c19fbf9f9087255d8072b447b883fdea\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/swing-for-fences.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/swing-for-fences.png\",\"width\":470,\"height\":312},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/swing-for-the-fences\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Swing For The Fences\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Strawman Blog\",\"description\":\"The Last Straw\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c19fbf9f9087255d8072b447b883fdea\",\"name\":\"Andrew Page\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a0a16ac2ef38545ecd749eab8ad8d66208f6371c4bf77ba739eb5380c82279a6?s=96&d=robohash&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a0a16ac2ef38545ecd749eab8ad8d66208f6371c4bf77ba739eb5380c82279a6?s=96&d=robohash&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a0a16ac2ef38545ecd749eab8ad8d66208f6371c4bf77ba739eb5380c82279a6?s=96&d=robohash&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Page\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/sage_simian\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/strawman.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/andrew\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Swing For The Fences - Strawman Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Swing For The Fences - Strawman Blog","og_description":"Babe Ruth is one of baseball\u2019s greatest players, but he also led the league in strikeouts. Over his career, he walked back to the dugout about one in every eight times he stepped up to the plate. And yet, he’s remembered as the GOAT. Why? Because when his bat did connect, it often left the park. 714 times, to be exact. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/","og_site_name":"Strawman Blog","article_published_time":"2025-05-30T00:40:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-30T00:40:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":470,"height":312,"url":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/swing-for-fences.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Andrew Page","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sage_simian","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Page","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/"},"author":{"name":"Andrew Page","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c19fbf9f9087255d8072b447b883fdea"},"headline":"Swing For The Fences","datePublished":"2025-05-30T00:40:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-30T00:40:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/"},"wordCount":676,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/swing-for-fences.png","articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/","url":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/","name":"Swing For The Fences - Strawman Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/swing-for-fences.png","datePublished":"2025-05-30T00:40:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-30T00:40:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c19fbf9f9087255d8072b447b883fdea"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/swing-for-fences.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/swing-for-fences.png","width":470,"height":312},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/swing-for-the-fences\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Swing For The Fences"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/","name":"Strawman Blog","description":"The Last Straw","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c19fbf9f9087255d8072b447b883fdea","name":"Andrew Page","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0a16ac2ef38545ecd749eab8ad8d66208f6371c4bf77ba739eb5380c82279a6?s=96&d=robohash&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0a16ac2ef38545ecd749eab8ad8d66208f6371c4bf77ba739eb5380c82279a6?s=96&d=robohash&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0a16ac2ef38545ecd749eab8ad8d66208f6371c4bf77ba739eb5380c82279a6?s=96&d=robohash&r=g","caption":"Andrew Page"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/sage_simian"],"url":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/author\/andrew\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strawman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}