BajaNomad

San Diego baseball fans in mourning, today.....

Hook - 6-16-2014 at 10:06 AM

The great Tony Gwynn, one of the greatest hitters of the last 50 years of baseball (and one of the greatest ever!) has died at age 54.

Tony finished with a career batting average of .338. That was the highest career average since Ted Williams retired in 1960 with a .344 career average. Needless to say, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, when he became eligible in 2007.

The greatest Padre of them all, who went on to coach baseball at SDSU, succumbed to salivary gland cancer. He had been diagnosed with it for a long time. He was a tobacco chewer. Very sad.

But he was a great man, off the field.

Go to that Great Oufield in the Sky, Tony. You were a marvel to watch hit.

This has NOTHING to do with Baja, of course. Just about that great city by the border......and that greatest of all team sports.

[Edited on 6-16-2014 by Hook]

elgatoloco - 6-16-2014 at 10:50 AM

Sad indeed. Even for this LA Dodger fan. It was always a treat to see him at the plate. He was a stand-up guy who came before the era of self promotion and snobbery we are now subjected to in pro sports. No flash just good old fashioned hard work. It is tragic as far as the cause, IMHO.

Martyman - 6-16-2014 at 10:58 AM

Great Hitter! All true fans admired him.

woody with a view - 6-16-2014 at 11:20 AM

my Favorite player of all time!!!

lizard lips - 6-16-2014 at 11:24 AM

He live his life like he played baseball----PERFECT

DENNIS - 6-16-2014 at 11:39 AM

"The good die young." DEP Tony.

bajadogs - 6-16-2014 at 11:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by woody with a view
my Favorite player of all time!!!


Same here. 20 years! We were so lucky to have him. I'll never forget as he was closing in on hit #3,000 and he hit a grand slam in front of a sold out crown in St. Louis. They honored him with a long standing ovation. Now that is respect.

Baseball is not the same anymore for me.

His TV commercials will live on

durrelllrobert - 6-16-2014 at 12:23 PM

"Nobody sells cars like El Cajon Ford"

RIP

Bubba - 6-16-2014 at 12:38 PM

Man was a class act both on and off the field. RIP Tony.

DawnPatrol - 6-16-2014 at 12:57 PM

Met him a couple of times. No matter who you were he treated you very cordially and was a great guy to kibitz with.

He could have gone elsewhere to play for bigger bucks but his allegiance to San Diego coined the phrase "The San Diego Discount", and ticked a few other players off because he commanded a lesser salary, which of course other teams used against their own star players in their arbitration years, where you compare stats with salaries....

RIP Tony, wish I could see another line drive through the "5.5 hole" .....

N2Baja - 6-16-2014 at 01:15 PM

Very sad to hear this. I heard he had 20/10 vision. He had a beautiful swing and a wicked throwing arm.

RIP Tony


mikeymarlin - 6-16-2014 at 03:11 PM

flew to Cabo with him sitting behind us in October,2013---the side of his face so deformed from I
presume was surgery--- just a great roll model---- R.I.P.-

DENNIS - 6-16-2014 at 04:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by mikeymarlin
flew to Cabo with him sitting behind us in October,2013---the side of his face so deformed from I
presume was surgery--- just a great roll model---- R.I.P.-


"Gwynn had two operations for cancer in his right cheek between August 2010 and February 2012. The second surgery was complicated, with surgeons removing a facial nerve because it was intertwined with a tumor inside his right cheek. They grafted a nerve from Gwynn's neck to help him eventually regain facial movement."

Ateo - 6-16-2014 at 04:20 PM

This is a big loss. Think about all the kids he could've coached and mentored over the next 20 years. A bigger loss to his family as well.

I knew watching him at bat that there was a .338 chance he'd get a hit.

He was a natural hitter but had to work on his fielding and it yielded him some gold gloves.

A class act.

jbcoug - 6-16-2014 at 04:20 PM

First class all the way, RIP Tony.

Bajahowodd - 6-16-2014 at 04:54 PM

The doctors have stated that the likely cause of his cancer was from chewing tobacco.

The league and the players have been so far unable to agree on a ban of chewing tobacco.

Maybe this time, they will, and aside from his Hall Of Fame stats, it will be his legacy.

RIP one of the really great ones. And, I'm a Dodger fan.

bajadogs - 6-16-2014 at 10:52 PM

Amazing facts on #19 -

"Gwynn had 323 career at-bats against Maddux, Martinez, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and struck out only three times."

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/19-incred...

Correcamino - 6-16-2014 at 11:07 PM

Sure, he was a Hall of Fame player. But more than that, Tony spent his life living, breathing, learning baseball however he could, until he was filled right up to his Padres (then Aztec) cap. Then he spent the last 20 or so years giving away this knowledge to anybody who'd listen, particularly his beloved Aztec players. Only 54 years old! He had so much more to give. A real loss for all of us who love baseball or just appreciate a man of integrity and character who was willing to to pass this on to others. I'd face my maker a lot easier if I'd done what Tony has to improve the lives of so many. Rest in peace.

bajalearner - 6-17-2014 at 07:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by mikeymarlin
flew to Cabo with him sitting behind us in October,2013---the side of his face so deformed from I
presume was surgery--- just a great roll model---- R.I.P.-


Ah, this makes it Baja related! I left San Diego during his years as a Padre and I'm not a Padre fan. I don't know much about him but have only heard fantastic praises for his character. A very rare person. I had not heard about his cancer battle. Did he keep it QT? Such a loss.

I heard the news yesterday in the barrio Logan Hts. visiting my ex-mother in law. On the sidewalk was an old woman (Spanish only) and seemingly her granddaughter about 11 yrs. Both were decked out with padre hats, vest, pins, pennants and anything else they own with a Padre logo. I asked if they are going to a game and the girl was so sad when she told me, no Tony Gwyyn died today.

What is it like to be so loved?

DENNIS - 6-17-2014 at 07:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajalearner

I had not heard about his cancer battle. Did he keep it QT?



There was so much facial deformation, he couldn't have had he wanted to.

Hook - 6-17-2014 at 10:29 AM

Any avid fan of baseball should follow that link that bajadogs put up about Gwynn. There are some amazing numbers in there.

This one might be the most impressive..............

In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. He had 45 games with FOUR HITS. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits in a game than striking out twice. Let that sink in.

He also had eleven streaks of 20 games or more where he never struck out once. His longest game streak without striking out was 39 games!!! Unreal!!!!

Skipjack Joe - 6-17-2014 at 12:21 PM

Statistics should be a smaller part of the game. Don't you think?

This is not to denigrate anything Gwynn did, or Koufax for that matter. It's just that most of the time spent watching the game is talk about stats. I don't know. The game needs a fresh approach.

Feathers - 6-17-2014 at 12:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by N2Baja
... I heard he had 20/10 vision...




Me, too… until I hit 40. :no:

Hook - 6-17-2014 at 01:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Statistics should be a smaller part of the game. Don't you think?

This is not to denigrate anything Gwynn did, or Koufax for that matter. It's just that most of the time spent watching the game is talk about stats. I don't know. The game needs a fresh approach.


The stats posted in that article are cumulative, retrospective stats. I have no problem with those types.

It's the preoccupation on all the new predictive stats that I find rather boring.

Baseball has ALWAYS been the sport with the greatest preoccupation with statistics. There are just so many aspects of it that CAN be measured. Fortunately, one can choose to ignore these and still love watching the game.

In terms of front offices, managers and coaching staffs, it was inevitable that this level of statistical scrutiny would make it's way into the game. Whenever there is anything involving money, people will look for a statistical edge. As soon as computers became cheap and mobile, it was bound to happen.

But I still love the game.

Bajahowodd - 6-17-2014 at 04:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Statistics should be a smaller part of the game. Don't you think?

This is not to denigrate anything Gwynn did, or Koufax for that matter. It's just that most of the time spent watching the game is talk about stats. I don't know. The game needs a fresh approach.


So, go and watch soccer!:lol:

Skipjack Joe - 6-17-2014 at 06:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Statistics should be a smaller part of the game. Don't you think?

This is not to denigrate anything Gwynn did, or Koufax for that matter. It's just that most of the time spent watching the game is talk about stats. I don't know. The game needs a fresh approach.


So, go and watch soccer!:lol:


Unfortunately it has it's own issues - greater than baseball. The problem with soccer is that once you have a team has a lead it's virtually impossible to regain it. The team with the lead just passes it back and forth ad nauseam. They should have something like a 24 second clock - shoot the effn ball or turn it over. Same goes for defense. The entire team sags back on defense and you can't squeeze a ball through there. What fun is it to watch balls being passed in unsuccessfuly for an entire half.

Baseball is really unique. Sometimes you feel that the play callers just have nothing better to say - 'Pence hasn't had a hit in his last 8 at bats', 'Romo has a 1.92 era for the rest of the league but 12.92 with the Rockies'. If you pay attention it's really amazing how little is said without numerical support. Is it because so little happens?

Perhaps not enough happens in baseball and too much happens in basketball.

<wait, my phone is ringing><turned out to be unimportant>

Anyhow, I think the announcers should try to rely less on the numbers. I'd say about 85% of them do that.

Pence hits a shot to triple alley ... center fielder goes back ... way back .... it's gone.

[Edited on 6-18-2014 by Skipjack Joe]

DavidT - 6-17-2014 at 07:18 PM

I'd like to see Tony's "can of corn" numbers
Bet it's pretty low

bajadogs - 6-17-2014 at 07:37 PM

Hey Skip,
I'm not a stat guy either. I never paid much attention to them while I watched Gwynn for 20 years. (oops, there's is a stat).

I guess the stats might keep the announcers from mumbling "Well the batter steps back again... asks for a painfully long readjustment of his manhood giving the pitcher enough time to pray, spit, readjust his cap and go through his his pre-pitch routine", only to start the whole painfully boring process all over again when he shakes off the catcher.

I watched Tony Gwynn from when I was 17 to 37 (another stat) and never worried about stats (another stat). I also met him one time (stat) and he was as down to earth as they come.

You have to admit these stats are impossibly amazing -

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/19-incred...

[Edited on 6-18-2014 by bajadogs]

Chewer's Choices

MrBillM - 6-17-2014 at 07:38 PM

Tobacco use (regardless of mode) should be an individual's CHOICE.

We spent many great years in the stands at Jack Murphy watching him with the Padres.

Gwynn was a GREAT Player and a GREAT person who, unfortunately like so many, CHOSE to use Tobacco and kidded himself (as noted in the news article) that he'd be one of the LUCKY ones.

He wasn't. Sad to see him gone.

BUT, it was his CHOICE.

bajadogs - 6-17-2014 at 09:45 PM

Or they could ban it from pro sports because it will kill you.

Nice try pretending to go Pro-Choice MRBillM

Bob H - 6-17-2014 at 10:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hook
Any avid fan of baseball should follow that link that bajadogs put up about Gwynn. There are some amazing numbers in there.

This one might be the most impressive..............

In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. He had 45 games with FOUR HITS. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits in a game than striking out twice. Let that sink in.

He also had eleven streaks of 20 games or more where he never struck out once. His longest game streak without striking out was 39 games!!! Unreal!!!!


Gwynn also excelled at basketball ....

Even though Gwynn excelled in baseball growing up, there was a period in which he believed basketball was probably his best sport.

The short but speedy Gwynn became a standout point guard in high school, helping a talent-laden Poly team finish 30-1 and win a section championship as a junior in 1976 and then leading the Jackrabbits back to the title game his senior season. The hand-eye coordination, vision and aptitude that made Gwynn a standout hitter in baseball also translated well to the point guard position because he excelled at handling the ball, finding teammates in position to score and making good decisions with the ball in his hands.

Gwynn was such a talented point guard that he considered quitting baseball altogether to focus exclusively on basketball before his senior year of high school. His mother eventually talked him into sticking with baseball one more season, but he still attended San Diego State on a basketball scholarship and only began playing baseball again as a sophomore after one of his hoops teammates tipped off the baseball coaches that the school's starting point guard was a halfway decent hitter too.

Even so, Gwynn still holds the career assists record at San Diego State and was selected by the then-San Diego Clippers in the 1981 NBA draft on the same day the Padres took him in the third round of the Major League draft. Both Gwynn and his basketball coach at Poly, Ron Palmer, often wondered how successful Gwynn might have been had he pursued basketball instead.

"Obviously, I would never tell anyone that he made the wrong decision to play baseball based on the outcome, but he'd have been a great basketball player too," Palmer said. "He could have played in the NBA and he could have been a coach because he understood the game he was playing like nobody else I've had. Just like in baseball, he absolutely understood the game."

bajadogs - 6-17-2014 at 10:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hook
He also had eleven streaks of 20 games or more where he never struck out once. His longest game streak without striking out was 39 games!!! Unreal!!!!


YEP!!! Those are games, not "at bats". 39 GAMES without a strikeout!!!!??? IMPOSSIBLE!

Will never happen again.

briantroy - 6-18-2014 at 12:40 AM

Funny how SD produces great hitters. I dipped for 15 years and stopped 24 days ago. I still have huge urges, but I still feel dipping is better than smoking.

BajaLuna - 6-18-2014 at 11:06 AM

through the eyes of a baseball kid's Mother:

It was a sad day in our family when I had to break the news to my 35 year old Son that his childhood hero had passed on. And yes, grown men do get teary-eyed. Many games spent sitting in the stand watching Tony with his Grandpa and me too. Many years collecting baseball cards with a glee in his eyes when he would get one of Tony's after spending his allowance adding to his Gwynn collection. Tony put the passion of baseball in his heart (and many other kids too), and he went on to play school ball and select baseball as well. We traveled all over playing baseball, and as many young boys dream, he wanted to be as good as Tony. And he was one hell of a baseball player.

Thanks Tony for sparking in young children the love of baseball and giving them a REAL hero to look up to...and moreso that you can be anything you want to be when you work hard to hone your skill, walk your path with integrity, and give back.

Tony is and always will be a legend, and unlike so many so-called heros and icons these days...he wasn't just a legend in his own mind, he was truly a gifted man, and an asset to everyone he touched!

Seriously this man is as good as they come, not just as an awesome baseball player, but as a human being!

RIP Tony! Thanks for many years of memories! And thanks for being the kind of hero Mothers can be proud to have their kids look up to!

Is there any word yet on his services? I'll bet the City of San Diego shuts down for this great man!

Before Tony

durrelllrobert - 6-18-2014 at 11:25 AM

When the padres were still part of the Pacific Coast League in the 1950s they had Ted Williams and I used to watch them play at the old (forgot name) stadium downtown. The other teams were the Los Angles of course and the Hollywood Stars, the Portland Beavers, the San Francisco Seals, the Oakland Acorns, the Seattle Rainiers and the Sacramento Solons. This was at least 5 years before Tony was born and I had all the padres baseball cards until my ex threw them out.

[Edited on 6-18-2014 by durrelllrobert]

BajaLuna - 6-18-2014 at 12:37 PM

Durrelllrobert, my mom and uncles would go there to watch the Pacific coast league baseball.....hmmm I'm not sure but I think my mom telling me about going to games at Lane Field. Could that be the one you are thinking of? My husband use to go to west park field back in the day, which use to be down where fashion valley is now.

durrelllrobert - 6-19-2014 at 08:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaLuna
Durrelllrobert, my mom and uncles would go there to watch the Pacific coast league baseball.....hmmm I'm not sure but I think my mom telling me about going to games at Lane Field. Could that be the one you are thinking of? My husband use to go to west park field back in the day, which use to be down where fashion valley is now.

Yep, you got it. Lane Field was the name. I guess I must be about the same age (77) as your mom and uncles.

The DOG Barks ?

MrBillM - 6-19-2014 at 08:19 PM

LOTS of things CAN Kill.

AND, many of those things are KNOWINGLY indulged in by those who CHOOSE to partake.

I AM Firmly Pro-Choice when it comes to Suicide.

But, not the killing of others.