RIP Tony Gwynn

[JAHV76]

RIP. he was a great player and personality of the game.

[Inside Pitch]

Sad day for baseball.   Gwynn was so fun to listen to, his talking about hitting was just amazing.

[mtangelsfan]

I loved hearing his Ricky Henderson impressions.  Met him once when he signed an autograph for me after an SDSU vs. UCI game.  Very humble and nice.

 

I don't remember Gwynn ever showing up an opposing pitcher, ever showing up an umpire.  I just remember him hitting the crap out of the ball. 

[OregonLAA]

Sad day for baseball. He was my favorite player ever not to wear and Angels uniform. This is the first player to pass that I grew up watching. RIP Tony

[DB24]

Does anyone know if he chewed tobacco?

[Richard]

Farewell Mr Padre.

 

 

[mtangelsfan]

Does anyone know if he chewed tobacco?

 

yes he did. He acknowledged the connection a few years ago.

Edited June 16, 2014 by mtangelsfan

[nate]

Thought this was funny.  Maddux on Gwynn.  Gwynn and Puckett are two of my favorite non Angels players.  Really sad that they both passed away way too early.

 

[Jay]

FOX Sports jumped on the story but had zero information. Gwynn was only 54 years old.

 

Wow, I'm 54.  Maybe I should stop drinking.

[Amazing Larry]

When I was a kid I tried to emulate Tony Gwynn instead of McGwire, Canseco or any of the other power hitters. To me he was the best because he was able to master the toughest part of the game, consistency.

RIP Tony.

[1nutkruk]

Tough year for my Padres.  They lost two legends in Coleman and Gwynn.  

[1nutkruk]

Great moment in the 1998 world series.  This is the game the umpire ripped from the Padres.  Missed called strike.

 

[T.G.]

This is heart breaking.  I have two Tony Gwynn stories.  I had the pleasure of meeting him at an autograph signing at El Cajon Ford - who he represented for many years.  He and my wife struck up a conversation because they had gone to rival high schools. He joked with her about her high school always beat his and they shared names and joked a bit.  It was a nice moment and one my wife will never forget (not I).

 

We also ran into him at the all-star game that was played at Yankee Stadium.  He was in the parade riding in the back of a Chevy truck. I joked with him about being a Ford man and how he was going to get in trouble for riding in a Chevy.  He laughed and acknowledged the situation. It was a nice little interaction with him and a cool memory.

 

He's the kind of ball player you can't help but love. He regularly engaged with fans.  He smiled a lot. He played the game the right way and was just classy in everything he did.

[gotbeer]

 

In situations classified as "late and close," Gwynn hit a mere .353. 

How good was Gwynn? He hit .415 against Greg Maddux, .444 against John Smoltz, .469 against Doug Drabek. Those aren't small sample sizes as he faced all three at least 50 times. In fact, he faced Maddux more often than any other pitcher: 107 times. Never hit a home run off him, but drew 11 walks, hit eight doubles. 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/48557/tony-gwynn-the-man-could-hit

Edited June 16, 2014 by gotbeer

[The Dude]

Wow, How sad. I thought I remember hearing not to long ago that he was doing well. I was pretty shocked to hear the news of his passing.

[fan_since79]

In addition to three years of baseball, Gwynn was also a point guard for the Aztec basketball squad for four seasons and was named to the all-Western Athletic Conference team on two occasions. He remains the only athlete in WAC history to be honored as an all-conference performer in two sports.

Still one of SDSU's all-time greats at his position, Gwynn tied the school record for assists in a game with 18 against UNLV on Feb. 3, 1980. He also still holds the Aztec records for assists in a season (221) and career (590), and averaged 5.5 per game over the course of his career. His mark of 8.2 assists per game during the 1979-80 campaign is the best ever for an Aztec.

 

http://www.tonygwynn19.com/bio.php

[tomsred]

Met him a couple of times at charity golf tournaments, a really super nice guy!  RIP Tony.

[HaloFan85]

They were probably Dodgers' writers.

Well, it was Steve Garvey's last year on the ballot that year, so that's probably where those 13 votes went.

[disarcina]

I was at SDSU when Gwynn went there -- as the prior post indicates he was really known more for his basketball skills back then and YES -- one of the great SD trivia questions is: Which HOF'er owns the San Diego State assists record in basketball ?  Every fan with any SD connection knows the answer instantly -- others scratch their head to think of an SDSU basketball player (until recently when they've developed some pretty good players).

 

I don't think words can express what an icon Tony Gwynn is in San Diego -- and this encompasses more than baseball or even the entire sports world.

 

The Padres franchise -- years after Gwynn's retirement -- is identified with one player -- Tony Gwynn........Gwynn is intertwined with the City.

 

This is a very difficult day in MLB and the sports world -- it is more than difficult for San Diegans or anyone who ever lived in San Diego for any length of time.

 

Number 19 -- if only every MLB player would have his enthusiasm and love for the game.  Tony Gwynn was not a natural born hitter (like Ted Williams). Tony Gwynn took the talent that he had -- which was considerable but not naturally great -- and just worked his tail off (watching game film, studying pitchers, pitches etc. doing all the stuff way before it became common place -- in fact, it could be said he help introduce this to MLB) to become one of the game's all time greats............

 

R.I.P. The GREAT GREAT TONY GWYNN.  A great ballplayer, a better human being.

[Hollyw00d]

RIP

One of the best chubby athletes ever

[fan_since79]

Gwynn had 9288 at bats in his career and only struck out 434 times.  That is supremely ridiculous.

 

He received 532 out of 545 HOF ballots.  Still would like to have a chat with the 13 people who didn't vote for him.

 

Eleven writers failed to vote for Babe Ruth when he came up for election to the Hall. How's that possible?!

Edited June 16, 2014 by fan_since79

[Hollyw00d]

They probably were Red Sox fans

[ELEVEN]

Eleven writers failed to vote for Babe Ruth when he came up for election to the Hall. How's that possible?!

Ask their wives.

[mtangelsfan]

Just saw that in 1995 Gwynn struck out a total of 15 times in over 540 plate appearences.  LOL

[jshep]

Just saw that in 1995 Gwynn struck out a total of 15 times in over 540 plate appearences.  LOL

 

Brandon Wood calls that a good week. Jesus.