OT: RIP Tony Gwynn

[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 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.