RIP Tony Gwynn

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:35 am

I was not aware he was battling cancer, but he just past away.

Heart breaking. He's right up there with greats like Ripken and Musial where they are incredible ball players, but even better people.

Guardians · Post by **Guardians** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:41 am

Just was an amazing hitter. Let this sink in: 434 career strikeouts in 10,232 plate appearances.

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:42 am

Hands down best hitter of my generation. Sad day for Baseball and fans.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:50 am

I remember watching Bud Smith throw that no-hitter against the Padres, and being so impressed just because he had to keep a 41 year old Tony Gwynn hitless.

After retiring, I'm sure every single MLB team would have loved to bring him on as their hitting coach, and really by now he'd probably have a few years of MLB managing under his belt if he wanted to do that, but I think it really speaks to how much he loved baseball at its core that he prefered to stay in his home town and teach baseball to college players.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 12:03 pm

Tony Gwynn vs. pitchers:

Maddux: 107 PA's, 0 SO, .415/.476/.521
Glavine: 105 PA's, 2 SO, .303/.337/.404
Smoltz: 75 PA's, 1 SO, .444/.467/.694
Schilling: 43 PA's, 2 SO, .390/.395/.561

Tigers · Post by **Tigers** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 12:07 pm

A truly sad day in baseball and the world with the loss of T Gwynn.

Twins · Post by **Twins** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 12:13 pm

One of the only players from the 80s/90s I never saw in person. Sad, sad day.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 12:16 pm

You know Steve, thinking back to that no hitter Bud Smith threw, Gwynn pinch hit in the 7th or 8th inning. He was injured. He smacked a ball up the middle that Renteria got to somehow and threw him out, but if he was healthy, even as old and fat and slow as he was at the time, it would've been a hit.

Growing up without cable, the only times I ever saw Tony Gwynn was the All Star Game or in 1996 and 1998 when the Padres made the playoffs. Every interview with Tony Gwynn that I've ever seen, you could just tell how much he loved baseball. I don't think anyone has understood hitting better in the last 50 years

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 12:23 pm

Cardinals wrote:You know Steve, thinking back to that no hitter Bud Smith threw, Gwynn pinch hit in the 7th or 8th inning. He was injured. He smacked a ball up the middle that Renteria got to somehow and threw him out, but if he was healthy, even as old and fat and slow as he was at the time, it would've been a hit.

Growing up without cable, the only times I ever saw Tony Gwynn was the All Star Game or in 1996 and 1998 when the Padres made the playoffs. Every interview with Tony Gwynn that I've ever seen, you could just tell how much he loved baseball. I don't think anyone has understood hitting better in the last 50 years

Yep, that sounds right. I remember being pretty worried about him losing the no hit bid once I saw Gwynn in the on deck circle.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes ... 9030.shtml
Look at the names in that game. Mark McGwire, Ricky Henderson, Ray Lankford, a rookie Albert Pujols, Kerry Robinson!

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:25 pm

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2 ... tony-gwynn

An interview with two of the greatest hitters of all time.

Yankees · Post by **Yankees** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 10:52 pm

And Maddux knew it. On Monday, ESPN’s Ethan Strauss reminded us about a fantastic quote that Maddux once had about Gwynn that summed up his sensational career. The righthander was discussing how changing speeds and having control are far more important than velocity, because no hitter can tell the exact speed of a pitch. Well, except one…

“You just can’t do it,” Maddux said. “Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitchers if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher’s hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision.

“Except for that (expletive) Tony Gwynn.”

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:21 pm

Honored Tony Gwynn tonight at my softball game by hitting for the cycle

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:48 pm

http://deadspin.com/keith-olbermann-tea ... 1591925235

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:31 pm

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

Story from his bat boy in 1991. There's another good story in the comments section.

Yankees · Post by **Yankees** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 2:22 pm

I missed that story...but the article brought a tear to my eye.

Thanks for sharing...

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:42 pm

I didn't watch the ASG because fuck Bud Selig, but I'm told MLB didn't pay tribute to Tony Gwynn or Don Zimmer.

Good work, MLB...

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:41 pm

Orioles wrote:I didn't watch the ASG because fuck Bud Selig, but I'm told MLB didn't pay tribute to Tony Gwynn or Don Zimmer.

Good work, MLB...

Was all about the proverbial Jeter fellatio..

Just ask Andrew..

Athletics · Post by **Athletics** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 8:16 pm

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-l ... 40507.html

And the realization they fucked up, too little too late though.

Yankees · Post by **Yankees** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:18 pm

No, that's still bullshit. In all due respect to Coleman, Fregosi, and Zimmer they aren't Tony Gwynn.

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 12:19 am

With all due respect Z - at least for me, Zimmer was just as much an icon of baseball as Tony Gwynn. I'm not comparing them as players. I'm simply saying he was just one of those faces and names you knew about since you were a little kid. There were names/faces of baseball that you always knew growing up, even if you didn't exactly know why you knew them. Zimmer was defenitely one of those. He's a huge loss to the baseball world in my mind.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:14 am

Astros wrote:With all due respect Z - at least for me, Zimmer was just as much an icon of baseball as Tony Gwynn. I'm not comparing them as players. I'm simply saying he was just one of those faces and names you knew about since you were a little kid. There were names/faces of baseball that you always knew growing up, even if you didn't exactly know why you knew them. Zimmer was defenitely one of those. He's a huge loss to the baseball world in my mind.

Scary moment: I agree with you on this 1

Zimmer was the grandfather of baseball in its inner circles. He had more experiences in baseball than just about everybody who ever was involved in the game.

Zimmer met Babe Ruth (in 1947), was a teammate of Jackie Robinson (1954-56) and played for Casey Stengel (1962). He was in uniform for some of the most iconic teams in history: the team that lost the most games ('62 Mets) and the team, including postseason play, that won the most games ('98 Yankees). He was in uniform for the only World Series championship for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1955), one of the most famous World Series home runs (Carlton Fisk's shot in 1975), one of the most famous regular season home runs (Bucky Dent in 1978), the Pine Tar Game (1983), the first night game at Wrigley Field (1988), the first game in Rockies history (1993), and all three perfect games thrown at Yankee Stadium (Don Larsen, David Wells and David Cone).

Plus, he was one of the only people with big enough of balls to stick it to George Steinbrenner.

In the 1990s, when the New York Yankees won more than anybody else but not enough for owner George Steinbrenner, after one particular loss the owner ordered every member of the coaching and training staffs and manager Joe Torre upstairs to his office at Yankee Stadium. As many as two dozen people sat and stood around the room, their heads drooped, knowing the lashing that was about to come. Steinbrenner didn't disappoint them with his fury.

"We have to do better," Steinbrenner said. "All of us. If there is anybody in this room who thinks they are doing everything they can to help the Yankees win, you can leave right now."

Don Zimmer got up out of his chair and walked out on Steinbrenner. The rest of the room managed to suppress both gasps and laughter.

Zimmer's wife, Soot, who had been waiting in the lobby and was expecting the usual lengthy Steinbrenner summit, knew it meant only one thing to see her husband get off the elevator so soon after the meeting began.

"You've been fired!"

Zimmer wasn't fired. He survived the walkout but maintained a simmering feud with the Boss, eventually citing Steinbrenner as the reason he quit as a Yankees coach after the 2003 season.

Any baseball fan would have been thrilled to have Zim as their grandfather. Just imagine all the stories he could have told you.

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:15 am

Sorry, here's a link: http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/06/05/don-zi ... s-obituary