RIP Tony Gwynn

[TheSportsPredictor]

Breaking on Twitter.

Story of his cancer fight from yesterday:

http://www.csnphilly.com/baseball-philadelphia-phillies/gwynn-men-sons-love-fathers-fight

 

[Cosmo]

:'(

 

[MileHigh]

One of my all-time favorite players. Loved watching him play. Very, very sad day.

RIP.

 

[Songbird]

One of the enjoyable spirits of my baseball-loving life.

 

[poindexter]

That is horrible.

I saw him in an interview this winter, and that mouth did not look good.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Awful, awful news.

 

[SEC Guy]

Very sad. RIP.

 

[cranberry]

One of the most enjoyable and accommodating players to be around during his era. An absolute pleasure. My enduring memory will be of him swatting baseballs through his beloved 5.5 hole.

RIP

 

[RonClements]

The best hitter of my lifetime - and I'll be 40 in July.

 

[LongTimeListener]

He would have gotten to .400. Thanks, Bud!

I don't think we'll ever see .338 lifetime again.

 

[Matt1735]

**** Cancer.

RIP to a great hitter

 

[Dyno]

Terrible, terrible news.

 

[Drip]

RIP to one of the good guys in professional sports. Prayers go out to the family and his namesake who is a reserve outfielder with the Phillies.

 

[MTM]

This one hits hard. I always felt a kinship with Tony Gywnn because we were born the same day, probably within 50 miles of each other.

RIP to one of the great ones.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

This is so sad. Wonderful player whom I was privileged to talk to professionally a couple of times. Just awful.

 

[Songbird]

1st game: July 19, 1982, started CF against the Phillies, 2-4, single, double, sac-fly.
1st hit: double off Sid Monge

2,440th and last game: October 7, 2001, pinch-hit against Rockies, grounded out to short.

° all 2,440 games with the Padres
° 3,141 hits (seasons of 213, 211, 218, 203, 220)
° 543 doubles
° 85 triples
° 135 homers
° 1,138 RBIs
° 319 stolen bases
° .338 career average
° 10,232 plate apps (9,288 ABs)
° 15 All-Star Games

Pitcher he faced most: Gregg Maddux, 107 PAs, 39-94, .415 average

Notable pitchers he faced at least 50 ABs:

° Glavine, .303 (30-99)
° Mike Scott, .368 (27-85)
° Tom Browning, .360 (31-86, 4 HR)
° Rick Mahler, .402 (33-82)
° Fernando, .321 (25-78)
° Gooden, .243 (17-70)
° Smoltz, .444 (32-72)
° Nolan Ryan, .302 (19-63)
° Ron Darling, .441 (26-59)
° Drabek, .469 (23-43)
° Bob Welch, .292 (14-48)

° Playoffs: 27 games, .306 (33-108), 11 RBIs
° World Series: 9 games, .371 (13-35), HR, 3 RBIs

° 5 Gold Gloves
° 7 Silver Slugger awards

One of 20 grads from Long Beach Poly to play in MLB, including Utley:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/hs/hs.asp?H=637

I always wanted Dodgers pitchers to get him out just a little more because he was just so damn good.

I really wish I could find the interview he and Maddux did late in their careers. Classic case of serve-it-up, knock-it-down comedy.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Gwynn was a regular position player until he was 39. That is a career, right there.
Awful news. One of the true gentlemen in all of sports.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Damn sad news.
Best hitter I can remember watching (I'm 45) and one of the nicest guys in sports.

 

[UPChip]

**** Cancer.

RIP to a great hitter

Also, **** chewing tobacco.

 

[Double J]

I always figured with each new season that it would be the year when Tony Gwynn would hit .400. And if he couldn't quite get there, it seems pretty clear that nobody will ever get there again. RIP, Mr. Padre.