Gwynn seemed like one of the nicest guys ever. Great fielder in addition to being one of the greatest hitters of all time.
Just read something on CNN about David Ortiz does this to get juiced for his at-bats and then spits it out afterwards. That's pretty disgusting and sad at the same time. Players are actually doing it to hit better because the nicotine amps them up. When I was playing baseball, it was the chew gum and the chew jerky. Why can't they just do that instead? Because it doesn't give them that nicotine boost. Did the chew give Tony an edge at the plate...same as Ortiz is claiming he uses it for?
He was a lot like ted williams when it cam to the mechanics of hitting. He did it all without having speed and power.
Yeah, as has been said, Gwynn was an amazing hitter. He consistently hit the ball and (while I'm sure it isn't totally true) it seemed like he never ever had a slump. RIP
This guy was one of the best of my generation. All around just knew baseball. I loved listening to him call games, too. Vastly underrated in that aspect.
He was one of my favorite players as a little kid. Besides the Astros, all I could see of MLB was the weekend national game back in the day and This Week In Baseball, but somehow I latched on to Tony even though I rarely saw him play until we got ESPN in my house around like 93. RIP Mr. Padre.
Mind-blowing if you haven't heard: Gwynn struck out 3 times in a game one time in his career. The pitcher? Bob Welch.
If you're saying he didn't have bat "speed" you are highly mistaken. He had some of the quickest hands in the history of baseball. He was able to wait on a pitch to see what it was (and where it was going), and still was able to get the bat around all because of his bat speed and those quick hands. Best pure hitter I ever saw! Greg Maddux said the same thing yesterday.
Only reason I know him is from this baseball game I used to play on N64 I think. Used to be awesome on there. RIP Mr. Gwynn
It is a toss up between Gwynn, Cobb and Williams for best hitter of all time. I give the edge to Gwynn because he played in a pitching era against 5 man rotations and relief specialists. Either way, he was a freaking beast. We lost Gwynn and Kirby Puckett far too soon.
I would go with Williams as the greatest hitter, and Gwynn himself said that as well. Williams had way more power than Gwynn. Certainly agree we lost him and Puckett too soon.
He was old and fat before I ever saw him. He had no business being in the OF at that point. Always curious why he wasn't able to take better care of his body. He was on Outside the Lines discussing his cancer from his years of smokeless tobacco. If any good can come from this it is increased attention on getting smokeless tobacco removed from baseball completely.
I don't think this is an appropriate thread for this debate. Bonds was on pace to be a 500-500 guy before the steroids. He stole bases and was a plus defender. Without the roids he wouldn't be hitting 70 hr, but he was a better offensive and defensive player than Gwynn.
Thanks for this info. While I am still on Clutch I just do not follow sports like I used to. This really struck a cord with me because my son has been using smokeless tobacco. I forwarded the USA Today article to him and I'm going to find the Outside the Lines episode for him as well. It is so stupid to shorten your life because of something like dip.
