Tony Gwynn
The greatest player in Padres' history, Tony Gwynn won eight batting titles, five Gold Gloves, and helped the franchise to their first two World Series appearances, but never captured that elusive championship ring. He batted .394 in 1994 - the highest mark since 1941 - and banged out more than 3,000 hits in his career, which he spent entirely in his hometown of San Diego.
| Career Batting Stats |
| G |
AB |
H |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
OBP |
OPS |
OPS+ |
| 2440 |
9288 |
3141 |
1383 |
135 |
1138 |
319 |
.338 |
.459 |
.388 |
.847 |
117.4 |
|
Quotes From Tony Gwynn
"One of the things I'm proudest about is that I played for one team. My baseball card looks awesome because it has San Diego all the way down. I grew up in an environment where that kind of stuff was important. Loyalty was a small part of it. It was a matter of it being comfortable, of being in a place where I could do what I did without a lot of external pressure. This was just the place."
"From 1992 to the end of my career, he [Ted Williams] made me a batter hitter, because he told me 'When the ball isinside, just go with my swing, just go with it.' "
Where does Tony Gwynn rank among baseball greats?
Tony Gwynn ranks #16 among the Top 50 all-time at RF. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1997
In 1994, Gwynn was on his way to possibly becoming the first .400 hitter in more than 50 years when Bud Selig and Don Fehr interceded with a players strike. Gwynn had it all together that season. Three years later he had an almost equally impressive year - and he did it over the course of 149 games. In '97, at the age of 37, Gwynn batted .371 (his highest mark for a full season), winning his fourth straight batting title, and his eighth overall. He collected 220 hits - an amazing total for a man his age, who had put on some weight and no longer legged out hits. Gwynn set a career record with 68 extra-base hits (including 49 doubles and 17 home runs), while scoring 97. He slugged .547 and drove in a career-best 119 runners. This was made more remarkable by the fact that the Padres won just 76 games that season.
Factoids
Tony Gwynn led the league in singles an NL record seven times (1984, tie in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1997) one shy of Nellie Fox's ML record.
Tony Gwynn Field, located at Gwynn's Alma mater of San Diego State University, was named the fifth-best stadium in college baseball by Baseball America in 1998.
Tony Gwynn compiled a lifetime average of .300 or better against every team in the National League, with a high-water mark of .379 against Colorado.
Where He Played
Right field
Born
Anthony Keith Gwynn was born on May 9, 1960, in Los Angeles, CA.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
College: San Diego State
Major League Debut
7 19,
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1982
Tony Gwynn
Wade Boggs
Julio Franco
Willie McGee
Tony Phillips
Don Mattingly
Frank Viola
Doug Jones
Kevin Bass
Gwynn was one of the first, if not the first, player to use video extensively to work on his swing. Reportedly, he has tape of every one of his major league at-bats.
Uniform Numbers
#19 (1982-2001)
Family Tree
Tony's brother Chris was an All-American baseball player at San Diego State and a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic baseball team. Chris played parts of 10 seasons in the major leagues for the Dodgers, Royals, and Padres. Brother Charles was a baseball star at Cal State-Los Angeles... Anthony Gwynn Jr. debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006.
Similar Players
Wade Boggs as a hitter, and John Kruk as a specimen.
Related Players
Rickey Henderson collected his 3,000th career hit in Gwynn's final major league game... Gwynn was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007 with Cal Ripken Jr.
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 2007 |
BBWAA |
532 |
97.6% |
|
Post-Season Appearances
1984 National League Championship Series
1984 World Series
1996 National League Divisional Series
1998 National League Championship Series
1998 National League Divisional Series
1998 World Series
Post-Season Notes
Gwynn hit .371 in his two World Series appearances, with 13 hits in nine games, including a homer in his first game in Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, the Padres ran up against two of the best teams of their era: the 1984 Tigers and 1998 Padres.
Awards and Honors
1986 NL Gold Glove
1987 NL Gold Glove
1989 NL Gold Glove
1990 NL Gold Glove
1991 NL Gold Glove
Feats
On August 4, 1993, against the Giants, Gwynn laced six hits... Gwynn holds five of the top eleven single-season batting averages since the end of World War II... Gwynn and Ty Cobb share the distinction of being the only players in history to string together two separate streaks of three or more consecutive batting titles, with Tony earning three in a row from 1987-1989, then collecting four straight from 1994-1997... Gwynn is one of only 19 players with 200 hits in five or more seasons.
Milestones
Gwynn garnered his historic 3,000th hit on August 6, 1999, against the Expos in Montreal. He singled to right field off Dan Smith. Gwynn became the 22nd man to reach the 3,000 hit plateau. He ended the night with four hits.
Milestones
- April 22, 1988: 1000th Hit...
- August 15, 1990: 1500th Hit...
- August 6, 1993: 2000th Hit...
- September 28, 1996: 2500th Hit...
- August 6, 1999: 3000th Hit... Gwynn's milestone hit was a single to left field off Dan Smith.
Batting Feats
- August 4, 1993: 6 Hits... 12 innings
Notes
Gwynn played baseball in college for San Diego State University, also starring in basketball, for which he was recruited by the school. The Clippers chose him in the 1981 NBA draft, and the Padres selected him in the 3rd round that same year. Gwynn played in Walla Walla in the Rookie Northwestern League, winning the batting title and MVP award. His performance earned him a mid-season call up to the Padres in '82... Won eight National League batting titles... Collected at least five hits in a game 8 times... Through 2000 he had 899 career multi-hit games: 622 two-hit games, 232 three-hit games, 36 four-hit games, 8 five-hit games and a 6-hit effort. Tony's nine career games with 5 or more hits (8 games with 5 hits and a 6-hit effort August 4, 1993 vs. San Francisco) are one shy of Pete Rose's N.L. record. Ty Cobb owns the major league mark with 14... Entering 2001, Tony was a career .351 hitter (712-for-2,031) with runners in scoring position, including a .393 (235-for-598) average since 1995... Gwynn hit better than .350 for five consecutive seasons from 1993-97, a feat previously accomplished only by Ty Cobb (11 straight .350 seasons), Rogers Hornsby (6) and Al Simmons (5) in baseball history. Tony lifted his career average to .340 from .327 by hitting .368 over those 5 seasons, baseball's best 5-year average since 1931 and the 8th-best in history.
Hitting Streaks
25 games (1983)
20 games (1997)
19 games (1997)
Home Run Facts
Hit his first HR off Bill Campbell, and his 100th against Donne Walll... Gwynn hit two homers in a game four times (1986, 1997, 1998, 1999)... He hit four homers off Tom Browning, his most against any one pitcher... He belted three grand slams...
Matchup BigData
Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux more than any other pitcher in his career. In 103 plate appearances, he went 39-for-91 (.429) with eight doubles, a triple, and nine RBI against Maddux.
All-Star Selections
1984 NL
1985 NL
1986 NL
1987 NL
1989 NL
1990 NL
1991 NL
1992 NL
1993 NL
1994 NL
1995 NL
1996 NL
1997 NL
1998 NL
1999 NL
Replaced
In 1983, Gwynn played full-time until a wrist injury sidelined him. He had replaced Gene Richards in the Padre outfield. In '84 he played his first full season, joining second-year players Carmelo Martinez and Kevin McReynolds in one of baseball's more promising young outfields.
Replaced By
Knee and back injuries curtailed Gwynn in his final two seasons. The Padres replaced him in right field with Eric Owens in 2000, and Bubba Trammell in 2001.
Best Strength as a Player
Smacking the pill.
Largest Weakness as a Player
His throwing arm was pretty average.
Learn More about Tony Gwynn
Search Amazon.com for Books about Tony Gwynn ⇒
Search for Tony Gwynn at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒