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Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn Passes Away at Age 54

lukin2006lukin2006 Posts: 9,087
in All Encompassing Trip
Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn Passes Away at Age 54

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2098741-baseball-hall-of-famer-tony-gwynn-passes-away-at-age-54?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t1

RIP
I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin

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Comments

  • pjhawkspjhawks Posts: 12,423
    shocked to just see this. still so young. one of the greatest hitters ever. RIP Tony
  • LoveBoatCaptainDaveLoveBoatCaptainDave Posts: 461
    best pure hitter i ever got to see! RIP Mr.Padre
    san antonio tx 2003
    austin tx 2009
    EV san antonio tx 2011
    dallas tx 2013
    austin tx 2014
  • jjflashjjflash Posts: 4,938
    Damn. So sad to hear that. One of all-time my favorite players. Had the good fortune of meeting him during his rookie season in '83. He signed his rookie card which to this day remains one of my most-treasured sports possessions.
  • rival.rival. Posts: 7,775
    sad. lifetime .338 hitter? beast.

    RIP.
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,710
    Yeah, this sucks. And damn, I knew he was good but some of these stats are insane. In the time it took me to copy and paste this, Ryan Howard just struck out 4 times.



    6 straight seasons with less than 20 strikeouts.

    For his career batting average to slip below .300, Gwynn would need to go 0-for-1,183, essentially not getting a hit for two seasons

    In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits than strike out twice. Let that sink it.

    In 1995, Gwynn struck out only 15 times in 535 at-bats. That's insane. As Aceball Stats points out, 27 current MLB players have already struck out than more than 15 times in June.

    Only once in his career did Gwynn have a three-stikeout game

    More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.

    Gwynn did top .400 for a 179-game span between July 3, 1993 and May 9, 1995. He hit .403 in 697 at-bats.

    In two-strike counts, Gwynn hit .302. That's a statistic that's only been measured since 1988, and since then, Gwynn's mark is easily the best. Wade Boggs, next on the list, hit .260 in two-strike counts

  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 41,633
    Oh man- too young. Great player. Very sad.
    R.I.P. Tony Gwynn
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rival.rival. Posts: 7,775
    edited June 2014
    Cliffy6745 said:



    Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.

    that's a lot of great stuff cliffy, but this maddux factoid... :-O
  • WobbieWobbie Posts: 29,912
    Damn. I imagine this cancer is from his chew habit. I was hooked on that shit for over 30 years.

    Such a shame. The stats cliffy posted are mind boggling. RIP Tony. :(
    If I had known then what I know now...

    Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
    VIC 07
    EV LA1 08
    Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
    Columbus 10
    EV LA 11
    Vancouver 11
    Missoula 12
    Portland 13, Spokane 13
    St. Paul 14, Denver 14
    Philly I & II, 16
    Denver 22
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,710
    rival. said:

    Cliffy6745 said:



    Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.

    that's a lot of great stuff cliffy, but this maddux factoid... :-O
    Nuts
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,710
    http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/16/video-tony-gwynn-using-vcrs-to-scout-pitchers-on-this-week-in-baseball-in-1989/
  • pjhawkspjhawks Posts: 12,423
    Cliffy6745 said:

    Yeah, this sucks. And damn, I knew he was good but some of these stats are insane. In the time it took me to copy and paste this, Ryan Howard just struck out 4 times.



    6 straight seasons with less than 20 strikeouts.

    For his career batting average to slip below .300, Gwynn would need to go 0-for-1,183, essentially not getting a hit for two seasons

    In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits than strike out twice. Let that sink it.

    In 1995, Gwynn struck out only 15 times in 535 at-bats. That's insane. As Aceball Stats points out, 27 current MLB players have already struck out than more than 15 times in June.

    Only once in his career did Gwynn have a three-stikeout game

    More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.

    Gwynn did top .400 for a 179-game span between July 3, 1993 and May 9, 1995. He hit .403 in 697 at-bats.

    In two-strike counts, Gwynn hit .302. That's a statistic that's only been measured since 1988, and since then, Gwynn's mark is easily the best. Wade Boggs, next on the list, hit .260 in two-strike counts

    i will admit i chuckled at the ryan howard strikout comment even though i know you realize how overrated i think people treat his strikeouts.

    anyways the most amazing stat of Gwynn's listed has to be the 2-strike .302 average. that's just insane.
  • eeriepadaveeeriepadave West Chester, PA Posts: 41,773
    one of the best hitters from our generation and seemed like a class act. Wish his son would inherit some of his batting skills though :))
    8/28/98- Camden, NJ
    10/31/09- Philly
    5/21/10- NYC
    9/2/12- Philly, PA
    7/19/13- Wrigley
    10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
    10/21/13- Philly, PA
    10/22/13- Philly, PA
    10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
    4/28/16- Philly, PA
    4/29/16- Philly, PA
    5/1/16- NYC
    5/2/16- NYC
    9/2/18- Boston, MA
    9/4/18- Boston, MA
    9/14/22- Camden, NJ
    9/7/24- Philly, PA
    9/9/24- Philly, PA
    Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
    Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
    RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
  • Last-12-ExitLast-12-Exit Posts: 8,661
    He struck out less than 450 times in 20 years. Unbelievable. One of the top 2 purest hitters baseball has ever seen. I hated the Padres, but loved gwynn. Shame. Cancer sucks.
  • cutzcutz Posts: 11,762
    Tony Gwynn was right up ther, as far as hitters go, with Rod Carew & Wade Boggs in my lifetime.

    He was also a GOOD basketball player too. He was a point guard at San Diego St. I think he was drafted in that sport too?

    GREAT hitter and a class act. 54 is way too young.
  • xavier mcdanielxavier mcdaniel Posts: 9,221
    I did a post on my baseball blog about him and the Mets, Two amazing things besides the really good numbers, on May 13 in 1991 and 1992, he hit two-run home runs off David Cone and that he was 1-for-12 off Anthony Young, who once lost 27 in a row. http://gothamhub.com/2014/06/tony-gwynns-greatest-hits-new-york-mets/
    Reading 2004
    Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
    Chicago 2007
    Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
    Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
    Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
    Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
    Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
    Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
    Fenway 2, 2018
    MSG 2022
    St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
    MSG 2024, MSG 2024
    Philadelphia 2024
    "I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
    Things happen in the game. Nothing you
    can do. I don't go and say,
    "I'm gonna beat this guy up."
  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,087
    One of the more amazing stats was that he hit for 300 in 19 straight seasons. That's 19 seasons in a row and was in his 40's when he ended his career while hitting 324.

    That's just silly.

    RIP Mr Padre.

    Quick story...

    My cousins were working at Shea stadium and Gwynn comes walking by. My cousin Mike says to my cousin Kenny? "who is that? I know who that is!?!"

    Kenny says "Mike you're supposed to be Mr Baseball stat man and you don't know who that is?!? That's Tony Gwynn"

    "Ahhh, that's who that is"

    Tony Gwynn comes walking back by and Mike asks Gwynn "hey Tony can I have your autograph?"

    Gwynn replies "You want my autograph? Five minutes ago you didn't even know who I was!?!"

    Gwynn had heard my cousins talking the whole time...

    Gwynn and my cousin joked around and he eventually signed a ball for him.
  • JK_LivinJK_Livin Posts: 7,365
    Maddux on Gwynn

    The righthander was discussing how changing speeds and having control are far more important than velocity, because no hitter can tell the exact speed of a pitch. Well, except one…
    “You just can’t do it,” Maddux said. “Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitchers if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher’s hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision.
    “Except for that (expletive) Tony Gwynn.”

    Alright, alright, alright!
    Tom O.
    "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
    -The Writer
  • davidtriosdavidtrios Posts: 9,732
    Struck out only 4.2% of the time, amazing!
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,710
    http://deadspin.com/keith-olbermann-tearfully-remembers-tony-gwynn-1591925235/all
  • davidtriosdavidtrios Posts: 9,732
    that was a nice tribute from keith o
    baseball lost a great one
  • Last-12-ExitLast-12-Exit Posts: 8,661
    Great job Keith. He could have went 0 for his next 1109 at bats and still had a career average of .300. That is fucking amazing.
  • Cliffy6745Cliffy6745 Posts: 33,710
    Another great one

    http://deadspin.com/i-was-tony-gwynns-bat-boy-1592123043/all
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 48,492
    what was he hitting before the strike? .396 or something? amazing.

    RIP


    and fuck you, bud selig.
    www.myspace.com
  • PoncierPoncier Posts: 16,661
    .394 before the strike, but was hot as a pistol and average was climbing daily.
    This weekend we rock Portland
  • WhatYouTaughtMeWhatYouTaughtMe Posts: 4,957
    edited June 2014
    What a talent. You forgot a couple good ones I think cliffy. Hit 350 his last six seasons and has the highest batting average of anyone born after 1940. Mark Reynolds struck out 434 times in two seasons, matching Gwynn's career total. That Anthony Young stat is funny too. I remember that guy's losing streak.
    Post edited by WhatYouTaughtMe on
  • WhatYouTaughtMeWhatYouTaughtMe Posts: 4,957
    The Juggler said:

    what was he hitting before the strike? .396 or something? amazing.

    RIP


    and fuck you, bud selig.

    Yes, and he was hitting over 400 the second half of that year.
  • WobbieWobbie Posts: 29,912
    Last-12-Exit said:

    He struck out less than 450 times in 20 years. Unbelievable. One of the top 2 purest hitters baseball has ever seen. I hated the Padres, but loved gwynn. Shame. Cancer sucks.

    How can you hate the Padres???

    By far, the least hateable SoCal team.

    If I had known then what I know now...

    Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
    VIC 07
    EV LA1 08
    Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
    Columbus 10
    EV LA 11
    Vancouver 11
    Missoula 12
    Portland 13, Spokane 13
    St. Paul 14, Denver 14
    Philly I & II, 16
    Denver 22
  • Last-12-ExitLast-12-Exit Posts: 8,661
    imalive said:

    Last-12-Exit said:

    He struck out less than 450 times in 20 years. Unbelievable. One of the top 2 purest hitters baseball has ever seen. I hated the Padres, but loved gwynn. Shame. Cancer sucks.

    How can you hate the Padres???

    By far, the least hateable SoCal team.

    Lol. I'm a cub fan. The cubs let thhise sorry bastards win 3 straight in '84!
  • dankinddankind Posts: 20,835
    Cliffy6745 said:

    Another great one

    http://deadspin.com/i-was-tony-gwynns-bat-boy-1592123043/all

    Excellent article, and it confirms everything I ever thought about Tony Gwynn.
    I SAW PEARL JAM
  • MayDay10MayDay10 Posts: 11,668
    It kind of sucks that it takes his early passing in order for everyone to really dig and fawn over how amazing he was. Really wasnt much fanfare at the end and even during his career due to his personality and playing for the Padres.
    Wasnt a big flashy farewell tour or anything.

    Seems like looking at it now, his hitting is the best since Ted Williams.
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