Tony Gwynn has passed away. RIP

[Angrioter]

JeffPassan now

Tony Gwynn, the greatest hitter of his generation, one of the greatest hitters ever to play in Major League Baseball, has died at 54.

[TwistedLogic]

Rest in Peace.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

What!!!!

 

That's horrible! He was a big man though, jeez.

 

Edit: Salivary cancer. Sounds awful. Wonder if he was big into chewing tobacco.

[connorp]

Oh wow. Remember reading he was sick awhile back but you assume with celeb's cash and access to cutting edge treatments that they'll beat it

[eastcoastjaysfan]

Oh wow. Remember reading he was sick awhile back but you assume with celeb's cash and access to cutting edge treatments that they'll beat it

 

Gwynn filed bankruptcy several times I believe.

[connorp]

Gwynn filed bankruptcy several times I believe.

 

Oh. Yeah he did play in a diff gen but he's still Tony Gwynn and the coach of a very good D-1 bb school (or was..idk)

[TheBoneCollector]

R.I.P Tony.

[kgm1]

RIP, Did not even know he was sick. At such a young age too. Such a great hitter just built for that ballpark.

[NorthOf49]

This is so sad Tony Gwynn was a great baseball man.

 

I didn't even know he was unwell.

[connorp]

Gwynn filed bankruptcy several times I believe.

 

Gwynn prob got killed in real estate especially. I know when I lived in SD it was a completely unsustainable situaton. Cost of living was nowhere near rate of pay. When real estate prices came crashing down, I think SD saw like a 50% drop in property value.

[Dylan]

RIP

 

So young

[Angrioter]

Overrated?

 

.338/.388/.459 but................. 65 fWAR

 

Top-3 DH

1-Edgar

2-Papi

3-Gwynn

[G-Snarls]

s***** s*****

 

Only 54

 

Great player and great guy

[NorthOf49]

Overrated?

 

.338/.388/.459 but................. 65 fWAR

 

Top-3 DH

1-Edgar

2-Papi

3-Gwynn

Nobody thinks Gywnn is one of the inner circle baseball players in terms of total value added to his teams.

 

What Gwynn did have is perhaps the best bat-to-ball ability of all time. And that should be celebrated.

[Atothe]

I'm gonna miss seeing that big lug of joy

[GD]

f***. That's horrible. RIP.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

His stretch from 1994 to 1997 is pretty crazy.

 

Also retired after a season of hitting .324/.384/.461

 

Guy could've probably played for another 3-4 years as a pinch hitter.

[connorp]

His numbers are weird, is there any other modern day player like it?

 

By that I mean he's a guy that never took a lot of walks yet he's almost got a 2:1 BB/K ratio.

[bzapple]

RIP, really terrible to see a guy go at that age. Gwynn was mostly before my time but he's the type of player that I love watching; the Ichiro of his generation.

 

Edit: Salivary cancer. Sounds awful. Wonder if he was big into chewing tobacco.

 

According to Gwynn himself that was the cause:

Gwynn's battle with cancer began in 2009 when a malignant tumor was removed from his right cheek. Gwynn claimed that the cancer in the salivary gland was the result of his longtime habit of chewing tobacco. The cancer returned twice, and in the latter part of '12, he again began radiation treatment in an attempt to shrink the tumor.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/hall-of-famer-tony-gwynn-dies-at-54-after-cancer-battle?ymd=20140616&content_id=80040976&vkey=news_mlb

[Atothe]

His stretch from 1994 to 1997 is pretty crazy.

 

Also retired after a season of hitting .324/.384/.461

 

Guy could've probably played for another 3-4 years as a pinch hitter.

 

See that's what makes players like him wonderful. Retire before you s*** the bed.

[Atothe]

His numbers are weird, is there any other modern day player like it?

 

By that I mean he's a guy that never took a lot of walks yet he's almost got a 2:1 BB/K ratio.

 

Elite plate coverage and bat control. Rarity.

[connorp]

Elite plate coverage and bat control. Rarity.

 

Yeah closest comp that popped to mind was Wade Boggs but even he walked and struck out more. I think it would be very hard to find a guy that put the ball in play at a higher% than TG

[Atothe]

Yeah closest comp that popped to mind was Wade Boggs but even he walked and struck out more. I think it would be very hard to find a guy that put the ball in play at a higher% than TG

 

I think a similar guy would be Vlad but he swung at anything lol

[connorp]

I think a similar guy would be Vlad but he swung at anything lol

 

Yeah he SO more but that's ok... he was a pimp... he had Griffey Jr like numbers in his prime so he could swing away on my team anytime...lol

[TheHurl]

my favourite player by far and provided me with a great baseball moment during the 1989 all star game HR contest batting practice. As I've told many times Cal Ripken walked away from signing autographs with a like 8 year old right at the front waiting patiently. Cal walked away Gwynn saw it and signed for the kid (and about 50 others). Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times and never struck out. Nolan Ryan got him 9 times 4 others 6 times. It's unreal how good his hands were. RIP

[SparkyAnderson]

His stretch from 1994 to 1997 is pretty crazy.

 

Also retired after a season of hitting .324/.384/.461

 

Guy could've probably played for another 3-4 years as a pinch hitter.

 

His numbers from 94-97 are unreal. Incredible player and will be missed. RIP

[Nox]

Career 4.2% K-rate.

 

Enough said.

[connorp]

Career 4.2% K-rate.

 

Enough said.

 

Here's a question nobody cares about but I'm genuinely curious. You have a guy with a .388obp and a guy with a .400obp say... the first guy's k rate is 4% and the second guy is 17%. Which is preferable? I mean the first guy putting it in play more will move more guys over and get SFs but also chance for DPs. Basically just wondering if a low K rate adds value to a guy's obp or it doesn't really matter.

[Nox]

Here's a question nobody cares about but I'm genuinely curious. You have a guy with a .388obp and a guy with a .400obp say... the first guy's k rate is 4% and the second guy is 17%. Which is preferable? I mean the first guy putting it in play more will move more guys over and get SFs but also chance for DPs. Basically just wondering if a low K rate adds value to a guy's obp or it doesn't really matter.

 

Assuming power is equal (which I think you're implying with your toy example) and you're referring to their true talent OBPs (not past results), the difference in projected value would favour the .400 obp guy. I think baseball reference's WAR might penalize a bit for krates. Can't quite remember though.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

Best P4P jheri curl in the business back in the day

 

http://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/tony-gwynn.jpg?w=1000

 

So much swag that he didn't know what to do with it all.