Remembering a Legend: Tony Gwynn
“This is an extraordinary sad day. Tony was a Hall of Fame ballplayer but more importantly he was a wonderful man.” – Cal Ripken Jr on the death of Tony Gwynn Sr.
Tony Gwynn made his major league debut on July 19, 1982 and in that game Gwynn had two hits, including a double, against the Philadelphia Phillies. After the double, Pete Rose said to Gwynn: “Hey, kid, what are you trying to do, catch me in one night?” Little did Pete Rose know but he was talking to a man that would become one of the greatest hitters in the game of baseball, not to mention one of the greatest human beings the sport has ever seen.
Gwynn and Ripken Jr
Tony Gwynn played for one major league team his entire career from the time he was drafted with the 58th pick in the 1981 MLB draft to the time of his death on June 16, 2014, Tony Gwynn was a San Diego Padre. Nicknamed “Mr. Padre”, Gwynn played in San Diego for 20 seasons eclipsing over 2,440 games in a Padres uniform which mirrors such players like the beloved Cal Ripken Jr. So it was only fitting that the two most beloved baseball players to ever play the game were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the same day in 2007. Receiving an unheard of 97.1% percent of the vote Gwynn became the first lifelong Padre to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In an era scarred by steroids, Tony Gwynn stood out not by hitting homeruns but just simply hitting the baseball. Gwynn, during his 20-year career with the San Diego Padres, held a lifetime batting average of .338, which is 18th all-time in baseball history. He hit safely in 75 percent of the games in which he played during his career, as well as batting above 300 in each of his last 19 seasons, a streak second only to the great Ty Cobb.
Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn 1999 All-Star Game
However, his greatest accomplishment was stopped short due to a players strike that ended the 1994 season, denying him a shot at becoming the first player to hit .400 since Red Sox legend Ted Williams in 1941; Gwynn held an average of .394 at the time of the strike. Due to his near miss at joining one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball, he and the Red Sox legend Ted Williams became close friends and Gwynn even steadied the aging Williams when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the 1999 All-Star Game at the iconic Fenway Park.
Gwynn was so good at hitting the ball into left field between third base and shortstop that fans and analysts called the slot the “5.5 Hole” in his honor and because of that, for most of his career, Gwynn wore the numbers 5.5 on the tongue of his baseball cleats. Gwynn recorded his 3,000th hit, a single through the “5.5 Hole” on Aug. 6, 1999 which just so happened to be his mother’s birthday. The day he reached 3,000 hits was his 2,284th game, which became the third fewest amount of games needed to reach the mark behind, yet again, Ty Cobb.
The 15 time All-star, 8 time NL batting champ, 5 time Gold Glove winner and the 7 time Silver Slugger winner was one of the greatest baseball players on the field in MLB history; however, what made him one of the greatest people in sports is what he did off the field. For his work off the field as well as his sportsmanship on the field Gwynn was honored with three of the most iconic awards a baseball player can receive in his lifetime with the accolades of the 1995 Branch Rickey Award, the 1998 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and the 1999 Roberto Clemente Award.
After his retirement in 2001 Gwynn went on to become a coach on the San Diego State baseball team where he was a two sport athlete in baseball and basketball more than two decades before. Gwynn would go on to coach at San Diego State as well as help and mentor current baseball players like Juan Pierre, who had this to say about Gwynn on Twitter “The best pure hitter in my generation and even better man and that will be what’s missed most, his character will surpass all his statistics”. He even then went on to tell a story between himself and Gwynn “Tony Gwynn once waited for me 40 minutes after a game when I was a rookie to talk hitting and that talked helped me for my whole career”.
He was also a coach and mentor to current Washington Nationals pitcher and former San Diego State player Stephen Strasburg who, before his passing, referred to Gwynn as a father figure in his life. Gwynn even had a picture on his desk at San Diego State given to him by Strasburg’s mother of a 4 year old Stephen in front of a Tony Gwynn poster wearing a San Diego State t-shirt, a Padres helmet and Gwynn’s signature wristbands to honor his idol.
Gwynn is survived by his son, Tony Jr., an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies who has played parts of eight seasons in the big leagues and had this to say about his father’s passing “Today I lost my Dad, my best friend and my mentor. I’m gonna miss u so much pops. I’m gonna do everything in my power to continue to make you proud!”
Tony Gwynn was the most loved sports figure in the San Diego area and has since been immortalized by the team and the city. The Padres retired the number 19 that Gwynn wore throughout his career and even built a statue of Gwynn outside of Petco Park in 2007. The city of San Diego expressed their love of Gwynn by renaming the address of the team’s home ballpark to 19 Tony Gwynn Drive.
Tony Gwynn died far too young at the age of 54 due to a long battle with cancer; however, he will always be remembered not only as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history but one of the greatest human beings in baseball history.
