It's kind of funny how certain baseball players commonly thought of as sluggers experienced a mysterious loss of home-run power in 2005, after the steroid issue rose to the surface. It's also kind of sad.
As a softball player, I can definitely say that there's more excitement (and maybe even challenge) in driving the ball in the gap and running hard for a double or triple, racing agains the other team's relay throw and maybe making a daring slide, than there would be in hitting one over the fence. Personally, I'd rather go 3-4 with a triple and a double than 1-4 with a home run and three flyouts.