Always liked Tony Gwynn, the man played the game beyond well, had a great attitude, loved to hear his discuss the game. In spite of free agency the man stayed a Padre throughout his career.
One of the best pure hitters that I ever saw. I can't believe it. My thoughts & prayers to his family. RIP Tony.
He always struck me as being very personable & friendly to be around. Always had that smile. He'll be missed by many.
...he was always a class act...and LOVED to talk about hitting. Ted Williams even said he was one of the best.
According to some of the comments I've heard passed on MLB this afternoon I'm getting the idea that us folks on the East Coast just weren't aware of how good Gwynn was because he played on the West Coast. Stupid assessment on their part, if you follow the game, and you're a fan you knew how well that man played the game. When I came back from overseas in '84 I became well aware how good of a player Gwynn was. That '84 Padre Team was a good unit. The '98 Team that faced the Yankees was a good unit as well and I'm sure that more than a couple Yankee Fans were well aware of how great a player Tony Gwynn was.
You're right Michael, I mean the guy had 19 straight 300 seasons, 8 batting titles & battered over 350 7 times. And also came the closest to hitting 400 when he finished at 394 for the 1994 season. How could any baseball fan NOT know how good this guy was?
I had the privilege to see his qwest for 3k live, and attended his last MLB game and retirement ceremony. Just the sweetest left handed swing Ive ever seen. I just dont ever recall himever wasting an at bat. San Diego radio was ablaze this morning, this community has been hit her hard with his loss. He recently had had 2 surgeries dealing with a tumor in his cheek and an associated facial nerve. They said he attributed the cancer to chewing tobacco. Ted Lighter was sobbing through his interview this morning. My thoughts and prayers for his family.
I think it was the season before he got 3,000, he tore his achilles and was laid up. He used to call me on the phone to talk because he was bored. The first time I met him was at Jack Murphy Stadium in the locker room. I was wearing a "Chicago Cubs NL East Champions 1984" cap. The locker room door opened and there he was. He was only like 6'2", but he looked really tall in spikes. He took one look at my hat and turned it around so it was on backwards. I've known quite a few athletes, and many are assholes and many are nice guys. Tony was special, nicer than the rest. I asked him what he did when he was on the road and his teammates were out at the bars... He told me he would play Nintendo in his room. Never the guy to get in trouble. As good a family man as I've ever seen. He loved to talk about hitting. He was a student of the game. He knew basketball, too.
In an interview, Gywnn once said: “some of my best hits were balls outside the strike zone”. Yet, Mr. Video, rarely struck out. (Reference: ***) Tony used a 33“ Bat his entire career, one of the shortest length bats used in MLB. - Gwynn currently sits 19th all-time in hits with 3,141, and 28th all-time in doubles, with 543. - His .338 career batting average is the highest of any player who debuted after World War II. - In 1994, he had the highest single season batting average (.394!) since Ted Williams in 1941. - Gwynn led the National League in batting average 8 times, 5 of those times leading the Majors. - Tony’s 8 batting titles, ties him with Honus Wagner for the most in history. (Pete Rose, who only won three.) - Led the NL in hits seven times, with five of those leading the Majors as well. - .338 Lifetime Batting Average, .847 OPS Lifetime; .459 career slugging percentage. - .In 19 consecutive seasons, (all but his rookie year, .289 B’Avg., Tony never hit less than .309 in 19 consecutive seasons. 2nd only to Ty Cobb all time. - 7 time Silver Slugger - 5 Gold Glove awards. - ***His season high in strikeouts was 40, in 1988. In every season but his first, He had more walks than strikeouts, every year of his 20 year HOF Career. - ***In his 20 year career, he drew more walks, than Strike Outs, every single season of his career. The Epitome of Ted Williams “The Art of Hitting”, cut down the strike outs, draw more walks than K’s. - ***In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits than striking out twice. Let that sink in.” - The next bullet point is from a Yahoo Sports article, because the author put it so well: “Gwynn had nine five-hit games in his career. Only Pete Rose had more, with 10. Gwynn also had 45 games with at least four hits. That puts him 10th on the all-time list. - A 15-time All-Star, yet somehow never won an MVP award and only finished top five in balloting once. His statue outside of Petco reads, “If you work hard, good things will happen.” Words to live by from one of the hardest workers and greatest players to ever play the game(s). RIP, Tony......
34 multi-strikeout games, meaning there are <34 pitchers over 20 years to ever strike him out twice in a game. I want to see that list of pitchers.
Denny thanks for sharing your stories, but I'm still trying to figure out why the hell you'd wear a Cubs hat into the Padres locker room, lol!
I'm from Chicago. The Padres did not beat the Cubs in '84, the Cubs LOST the series. The Cubs won the first game 13-0. The Cubs won the second game 4-2. Needing only one more win to go to the world series for the first time since WW II... The Cubs led game three 1-0, but ended up losing 7-1. The Cubs led game four 3-2, tied the game at 5-5 in the 8th, only to give up 2 in the 9th and lose. The Cubs led game five 3-0. Then 3-2 after 6, before giving up 4 runs in the 7th. Leon Durham replaced Bill Buckner at first base and allowed a ball to go through his legs (like Buckner did later as a Red Sox vs. the Mets in the World Series). The Cubs outscored the Padres 26-22 in all five games. Yeah, I'd say if you are up 2-0 and ahead in the three remaining games and end up losing, you lost. You didn't get beat.
