Tony Gwynn

This page leads to Tony Gwynn, the Hall of Fame outfielder with the San Diego Padres; for his son who made his Major League debut in 2006, click here

Anthony Keith Gwynn
(Mr. Padre)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 199 lb.
• School San Diego State University
• Debut July 19, 1982
• Final Game October 7, 2001
• Born May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA USA

BR page

[edit] Biographical Information

Tony Gwynn was one of baseball's best all-time hitters for average. He played 20 years in the majors, all with the San Diego Padres, with a lifetime .338 batting average and 3,141 hits.

Gwynn was selected by the Padres in the third round of the 1981 amateur draft and made hit pro debut that summer. He split the year between the Walla Walla Padres, with whom he hit .331 to win the Northwest League batting crown and MVP award, and the Amarillo Gold Sox, where he hit .462 in 23 games. He hit .328 for the Hawaii Islanders in 1982 and made his big league debut with the Padres in July. After beginning 1983 on the disabled list, he hit .342 in 17 games with the Las Vegas Stars before returning to the majors for good in June.

Gwynn led the National League in batting eight times, and came close to hitting .400 in 1994 when he hit .394. He was named to 15 All-Star games, won five Gold Gloves for his fielding prowess, and stole 319 bases.

He never won the MVP award, but was in the top 10 seven times, and came as close as 3rd in 1984 when his team went to the 1984 World Series. He ranks # 18 of all time on the Black Ink test of assessing player performance and # 13 on the Hall of Fame Monitor test.

His brother Chris Gwynn, picked in the first round (the 10th overall pick) in the 1985 amateur draft, played ten years in the majors. His son Tony, whom Tony coached in college, was a 2nd-round draft pick and collected his first Major League hit in 2006 for the Milwaukee Brewers, 24 years to the day after Tony's first hit, July 19, 1982. Both were doubles to right field.

On January 9, 2007 Gwynn was elected to the Hall of Fame. He received 532 of 545 possible votes. He was inducted with Cal Ripken in July of that year.

An outstanding basketball player in college, Gwynn is the all-time assists leader at San Diego State University (as of 2010) and was also drafted by the San Diego Clippers of the NBA the day after being selected by the Padres. After retiring, he became head coach of the San Diego State baseball program and a part-time television analyst for ESPN's baseball broadcasts. As head coach at San Diego State, he succeeded his college coach, Jim Dietz. Stephen Strasburg was one of his players at San Diego State.

In his retirement, Gwynn has battled mouth cancer, twice having malignant tumors surgically removed, in 2010 and 2012. He attributed the cause of the disease to his use of smokeless tobacco during his carer and afterwards, finally quitting the nasty habit after 30 years when the health problems surfaced.

"The only way to pitch to Tony is throw the ball down the middle and hope he hits it at someone." - Al Leiter

[edit] Trivia

Gwynn's 2,000th and 3,000th hits both came on August 6th, in 1993 and 1999 respectively. August 6th happens to be the birthday of his mother, Vendella Gwynn.

[edit] Notable Achievements

• 1981 MVP Northwest League, Walla Walla Padres
• 15-time NL All-Star (1984-1987 & 1989-1999)
• 5-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1986, 1987 & 1989-1991)
• 7-time NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995 & 1997)
• 8-time NL Batting Average Leader (1984, 1987-1989 & 1994-1997)
• NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1994)
• NL At Bats Leader (1986)
• NL Runs Scored Leader (1986)
• 7-time NL Hits Leader (1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995 & 1997)
• 7-time NL Singles Leader (1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995 & 1997)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1997)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1986 & 1987)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 5 (1984, 1986, 1987, 1989 & 1997)
• 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 1 (1987)
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 2007

[edit] Further Reading

• Rick Sorci: "Baseball Profile: Tony Gwynn of the Padres," Baseball Digest, August 1990, p. 55.

[edit] Related Sites