I'm only 38 but Gwynn was one of the true classics I grew up watching (along with Mattingly, Boggs, Sandberg) and it definitely makes me feel older. I'm very sad to hear this news. RIP.
I wanted to add that Tony used to lived in Indianapolis in the offseason for several years. which is right in my backyard. He liked it here because he could just be a normal guy, in that he could just go out with his family and go to the malls or restaurants without most people knowing who he was.
Saw Tony Gwynn many times playing at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. A great pure hitter who had a remarkable career. Certainly could of made more money playing for another team but he remained loyal to the Padres. He certainly will be missed. RIP Tony.
So here are 19 incredible facts about No. 19, Mr. Padre, the illustrious Tony Gwynn:
• Gwynn's rookie season, in which he played in 54 games, is the only year of his career that he didn't hit .300. He hit .289. His 19 consecutive .300 seasons are second to only Ty Cobb, who had 23.
• Gwynn's career .338 batting average is of a different era. As Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan notes, every other hitter with an average of .338 or above started his career before 1940.
• From 1995, the year he turned 35, to 2001, the final year of his career, Gwynn hit .350, with 937 hits. He never stopped being productive at the plate.
• For his career batting average to slip below .300, Gwynn would have needed to add 1,183 hitless at-bats to his total — roughly the equivalent of two full seasons. (Via @AceballStats)
• Of the 12 top batting seasons since the expansion era began in 1961, Gwynn owns four of them. Those are: .368 in 1995, .370 in 1987, .372 in 1997 and .394 in the strike-shortened 1994 season. (via Baseball Reference)
• In 1994, Jeff Bagwell hit .368, the 13th best season since 1961, but didn't even win the NL batting title because Gwynn was nearly 30 points better.
• Gwynn had nine five-hit games in his career. Only Pete Rose had more, with 10. Gwynn also had 45 games with at least four hits. That puts him 10th on the all-time list.
• In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits than striking out twice. Let that sink in.
• Gwynn's 434 career strikeouts are an amazing mark for a player who had 10,232 career plate appearances. Paul Waner is the only member of the 3,000 hit club to do better. He struck out 376 times in 10,766 plate appearances from 1926-1945. (Via ESPN Stats & Info)
• For comparison's sake: Adam Dunn has struck out 486 times since the start of 2012. Mark Reynolds struck out exactly 434 times in 2009 and 2010.
• In 1995, Gwynn struck out only 15 times in 535 at-bats. That's insane. As Aceball Stats points out, 27 current MLB players have already struck out than more than 15 times in June.
• Eleven times in his career Gwynn managed to not strikeout for 20 consecutive games. The longest streak, 34 games, came in 1995.
• Only once in his career did Gwynn have a three-stikeout game. Eerily, it came against Bob Welch on April 14, 1986. Welch died last week at age 57. That was quite a game. Welch pitched 9 2/3 innings, striking out 12, but the Padres won 4-3. Gwynn had a hit earlier in the game, then reached on an error in the 10th inning and scored to tie the game at 3. The next inning, the Padres won on a walk-off homer.
• More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.
• As Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm dug up: Gwynn had 323 career at-bats against Maddux, Martinez, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and struck out only three times. Glavine got him twice. Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe notes that Curt Schilling managed to strike out Gwynn twice in 43 at-bats.
• Gwynn never hit for .400 in one season, though he came close to matching Ted Williams. In that strike-shortened 1994 season, Gwynn finished at .394 through 110 games. He was hitting .423 in the second half of the season, so it was very much a possibility.
• Gwynn did top .400 for a 179-game span between July 3, 1993 and May 9, 1995. He hit .403 in 697 at-bats.
• In two-strike counts, Gwynn hit .302. That's a statistic that's only been measured since 1988, and since then, Gwynn's mark is easily the best. Wade Boggs, next on the list, hit .260 in two-strike counts. (Via @Castrovince)
• From 1984-1999, there was only one season that Tony Gwynn wasn't named an All-Star. That was 1988. But he won the NL batting title that year, hitting .313, so he got the last laugh.
<< <i>This photo was taking in San Diego. Is beautiful to see so many fans paying tribute to this man & all the different Jersey #19 over the years. >>
Why is the 3rd Gwynn from the left grabbing the rear of both people next to him?
<< <i>This photo was taking in San Diego. Is beautiful to see so many fans paying tribute to this man & all the different Jersey #19 over the years. >>
This is one of the best pictures I've ever seen. Thanks for posting this
The Clockwork Angel Collection...brought to you by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase TheClockworkAngelCollection
been meaning to post this for a week now - i got this jersey signed by tony at then Enron Field in 2001 i think (stadium opened 2000 but i'm pretty sure i got it his last year in 01), always liked the look of the alternate jersey
he would mainly sign baseballs as you had to throw things to the players due to the way the dugouts are at the stadium, unless they signed down the left field line but he never did do that
so he'd point to people and they'd throw the ball to him, sometimes two balls would fly at him at once because people would get so excited, and he'd tease them / poke fun for it, it was never mean it was always just funny and he'd smile and talk to people - just one of the best players ever in that regard
anyway, he pointed to me and said "toss me that jersey" - signed perfectly as he always did
and he had probably THE BEST memory of any player in the majors - back in the astrodome days he would sign right down the dugout, and it was a pretty long way and a lot of people - it wasn't unusual for him to sign for 20-30 minutes before games when the crowds were big
we'd of course try to get him more than once in the line, but he looked everyone in the eye as he took your item to sign and he ALWAYS caught us dipping in for two - and he'd say "i know i already signed for you, DON'T LIE TO ME!" and smile big and laugh a little bit! in fact, he would remember me and another buddy from one year to the next and sometimes even what we had him sign the previous year - i mean it was absolutely crazy how much stuff he remembered
i still can't believe he's gone - such good memories of him, it's so true how people have talked recently about really appreciating again how good he was, he only DIDN'T hit .300 his rookie year when he hit .289 - he was a star among stars but you'd never know by the way interacted with the fans
i also have a ripken signed jersey to round out that 2007 HOF class
my favorite player not named Ripken. still very sad news.
great day to see him and Ripken go into the Hall together.
should be a teaching moment for little league players and coaches about chew. let them know early the dangers and great loss to the game losing Mr. Gwynn so early was.
RIP
Fred
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Comments
MY GOLD TYPE SET https://pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/complete-type-sets/gold-type-set-12-piece-circulation-strikes-1839-1933/publishedset/321940
Jmaciu's Collection
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
Tony Gwynn only struck out 3 times in one game, once in his career.
The pitcher: Bob Welch.
So here are 19 incredible facts about No. 19, Mr. Padre, the illustrious Tony Gwynn:
• Gwynn's rookie season, in which he played in 54 games, is the only year of his career that he didn't hit .300. He hit .289. His 19 consecutive .300 seasons are second to only Ty Cobb, who had 23.
• Gwynn's career .338 batting average is of a different era. As Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan notes, every other hitter with an average of .338 or above started his career before 1940.
• From 1995, the year he turned 35, to 2001, the final year of his career, Gwynn hit .350, with 937 hits. He never stopped being productive at the plate.
• For his career batting average to slip below .300, Gwynn would have needed to add 1,183 hitless at-bats to his total — roughly the equivalent of two full seasons. (Via @AceballStats)
• Of the 12 top batting seasons since the expansion era began in 1961, Gwynn owns four of them. Those are: .368 in 1995, .370 in 1987, .372 in 1997 and .394 in the strike-shortened 1994 season. (via Baseball Reference)
• In 1994, Jeff Bagwell hit .368, the 13th best season since 1961, but didn't even win the NL batting title because Gwynn was nearly 30 points better.
• Gwynn had nine five-hit games in his career. Only Pete Rose had more, with 10. Gwynn also had 45 games with at least four hits. That puts him 10th on the all-time list.
• In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits than striking out twice. Let that sink in.
• Gwynn's 434 career strikeouts are an amazing mark for a player who had 10,232 career plate appearances. Paul Waner is the only member of the 3,000 hit club to do better. He struck out 376 times in 10,766 plate appearances from 1926-1945. (Via ESPN Stats & Info)
• For comparison's sake: Adam Dunn has struck out 486 times since the start of 2012. Mark Reynolds struck out exactly 434 times in 2009 and 2010.
• In 1995, Gwynn struck out only 15 times in 535 at-bats. That's insane. As Aceball Stats points out, 27 current MLB players have already struck out than more than 15 times in June.
• Eleven times in his career Gwynn managed to not strikeout for 20 consecutive games. The longest streak, 34 games, came in 1995.
• Only once in his career did Gwynn have a three-stikeout game. Eerily, it came against Bob Welch on April 14, 1986. Welch died last week at age 57. That was quite a game. Welch pitched 9 2/3 innings, striking out 12, but the Padres won 4-3. Gwynn had a hit earlier in the game, then reached on an error in the 10th inning and scored to tie the game at 3. The next inning, the Padres won on a walk-off homer.
• More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.
• As Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm dug up: Gwynn had 323 career at-bats against Maddux, Martinez, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and struck out only three times. Glavine got him twice. Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe notes that Curt Schilling managed to strike out Gwynn twice in 43 at-bats.
• Gwynn never hit for .400 in one season, though he came close to matching Ted Williams. In that strike-shortened 1994 season, Gwynn finished at .394 through 110 games. He was hitting .423 in the second half of the season, so it was very much a possibility.
• Gwynn did top .400 for a 179-game span between July 3, 1993 and May 9, 1995. He hit .403 in 697 at-bats.
• In two-strike counts, Gwynn hit .302. That's a statistic that's only been measured since 1988, and since then, Gwynn's mark is easily the best. Wade Boggs, next on the list, hit .260 in two-strike counts. (Via @Castrovince)
• From 1984-1999, there was only one season that Tony Gwynn wasn't named an All-Star. That was 1988. But he won the NL batting title that year, hitting .313, so he got the last laugh.
blog
gwynn autos are starting to fly in....he did sign alot....
Ebay Store:
Probstein123
phone: 973 747 6304
email: rickprobstein1@gmail.com
Probstein123 is actively accepting CONSIGNMENTS !!
Believe me, no disrespect intended. As I said, Tony is my hero. But I don't know if I see these prices sustaining
TheClockworkAngelCollection
<< <i>makes me very sad, I grew up watching and collecting him...
gwynn autos are starting to fly in....he did sign alot.... >>
Glad I got my copy already. Class Act all the way.
<< <i>This photo was taking in San Diego. Is beautiful to see so many fans paying tribute to this man & all the different Jersey #19 over the years.
Why is the 3rd Gwynn from the left grabbing the rear of both people next to him?
<< <i>This photo was taking in San Diego. Is beautiful to see so many fans paying tribute to this man & all the different Jersey #19 over the years.
This is one of the best pictures I've ever seen. Thanks for posting this
TheClockworkAngelCollection
he would mainly sign baseballs as you had to throw things to the players due to the way the dugouts are at the stadium, unless they signed down the left field line but he never did do that
so he'd point to people and they'd throw the ball to him, sometimes two balls would fly at him at once because people would get so excited, and he'd tease them / poke fun for it, it was never mean it was always just funny and he'd smile and talk to people - just one of the best players ever in that regard
anyway, he pointed to me and said "toss me that jersey" - signed perfectly as he always did
and he had probably THE BEST memory of any player in the majors - back in the astrodome days he would sign right down the dugout, and it was a pretty long way and a lot of people - it wasn't unusual for him to sign for 20-30 minutes before games when the crowds were big
we'd of course try to get him more than once in the line, but he looked everyone in the eye as he took your item to sign and he ALWAYS caught us dipping in for two - and he'd say "i know i already signed for you, DON'T LIE TO ME!" and smile big and laugh a little bit! in fact, he would remember me and another buddy from one year to the next and sometimes even what we had him sign the previous year - i mean it was absolutely crazy how much stuff he remembered
i still can't believe he's gone - such good memories of him, it's so true how people have talked recently about really appreciating again how good he was, he only DIDN'T hit .300 his rookie year when he hit .289 - he was a star among stars but you'd never know by the way interacted with the fans
i also have a ripken signed jersey to round out that 2007 HOF class
great day to see him and Ripken go into the Hall together.
should be a teaching moment for little league players and coaches about chew. let them know early the dangers and great loss to the game losing Mr. Gwynn so early was.
RIP
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started