RIP Tony Gwynn

[Turdacious]

Tony Gwynn, the Hall of Famer with a sweet left-handed swing who spent his entire 20-year career with the Padres and was one of San Diego's most beloved athletes, died of cancer Monday. He was 54.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/hall-famer ... --mlb.html
Probably the greatest pure hitter since Teddy Ballgame, and a class act. Fuck cancer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3hLiyNSISQ[/youtube]

[Chris McClinch]

Hellacious hitter, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone have a bad word to say about him. RIP.

[Kazuya Mishima]

Classy guy. RIP.

[Bud Charniga's grape ape]

Hellacious hitter, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone have a bad word to say about him. RIP.

Well, Jack Clark. But Jack Clark was a dick, so.

Amazing stat that I read on a baseball site that I lurk at: "In 323 AB vs. Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux, Tony Gwynn struck out a total of 3 (!!!!) times. Two vs. Glavine. Maddux faced him over 100 times and NEVER struck him out."

He had more career doubles (543) than strikeouts (434). He never struck out more than 40 times in a season -- and he only did that once, in 1988. His highest season K total after 1988 was 30.

Just a great, great hitter.

[Chris McClinch]

Jack Clark hating you is a point in your favor.

We lurk the same baseball site.

[Bud Charniga's grape ape]

We lurk the same baseball site.

Yeah, I remember you from the Primer days. I stopped posting and started lurking when Every. Fucking. Discussion. started being about steroids.

[Batboy2/75]

The only bad thing one can say about Tony Gwynn was the way he treated his body. He probably took 5 years off his career with the weight he piled on during his career. Other than that, he was a fine human being and a great baseball player.

Growing up in SD I have do have one Tony Gwynn story to share. I was hanging out with a friend that worked the 10pm till 6am shift at a gas station in rancho Bernardo. One of those gas stations with only a small booth for selling cigarettes, lottery tickets and handling gas transactions. I would stop by after my shift at UPS and we'd drink beer and we throw a football or baseball around to kill the time. 70-80% of the time there were no customers.

One night after listening to the Padres play the Dodgers. We were out in the gas lanes throwing a baseball around when a Jaguar pulled in. It was Tony Gwynn. He not only signed our baseball and gloves; he stuck around and threw the ball around, had a beer and told stories. He even stuck around long enough for my buddy to rush home and grab a bunch of stuff to sign.

RIP Tony

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

The only bad thing one can say about Tony Gwynn was the way he treated his body. He probably took 5 years off his career with the weight he piled on during his career. Other than that, he was a fine human being and a great baseball player.

Growing up in SD I have do have one Tony Gwynn story to share. I was hanging out with a friend that worked the 10pm till 6am shift at a gas station in rancho Bernardo. One of those gas stations with only a small booth for selling cigarettes, lottery tickets and handling gas transactions. I would stop by after my shift at UPS and we'd drink beer and we throw a football or baseball around to kill the time. 70-80% of the time there were no customers.

One night after listening to the Padres play the Dodgers. We were out in the gas lanes throwing a baseball around when a Jaguar pulled in. It was Tony Gwynn. He not only signed our baseball and gloves; he stuck around and threw the ball around, had a beer and told stories. He even stuck around long enough for my buddy to rush home and grab a bunch of stuff to sign.

RIP Tony

That's fuckin cool s hell. RIP Tony Gwynn

[Turdacious]

Very cool story Bats, I'm jealous. Another one: http://deadspin.com/i-was-tony-gwynns-b ... 1592123043

[Boris]

Very cool story Bats, I'm jealous. Another one: http://deadspin.com/i-was-tony-gwynns-b ... 1592123043

That was outstanding - thank you. I'm not a big baseball fan, but I've been a Tony Gwynn fan for a long time.

[Chris McClinch]

Very cool story Bats, I'm jealous. Another one: http://deadspin.com/i-was-tony-gwynns-b ... 1592123043

Class act, all the way. Outstanding read.

[Drew0786]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PXSVbLhyMY[/youtube]

[baffled]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PXSVbLhyMY[/youtube]

[Dunn]

From all accounts he was a great guy and most certainly one of the greatest hitters in the game. Way too young.

[Hanglow Joe]

The man could rake. RIP, he and Wade Boggs were the premier hitters of their era. Except Tony was a class act.

[DrDonkeyLove]

Had cancer of the salivary gland. Was he a tobacco chewer?

[seeahill]

Yes

[Turdacious]

Had cancer of the salivary gland. Was he a tobacco chewer?

Yes.

The greatest ever remembers Tony Gwynn:

[powerlifter54]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PXSVbLhyMY[/youtube]

Olberman, when he does Sports, is a gem.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Tony Gwynn is the man i taught my son to hit just like. Yep, Teddy Ballgame is the measure of a lefty, and Wade Boggs and Sabremetricians changed the game with cardcounting like count adjustments, and we used all that, but when if comes to inside out swings and how to really hit as a lefty, and it IS different according to Mr Gwynn, he was the best to copy and we did.

A great hitter and a greater human being. And even looked good in old heinous Padres uniform.

[Jay]

I loved him as a player growing up. As I got older I respected him for the kind of guy he was.

He was one of the best.

[Luke]

Really cool tribute: http://deadspin.com/i-was-tony-gwynns-b ... 1592123043

[climber511]

It would be interesting to know what his vision was. Being able to even see the ball at that level is special - but to see it well enough to have hit like he did only comes along once in a great while. Must have had eye sight like an eagle.