That such a large percentage of players were successful on good teams might mean that only good teams can carry one or two players like that. Or that the combination is not as important as we might think. Or that these players, many noted for their defense or "leadership" skills compensated in other areas.

My own guess is that these are players who, when they came to the plate, may not have brought in lots of runs, but did not make many outs either. So they work a walk, or a sacrifice, or something that keeps an inning going. Hmm, soounds like an ideal no. 2 hitter, which many of these fellas are.

One thing many of these players had was an excellent BB:K ratio. Among the players on your list, the only one who had a single year with more K's than BB's was Tony Phillips, had 125 BB's and 132 K's, and he barely made the cutoff, with an SLG of .399. Ozzie Smith is a little extreme, but he's a great example of this, as he averaged 84 walks and 33 strikeouts in his 3 years on the list.