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Tony Gwynn
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Tony Gwynn May 9th, 1960 is the birthday of Tony Gwynn aka Mr. Padre, star Right Fielder and Master Batsman who spent his entire career with the San Diego Padres...one of the last "dedicated to my team" players  He played 20 seasons with the Padres from 1982-2001, made the All-Star team 15 times, won 8 batting titles, 7 Silver Slugger awards, 5 Gold Glove awards and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, the first year of eligibility. He was also the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, the Lou Gehrig Award and the Branch Rickey Award. He played in 2 World Series, both were the only times the padres went to the Series. During the second time he hit a home run in Yankee Stadium, hitting the facing of the second deck...something he considered a personal milestone. His career batting average was .338 and never hit below .309 in any full season, his highest average was around .405 (the highest since Ted Williams back in his day) but unfortunately that was during a strike shortened season. His World Series average was .371. Tony accumulated 3,141 career hits, one of just ten players to reach the 3,000 hit club while only playing for the same team during his career. An interesting anecdote - his first hit came against the Cincinnati Reds, in Cincy. When he got to<b> first base </font></b>"Charlie Hustle" Pete Rose said to him "Don't try to pass me all in one night ."  Having attended many Padre games during that time I got a few chances to chat with him during batting practice, what a truly nice guy. Got his autograph several times....once was at a car dealership, he was doing a promotional signing before a game. I had brought a newspaper article I saved, it was about his swing and they broke it down with a series of pictures. When my turn came I set the paper down in front of him (after he signed the new ball I brought), he picked it up and studied it for a minute, looked up at me and shyly explained he didn't even remember doing it! The Padres retired his number 19 in 2004. After retiring from professional baseball he went on to coach at SDSU (his alma mater) until his untimely death nearly a year ago on June 16th. He will always be missed but never ever forgotten One of the last truly pure baseball players ever.Everyone is on a different plane of intelligence. Some people's plane has not taken off yet!!  |
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Excellent some good information I didn't know here hugssssssss V  Become a blog watcher sweet_vm
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I always thought he had a lot of class too. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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