Happy Birthday to the late and great Tony Gwynn, the greatest Padre of all-time, Mr. Padre.  

Tony Gwynn Career Statistics (1982-2001):

.338 BA, 3,141 HITS, 135 HR, 1,138 RBI, .388 OBP, 1,383 RUNS

  • 15x All-Star
  • 8x Batting Champion
  • 7x Silver Slugger
  • 5x Gold-Glove

Growing up in Los Angeles, he excelled in Baseball and Basketball and would attend San Diego State. However, it took a year to convince his basketball coach to let him also play Baseball. He was a damn good basketball player to this date. He still holds the Assists record for the school basketball team and was drafted by the then-San Diego Clippers, but Baseball was his passion.

The San Diego Padres drafted him in 1981, a just a little over a year later, he was called up. He’d spend the next twenty seasons in San Diego. Despite the Padres only qualifying for the Playoffs three times in his career, that didn’t stop Gwynn from putting together one heck of a career. Tony Gwynn was the perfect guy you wanted. Even in a shift-like environment, he excelled at hitting the ball to the opposite field. Also, he made it his business to study his at-bats and the pitchers he was going up against. He wasn’t just some hitter who got many hits against mediocre to below-mediocre pitchers. He faced Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Martinez 323 times in his career; HE ONLY STRUCK OUT THREE TIMES. Also, in his career, Gwynn faced 18 Hall of Fame pitchers for 541 plate appearances, and he hit for a .331 Average.

He and Honus Wagner sit behind Ty Cobb for the most Batting Titles in baseball history with eight. He developed a friendship with Ted Williams midway into his career, bonding over the science of hitting. Conversations with Williams made him better at using the entire field and adding more power to his swing. Take away his rookie season; Gwynn never Struck out more times than he Walked, was a great baserunner at his peak, led the league in Hits seven times, and over time developed power. I’d argue that he’s one of the best leadoff hitters ever. In 1994, he was hitting well over .400 in the second half of the season, and the Strike ending the season gave him a .394 average.

In college, he had his defensive struggles in Right Field; however, not only did he work on it, he would go on to win five Gold Gloves. When you factor in his accomplishments offensively and defensively, he has to be at the Top-5 of the Greatest Right Fielders of all time. One can only imagine how much better Gwynn could’ve been had he played on a team with more around him in the lineup.

The one thing to always remember with Tony Gwynn is whatever the situation, setting, type of pitcher, pitch, count, etc. Tony Gwynn proved he can step up to the plate anytime and get a hit. Gwynn’s .338 lifetime average is the highest of any player whose career began post-World War II. Even more remarkable is that he spent his twenty-year career entirely with the San Diego Padres. It’s always extra special when a player spends that amount of time with one team, especially having Gwynn’s success.

References:

  1. Tony Gwynn Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gwynnto01.shtml
  2. Tony Gwynn via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Gwynn
  3. Mr. Padre. Dir. Alfonso Pozzo. Major League Baseball Productions, 2018. MLB Network