RIP Tony Gwynn

And millions of non-smokers will never understand smokers' obsession with cigarettes. It's the nature of addiction.

 

I agree - and I never will get it. I stand behind smokers asking for a specific pack of Marlboros at the gas station and it makes no sense to me. As if they're asking for a "cancer free" pack of 20 nails.

I don't get it. I just know I grew up associating cigarettes with oxygen tanks, holes in the throat, black lungs and a horrible death.

That being said, God Bless you, smokers! If not for you, my taxes would be higher and Social Security would have gone belly up in 1972.

 

I have little to no sympathy for addicts because an addiction began with a choice to do whatever - smoke cigarettes, snort coke, smoke crack or pot, etc - the first time.

 

This is neither the time, nor the place for that discussion.

 

Somebody was already asking who San Diego State hires to replace Gwynn, but this is the point you question?

It sounds cold, but what is a better time to have a real discussion about that particular addiction than now, when we have lost somebody like Gwynn to it. He wasn't just an amazing player. He was beloved. And it ticks me off that he died way too damn young.

 

I hit 54 in a few weeks, so this hits home too.

What I find amazing is, that the Copenhagen, Skoal, ect., is out there on the table, freebie, along with the seeds and gum and stuff. Beer and other forms of booze are already outlawed in many clubhouses (save postseason champagne, of course), but the spit tobacco is out there?

 

Never a good time for this discussion but this is a decent point.

I think we can all agree that we liked Tony Gwynn, as a player and as a person. Some of us loved him - how he conducted himself on the field and with us.

If there is any good that comes from losing a good guy at only age 54, it's the danger this crap leads to with some people.

 

Not exactly -- MLB banned the teams from distributing tobacco in 2011 as part of the labor deal. Players aren't allowed to have a can showing in their uni pockets and can't dip during TV interviews, or risk being fined. Clubbies are "discouraged" from getting tobacco for players but that isn't expressly banned.

 

I remember watching a game, years ago, where Tony hit a solo homer. Back in the dugout, his teammates were high-fiving him and Gwynn was shaking his head, mad at himself. Apparently not where he wanted to hit the ball. Mets guys on the radio put his .338 lifetime average in perspective. "Do you realize he would've had to have gone O for two seasons to be a lifetime .299 hitter." Truly one of the greats and gone way too soon. R.I.P.

 

Tony Gwynn was one hell of a nice guy.

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

 

Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg thought highly of Gwynn, and that's enough for me.

 

This is fantastic.

One day, one of the bat boys showed up wearing an earring. Bright gold and massive. The Giants were in town. During batting practice, Will Clark walked by and sneered, "Nice earring, faggot." The words were stunning, but we knew we had to react like it was no big thing. Word must've gotten around, though, because before the next game, Tony walked back to the locker room area with Bip Roberts and performed an entire routine for us. They had evidently practiced it during batting practice. They stood lecturing us, using every "how to talk like an older white guy" cliché in the book. "Now listen, son," Tony started, stopping periodically to catch his breath, as he was laughing too hard. "You're bringing down the team here, with that earring." "Very, very unprofessional," Bip added, haughtily. They walked away, howling with laughter, the point made: Will Clark was a dick.