RIP Tony Gwynn

[UMFan83]

Thought this deserved its own thread.

 

Very sad, he was a great player and from what I understand a great person. He will be missed.

 

He was one of those guys that I loved growing up even thought he didn't play for the Cubs.

[rocket]

as a not-so-athletic little leaguer who could make contact pretty well, i figured my major league career would be like tony gwynn or kirby puckett's.

 

rip

[Guest]

Got to see him play quite a bit. To see him play in his prime and to see how unhealthy he has been for the last 10 years is like two completely different people. San Diego's all time best and favorite sports star. Quite sad.

 

ETA: His is the only non Chicago sports jersey I own.

[davell]

He was definitely one of my favorite non-Cubs. My grandparents got me hooked on baseball cards in the early to mid 80s. I remember going thru those shoeboxes years later and finding Gwynn rookie cards and being excited.

[imb]

Wow, that sucks

[rawaction]

Best "pure hitter" I've ever seen play. Amazing ability to put the ball in play where people were not at defensively. It's hard to have a career .850 OPS with just a .120 ISOP and not very much speed (though he did 4 30SB seasons in his 20s). .338 career hitter, with 8 batting titles. Unheard of.

[hawkeyecub]

Favorite non-Cub as a kid. Loved listening to him talk also. Damn that's too bad.

[Guest]

In over 10,000 career PA, Gwynn had a 4% strikeout rate. Four. His career high in a season was 40, for comparison Mike Olt has struck out 60 times in part time duty and it's June 16th. And with a .120 IsoP and only a 7% walk rate too. Best hit tool of all time?

[treebird]

Ace of MLB Stats ‏@AceballStats 23m

#Padres Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career, more than any other pitcher; Gwynn batted .415, Maddux never struck him out.

[SpongeWorthy]

#Padres Tony Gwynn had 287 career plate appearances against #Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, & Smoltz, he hit .381 with just 3 strikeouts.

[davell]

Ace of MLB Stats ‏@AceballStats 23m

#Padres Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career, more than any other pitcher; Gwynn batted .415, Maddux never struck him out.

 

Against Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, and Pedro-323 At Bats- 3 K's. 2 against Glavine.

[davell]

http://www.csnphilly.com/baseball-philadelphia-phillies/gwynn-men-sons-love-fathers-fight

 

This story just ran yesterday.

[imb]

In over 10,000 career PA, Gwynn had a 4% strikeout rate. Four. His career high in a season was 40, for comparison Mike Olt has struck out 60 times in part time duty and it's June 16th. And with a .120 IsoP and only a 7% walk rate too. Best hit tool of all time?

 

Holy [expletive]

[treebird]

He was one of those guys that I loved growing up even thought he didn't play for the Cubs.

 

agreed completely. i always looked forward to playing the padres just to see him. he was such a unique entity, especially in the later stages of his career. he was a real big guy with a very casual stance and whoops he hit four line drives again tonight.

[Andy]

This one caught my attention

 

Matt Sussman @suss2hyphens

Starlin Castro has more career strikeouts than Tony Gwynn

[davell]

Gwynn struck out 3 times in a game ONCE.

[OleMissCub]

Ted Williams gets to talk about hitting again.

[rawaction]

In over 10,000 career PA, Gwynn had a 4% strikeout rate. Four. His career high in a season was 40, for comparison Mike Olt has struck out 60 times in part time duty and it's June 16th. And with a .120 IsoP and only a 7% walk rate too. Best hit tool of all time?

 

Easily. Haven't looked at like Pete Rose or Ty Cobb's numbers recently. But the closest I've seen was Wade Boggs, and he ran circles around Wade as a hitter.

[jersey cubs fan]

Ted Williams gets to talk about hitting again.

 

Not without a head.

[OleMissCub]

Ted Williams gets to talk about hitting again.

 

Not without a head.

 

touche

[Sammy Sofa]

He was one of those guys that I loved growing up even thought he didn't play for the Cubs.

 

agreed completely. i always looked forward to playing the padres just to see him. he was such a unique entity, especially in the later stages of his career. he was a real big guy with a very casual stance and whoops he hit four line drives again tonight.

 

Same here. He was up there with guys like Frank Thomas and Junior and Pedro who I was wanted to watched whenever I could even though they had nothing to do with the Cubs. Definitely had a big Gwynn poster for a while...this is lousy news.

[JonJayCutler]

He went 6 years in a row with less than 20 Ks in each season. He also had 5 seasons with more SBs than Ks. Lol.

 

When I was 7, my family and I showed up to a Cubs/Padres game really early and he walked up in front of Wrigley in a straw hat and sunglasses. Being the baseball freak I was as a kid, I spotted him before everyone else and had him sign a ball. When I passed by again 15 minutes later he was swarmed with fans lol.

[davell]

Bob Welch was the guy that K'd him 3 times in a game.

[Guest]

http://www.csnphilly.com/baseball-philadelphia-phillies/gwynn-men-sons-love-fathers-fight

 

This story just ran yesterday.

I can't read that.

[Guest]

http://i.imgur.com/Mywl1OT.png