Gwynn idolized Williams so it makes sense he'd say he was the best. I'd still give the edge to Gwynn, because he struck out so few times (nearly half of what Williams did), hit .444 with the bases loaded in his career and had amazing batting averages against the best pitchers in the league. It really is a toss up, but the low strikeout numbers is what sets him apart for me.
this is what makes baseball....baseball. Debates just like this. Yes Gwynn struck out less, but one of the reasons why is he was just looking to get the bat on the ball with two strikes. Where as Williams was looking to drive the ball (even with two strikes). Williams and Gwynn wound up being really good friends. Countless conversations about hitting (how cool would that be to just sit there and listen to them talk hitting for hours on end?) Williams actually grew up in S.D. if I'm not mistaken so they also had the love of that city in common.
Best hitter? How do you define that.... I would say Cobb/Hornsby/Wagner/Jackson and Dimaggio were all great at getting hits (assuming that is how you define greatest hitter, because as a player he couldn't hold a candle to Bonds and others). Also, concerning Gwynn playing in a pitchers era, his best seasons were in the middle of the hitters PED era. Gwynn IS the best hitter (getting hits) without question since the mid 80's with Boggs and Carew in the 70's... and would argue that Gwynn was even better than them... in which case you are going back over half a century... quite an accomplishment for a guy that barely played baseball until he was drafted. Also, numerous people have said he was one of the nicest people you would meet.
Gwynn had 319 stolen bases and 5 golden gloves. 19 straight season batting over .300. Bonds was good before roids but not that good.
Uhh Bonds was better period.. By virtually every measure.. As a baseball player, Bonds was just better.
Tony Gwynn had such amazing bat control. How's this for perspective. Gwynn, over a 20 year career, had 9,288 ABs. He struck out 434 times. Chris Carter has just over 1,000 ABs and has struck out 409 times.
