Just read that former hitting great Tony Gwynn died of cancer at age 54. What a great player and too young to be gone.
Probably the best hitter I have seen in my life time along with George Brett.
.338 career avg. over 20 years of pro ball with the same club. the stat that really got me other than the career batting avg. was Gwynn only had 434 strike outs his entire career. Only good stories about this guy off the field too.
Baseball has truly lost one of its greats.
http://mlb.si.com/2014/06/16/tony-gwynn-dies-at-age-54/ I've been a baseball fan since the early 1970s, and the best pure hitters I've ever seen were Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn, and then I put Wade Boggs, George Brett and Pete Rose just behind. Between Gwynn and Carew I'd give Gwynn the edge.
Gwynn was one of the first hitter to study films of his hitting and he did it effectively and extensively. He became close friends with Ted Williams, another San Diegoan, who may have been the best pure hitter of all-time, and the two discussed hitting at length.
Not only did Gwynn rarely strike out, but he didn't hit many pop-ups or dribblers either. With two strikes he changed his approach (which isn't done often in today's game), but still always seemed to square up on pitches.
Another fun stat: Against the celebrated trio of Smoltz, Glavine and Greg Maddux (Hall of Famers and a future HOFer) Gwynn hit .381, and he faced these guys a lot. It didn't matter how good a pitcher you were; if he saw you enough, you were his.
