purchasearea,

Look, I agree a hit is better than a walk in pretty much every situation, but a walk is better than an out in ALL situations. A walk keeps alive a game, an inning, a rally. Trying to change Joey Votto's or Adam Dunn's approach is plain stupid. It works for them. I'm not saying go up there LOOKING for a walk, but exactly what you say, "swing at a good pitch", don't just swing to avoid a walk.

As for taking pitches, as a fan looking for excitement, there's no immediate gratification, but it pays off later. You get a pitcher to run up his pitch count, he won't be as strong later on when he does, get it up high enough and you get to the bullpen, and in general that's a good thing for the offense and pays off big time down the road. Also in real life, taking pitches and giving the team the chance to check out a pitcher's arsenal that day is also important. You get to a bullpen and then tire THEM out and then the other team has problems the rest of the series.