Author Topic: RIP Tony Gwynn (Read 6770 times)

Houston · « **on:** June 16, 2014, 10:26:52 am »

Died today at age 54.

jbm · « **Reply #1 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:31:42 am »

Sad sad news. I heard he was ailing but this caught me by surprise.

Prayers out to his family.

NeilT · « **Reply #2 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:34:16 am »

Wow. That's really a stunner.

Col. Sphinx Drummond · « **Reply #3 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:41:17 am »

Sad news. Tough loss for Baseball.

drew corleone · « **Reply #4 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:43:48 am »

Very sad. RIP.

BudGirl · « **Reply #5 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:48:52 am »

Total shock. RIP

Ty in Tampa · « **Reply #6 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:56:32 am »

Quote from: BudGirl on June 16, 2014, 10:48:52 am

Total shock. RIP

Absolutely. I was not even aware he was ill. RIP

GreatBagwellsBeard · « **Reply #7 on:** June 16, 2014, 10:56:56 am »

Too young. Easily the best hitter of his generation.

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #8 on:** June 16, 2014, 11:07:08 am »

RIP indeed. Tony Gwynn could handle a bat and spray a ball around the field like nobody's business. He could have easily hit more long balls had he wanted to do so. Just a fucking phenomenal hitter. This is a huge loss for baseball. My prayers go out for the Gwynn family.

juliogotay · « **Reply #9 on:** June 16, 2014, 11:12:14 am »

I, too, had not heard he was ill so I am somewhat shocked. I'm also surprised how young he was. Thought he was about my age.

Houston · « **Reply #10 on:** June 16, 2014, 11:23:37 am »

Quote from: juliogotay on June 16, 2014, 11:12:14 am

I, too, had not heard he was ill so I am somewhat shocked. I'm also surprised how young he was. Thought he was about my age.

He blamed his oral cancer on smokeless tobacco. He had been battling it for four years and had taken a couples of leaves from his coaching job at San Diego State. Truly a great hitter and apparently a super nice guy.

astrosfan76 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 16, 2014, 11:43:46 am »

One of my favorite players growing up. Sad to see him go this soon.

das · « **Reply #12 on:** June 16, 2014, 01:19:37 pm »

Awww, that stinks. For years, he was my favorite non-Astro player to watch. An absolute hitting clinic each at bat.

RIP, Tony. You brought great joy to millions.

Fredia · « **Reply #13 on:** June 16, 2014, 01:29:12 pm »

sad and a great gone

rpntex · « **Reply #14 on:** June 16, 2014, 02:44:28 pm »

In 50+ years of being a baseball nut, there have only been three non-Astros that I've called a "favorite" player.

Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Tony Gwynn.

Nice article by Tom Verducci on SI's site today:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20140616/tony-gwynn-obituary-san-diego-padres-hall-of-fame/

jbm · « **Reply #15 on:** June 16, 2014, 03:07:49 pm »

Along some of the stats in the article, I was listening to MLB radio at lunch and a caller stated that Gwynn's lifetime average with two strikes was 360. Absolutely amazing.

eta

Nevermind, never believe what you hear or read. It sounded to good to be true, so I checked it out. Basically a 300 hitter with two strikes.

Nate in IA · « **Reply #16 on:** June 16, 2014, 03:42:08 pm »

Very sad news. Another great baseball man passes. Prayers for his family, may he rest in peace.

Ebby Calvin · « **Reply #17 on:** June 16, 2014, 04:25:36 pm »

Quote from: das on June 16, 2014, 01:19:37 pm

RIP, Tony. You brought great joy to millions.

Yep

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #18 on:** June 16, 2014, 05:23:47 pm »

Quote from: jbm on June 16, 2014, 03:07:49 pm

Along some of the stats in the article, I was listening to MLB radio at lunch and a caller stated that Gwynn's lifetime average with two strikes was 360. Absolutely amazing.

eta

Nevermind, never believe what you hear or read. It sounded to good to be true, so I checked it out. Basically a 300 hitter with two strikes.

His actual BA with two strikes was .302, which is still far better than Wade Boggs' .262, who's in second place.

Jose Cruz III · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2014, 08:37:53 pm »

Quote from: Mr. Happy on June 16, 2014, 05:23:47 pm

His actual BA with two strikes was .302, which is still far better than Wade Boggs' .262, who's in second place.

That may be the most impressive of all of his impressive career accomplishments.

RIP Mr. Gwynn. It was a joy and a pleasure to watch him hit.

Bench · « **Reply #20 on:** June 17, 2014, 08:53:21 am »

ESPN compiled a fun list of Gwynn's hitting accomplishments.

I liked the one about never being struck out by Pedro (35 AB) or Maddux (94 AB).

Duke · « **Reply #21 on:** June 17, 2014, 01:11:40 pm »

Quote from: Bench on June 17, 2014, 08:53:21 am

I liked the one about never being struck out by Pedro (35 AB) or Maddux (94 AB).

Chip Brown said this monring that Gwynn only struck out 3 times in a game once in his MLB career.

Dark Star · « **Reply #22 on:** June 17, 2014, 01:22:45 pm »

Lifetime .349 with RISP, according to what I heard on MLB radio this morning.

If so ... damn.

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #23 on:** June 17, 2014, 02:06:17 pm »

Some interesting numbers about Tony Gwynn. He hit .345 against righties and .325 against lefties. He hit .343 at home and .334 on the road. In the first half of seasons, he hit .342 and .334 in the second half of seasons. His lowest BA in any month is July at .325. He hit .289 as a pinch hitter, which is great. As I noted above, he hit .302 with two strikes on him. With runners in scoring position, he hit .349. He hit .321 with two outs and RISP. The bottom line: he was the finest pure hitter that I ever saw play. The closest comparison to pure bat handling was Rod Carew. Admittedly, I did not ever see Ted Williams play.

HudsonHawk · « **Reply #24 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:05:06 pm »

Quote from: Duke on June 17, 2014, 01:11:40 pm

Chip Brown said this monring that Gwynn only struck out 3 times in a game once in his MLB career.

George Springer did it twice this weekend.

chuck · « **Reply #25 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:35:46 pm »

Quote from: HudsonHawk on June 17, 2014, 03:05:06 pm

George Springer did it twice this weekend.

I know, I've been thinking that the Astros have guys who strike out more in a week than Gwynn did all year.

To say that he was the best hitter I ever saw while true of course just seems laughably inadequate as a description or as praise.

Texifornia · « **Reply #26 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:36:12 pm »

Quote from: Mr. Happy on June 17, 2014, 02:06:17 pm

The bottom line: he was the finest pure hitter that I ever saw play. The closest comparison to pure bat handling was Rod Carew. Admittedly, I did not ever see Ted Williams play.

Completely agree. He and Carew were more similar as hitters. Williams, as great as he was, couldn't (or wouldn't) go opposite field nearly as well as either of those two.

JimR · « **Reply #27 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:38:22 pm »

Quote from: Texifornia on June 17, 2014, 03:36:12 pm

Completely agree. He and Carew were more similar as hitters. Williams, as great as he was, couldn't (or wouldn't) go opposite field nearly as well as either of those two.

wouldn't. Williams was the best hitter who every lived.

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #28 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:39:46 pm »

Quote from: chuck on June 17, 2014, 03:35:46 pm

I know, I've been thinking that the Astros have guys who strike out more in a week than Gwynn did all year.

To say that he was the best hitter I ever saw while true of course just seems laughably inadequate as a description or as praise.

I absolutely agree with you. Tony Gwynn was a class act all the way around. It seems that he was an even better person than he was a ball player, which is really unbelievable as good a ball player as he was.

Texifornia · « **Reply #29 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:45:57 pm »

Quote from: JimR on June 17, 2014, 03:38:22 pm

wouldn't. Williams was the best hitter who every lived.

That seems to be the prevailing opinion. He could have, but didn't; Green monster and Williams Shift notwithstanding.

HudsonHawk · « **Reply #30 on:** June 17, 2014, 03:58:22 pm »

Quote from: chuck on June 17, 2014, 03:35:46 pm

I know, I've been thinking that the Astros have guys who strike out more in a week than Gwynn did all year.

Gwynn averaged 29 strikeouts per 162 games in his career. For comparison....so far this season:

Jason Castro: 67 strikeouts in 56 games
Jonathon Villar: 63 in 62 games
Matt Dominguez: 60 in 70 games
Dexter Fowler: 58 in 67 games
George Springer: 76 in 52 games
Chris Carter: 72 in 62 games.

It would take Gwynn nearly four complete seasons to strike out as much as Springer has in May and June.

Bench · « **Reply #31 on:** June 17, 2014, 04:08:18 pm »

Quote from: HudsonHawk on June 17, 2014, 03:58:22 pm

Gwynn averaged 29 strikeouts per 162 games in his career. For comparison....so far this season:

Jason Castro: 67 strikeouts in 56 games
Jonathon Villar: 63 in 62 games
Matt Dominguez: 60 in 70 games
Dexter Fowler: 58 in 67 games
George Springer: 76 in 52 games
Chris Carter: 72 in 62 games.

It would take Gwynn nearly four complete seasons to strike out as much as Springer has in May and June.

Gwynn's career - 2440 games, 9288 AB - 434 K.
Chris Carter's career - 316 games, 1045 AB - 408 K. He'll pass Gwynn by the all star break.

HudsonHawk · « **Reply #32 on:** June 17, 2014, 04:18:41 pm »

Here's another tidbit:

When Gwynn was drafted in 1981, there were 17 outfielders drafted ahead of him, including:

Glenn Gallagher
Phil Bradley
Chuckie Canady
Lanell Culver
Charles Peniger
Lemmie Miller
George Alpert
Jay Roberts, and
John Elway (yes, *that* John Elway)

Dark Star · « **Reply #33 on:** June 17, 2014, 06:39:06 pm »

Pretty good basketball player, too.

Duke · « **Reply #34 on:** June 17, 2014, 07:26:28 pm »

Quote from: Dark Star (Dark Entity) on June 17, 2014, 06:39:06 pm

Pretty good basketball player, too.

Stole alot of bases when he was younger too. So much fun to watch. RIP.

Dark Star · « **Reply #35 on:** June 17, 2014, 07:56:09 pm »

Gwynn the ~~Eskimo~~ Aztec

Taras Bulba · « **Reply #36 on:** June 18, 2014, 07:31:09 am »

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

Duman · « **Reply #37 on:** June 18, 2014, 07:46:00 am »

In all this talk of great hitters, there was a good article written this week on the role vision plays in hitting. When 20/20 isn't good enough

HudsonHawk · « **Reply #38 on:** June 18, 2014, 10:02:35 am »

Quote from: Duman on June 18, 2014, 07:46:00 am

In all this talk of great hitters, there was a good article written this week on the role vision plays in hitting. When 20/20 isn't good enough

I recall a story about Greg Maddux, who was talking about changing speeds on hitters. Maddux firmly believed that no hitter could tell the speed of the ball out of the pitcher's hand. It was like looking a half mile down the road and seeing a car and guessing the speed of the car. Without some other frame of reference, you can't do it, it's just the limits of human vision. Maddux said "if I can change speeds, every hitter is helpless...except that fucking Tony Gwynn."

MRaup · « **Reply #39 on:** June 18, 2014, 12:57:13 pm »

Quote from: Taras Bulba on June 18, 2014, 07:31:09 am

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

Man, that is a great article.

NeilT · « **Reply #40 on:** June 18, 2014, 01:14:59 pm »

Quote from: Taras Bulba on June 18, 2014, 07:31:09 am

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

There's pollen in my office. It's really bad.

Duke · « **Reply #41 on:** June 18, 2014, 07:47:57 pm »

Quote from: MRaup on June 18, 2014, 12:57:13 pm

Man, that is a great article.

It really was Mark. And fuck Will Clark

Col. Sphinx Drummond · « **Reply #42 on:** June 18, 2014, 07:54:31 pm »

"You can tell the manager that he may suck Benito's ass..."

Mr. Happy · « **Reply #43 on:** June 19, 2014, 04:22:30 am »

Quote from: Duke on June 18, 2014, 07:47:57 pm

It really was Mark. And fuck Will Clark

I had a couple of encounters with "the thrill" in New Orleans back in the day. Great ball player. But one of the biggest dicks who I've ever met. Mean-spirited and haughty. He was Jesuit cockiness on steroids. However, I was very impressed with those Mississippi State Ron Polk teams that had Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Thigpen and Jeff Brantley. They were the most talented college baseball team who I ever witnessed in person.

JimR · « **Reply #44 on:** June 19, 2014, 01:52:52 pm »

great article

VirtualBob · « **Reply #45 on:** June 19, 2014, 09:12:50 pm »

Quote from: JimR on June 19, 2014, 01:52:52 pm

great article

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