OT: RIP Tony Gwynn

[the 'stache]

Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz faced him 287 times, and they struck him out a combined 3 times. Wow.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Just saw this. How good was Gwynn?

He faced Greg Maddux 107 times, more than any other pitcher. Gwynn hit .415 off of him, and never struck out.

That's incredible.

Man, I am sad. Loved Gwynn.

Maddux made his living off of making hitters think balls were strikes. Gwynn was probably the one guy who he couldn't fool.

[kailes2872]

If you have not seen it, the Olbermann tribute was fanatstic

http://deadspin.com/keith-olbermann-...ium=socialflow

[clydepepper]

Bill - I enjoy your passion for the game

Brian - I cannot come up with any more encouraging words for you as you make your Lebron, uh, decision.

But seriously, do what makes you happy...Baseball will be here when you return.

[mrvster]

brought a tear to my eye.....a childhood hero to me.....I would ride my bike to buy '83 topps and find some rookies of him...Keith O.'s commentary was great...I am just saddened by this very much.....prayers to his family and friends....rest in Peace Mr. Gywnn....rest in peace....

[tjb1952tjb]

A true local icon here in San Diego. His bronze statue at Petco Park is completely encircled with piled-high tributes. I met him a couple times.....never a more gracious man could one meet. He made my young son feel as if he was important to him.....his smile and kind words of encouragement meant the world to so many. He will be truly missed.........

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Sean

Yeah, that strike took away his chance to achieve something that would be remembered for ages. But he never showed any bitterness over his lost opportunity.

The strike cost him .400. I've always felt that way, and the numbers back it up, Sean.

He played 10 games in August, right before the strike hit. How was he doing in August, you may ask?

He had 19 hits in 40 at bats. He was hitting .475 in August. And in those 40 at bats..he struck out one time.

Tony was in the zone.

His 1994 performance was part of maybe the greatest five year hitting demonstrations in modern baseball history. From 1993 to 1997 (age 33 to 37), he hit .358, .394, .368, .353, and .372. His composite batting average for those 5 years was .368. And remember, by this point in his career, Tony had added weight. His knees were betraying him. And when you consider that Tony had changed his approach at the plate, what he accomplished was all the more impressive. Read this article on Deadspin about his chance meeting with Ted Williams at the 1992 All Star Game.

http://deadspin.com/how-tony-gwynn-c...ege-1591491368

Tony went from hitting .309, .317, .317 from 1990 to 1992 to the mind-boggling five year streak I referred to. Hell, at ages 40 and 41, when he was just a part time player, with only 229 at bats between those two seasons, he still hit .323.

The man was incredible.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by kailes2872

If you have not seen it, the Olbermann tribute was fanatstic

http://deadspin.com/keith-olbermann-...ium=socialflow

Thank you for sharing this, Kevin. I used to watch Keith's show religiously. I had to set my DVR to record it, as some nights I just didn't feel up to watching it live. But ESPN kept moving his show all over the place, so I'd get Sportscenter, or Nascar weekly, or something else instead of his show. I ended up just canceling it, and of course, I would have missed this.

Seeing/hearing him tear up at the end really got to me, too. But it's ok. Tony was one of a kind.

[ValKehl]

This fantastic tribute to Tony Gwynn & Don Zimmer by Tom Boswell, the dean of Wash., DC, sports writers, appears in today's Washington Post. I guarantee that you'll be glad you took the time to read it!
Val
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...9f1_story.html

[UnVme7]

Watched this video a while back of Gwynn with a rude autograph seeker. It's great.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QNs-LIaY1gg

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

This fantastic tribute to Tony Gwynn & Don Zimmer by Tom Boswell, the dean of Wash., DC, sports writers, appears in today's Washington Post. I guarantee that you'll be glad you took the time to read it!
Val
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...9f1_story.html

By the way, Val, I did read this. Great article. And I am more saddened now with Gwynn and Zimmer coupled together. He's right, they were both great ambassadors for the game. For me, the indelible image of Zimmer will always be his going head to head with Pedro Martinez, a guy nearly 1/3 his age. Zim never backed down from a challenge. But he was always fair, always the instructor. He would always go the extra mile to help somebody.

This has been a really bad week for the baseball family.

Originally Posted by UnVme7

Watched this video a while back of Gwynn with a rude autograph seeker. It's great.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QNs-LIaY1gg

I'm watching it now, Nate.

Anybody shocked that the very first thing you hear is Tony laughing?

I think he handled that perfectly. Classy as always, but with firm resolve. He was right. He didn't "owe" that guy anything.

[MVSNYC]

Tim Kurkjian did one of his great statistical tributes to Gwynn the other night on ESPN. Some of his records/stats are just mind-boggling. Two of them that jumped out at me...Only Ty Cobb had more consecutive .300 seasons...And his .338 lifetime average places him 17th on the all-time list, BUT only 2 players in the top 20 played after 1939...Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn. Wow.

RIP.

[ZachS]

Didn't see this posted yet... great article about Tony. Read the entire thing. It speaks volumes about his character.

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

The last homestand of the season, Tony's official Nike catalog showed up in our locker one day, with a note in his familiar handwriting. "Pick a pair," the note said. We each happily circled a pair with the pen he provided. Later that week, before a game, the shoes appeared in our locker, along with a check for $500 for each of us. I didn't even care about the money itself—THIS WAS A HANDWRITTEN CHECK FROM TONY GWYNN. ADDRESSED TO ME. (I think I waited five months to cash that damn check. When I did, the bank teller's eyes got big and she looked down at the check, up at me, down at the check.) A few games after the shoes appeared, the equipment manager, our boss, told us: "You know, Tony drove down to Foot Locker himself and bought those shoes for you guys. You probably thought he had them delivered or something. But he went down there. That's what he does."

[clydepepper]

Tony Gwynn, Jr. returns to standing ovation

new video on ESPN.com - which leads to some more, great Sr. Gwynn stories

I recommend you watch.

[irishdenny]

You guys made me Cry again...

Tony was Brilliant!!!