Gwynn has seven of those seasons, the most of any player in that span. 307 - Tony Gwynn has a younger brother, Chris Gwynn, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1987-1991), Kansas City Royals (1992-1993), Los Angeles Dodgers (1994-1995), and San Diego Padres . 25 bids - Price: $170.50 - Watchers: 86. He batted .462 with 12 extra-base hits off John Smoltz. Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) June 16, 2014. But we were lucky enough to see Tony Gwynn fire baseballs all over the field, into open spaces from coast to coast, for 20 years. . He thinks he might have an idea of why hes receiving some newfound fan support., An embarrassing graphic involving Russell Westbrook has gone viral. 429 career average and he NEVER struck out against the Hall of Fame hurler. The pitcher that Gwynn faced most often was Greg Maddux, which makes sense since the two were in the National League together for 15 seasons. "Tony Gwynn would hit .338 in 2021, '31, '41 In the 30-plus years that stat has been tracked, the next-best batting average with two strikes is .260 by Wade Boggs, more than 40 points below Gwynns mark. He collected 83 hits in the 46 games, and even had a hit in the one game he didnt start, delivering a pinch-hit two-run single against the Astros on June 1st. How does this translate to their WAR/WAA? What's the Dodgers' plan at shortstop? Greg Maddux's long and successful career was defined by his ability to change up his pitches and keep hitters off-balance. He hit .400 or better against eight different Cy Young winners -- Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Bret Saberhagen, Vida Blue, John Denny, Dennis Eckersley, Mark Davis and Doug Drabek -- and batted at least .300 against seven more. Except for the fact he did that every darned year, no matter what. More consistently than most major-league . Mike Scott, he of the split-fingered fastball, was one of the best strikeout pitchers of the 1980s, and hes the pitcher that Gwynn faced the most after Maddux and Glavine. That six-hit game deserves closer examination. Full quote: "Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. tony gwynn Than Had Was Toni The Todays Greates And Walked Into . Not ever, not once. You can check out the most watched Tony Gwynn cards of all years currently at auction through the live list below. In 1997 he was 37 years old but his bat hadnt slowed down. No one else whose career started after World War II has even gotten closer than 10 points of him -- at least no one with 5,000 plate appearances or more. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. For the eight-week period from mid-May to mid-July, Gwynn hit a sizzling .430 and collected at least one hit in 44 of 46 games. Maddux summed it up perfectly. Hall of Famer Greg Maddux is one of the greatest pitchers of the Live Ball Era. Why was Greg Maddux good? I'd have to do some digging to find the exact players, but assume the best hitters and pitchers among Gwynn's playing cohort. Reality: Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career. Gwynn also had incredible success against many ofthe best strikeout pitchers. 1: Gwynn's most strikeouts in a season was 40 (1988). By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times in a season. He was the second batter in the top of the first inning, as his Giants took on the Houston Astros. 2013 Panini Pinnacle Clear Vision Single 68 Tony Gwynn 1993 Upper Deck Base Set #488 Greg Maddux 1996 Pinnacle Select Certified #32 Greg Maddux Greg Maddux (94 ABs) and Pedro Martinex (135 ABs) never recorded a K against the Padres outfielder.No hitter born after 1900 reached 3,000 hits in fewer games (2,284) or at-bats (8,874) than Gywnn. Last Saturday, Gwynn faced a pitcher, Livan Hernandez, who was born 31 years after Jenkins and who was pitching for a franchise and a wild-card spot that did not exist when . The baseball world is mourning the loss of Hall of Famer and "Mr. Padre" Tony Gywnn the best way it knows how: by remembering how incredible a player he was. This leaves 845 batters unaccounted for. Would love your thoughts, please comment. He struck out 3 times and hit .381. I had the chance to meet him once in San Diego. From 1992-95, he won four-straight NL Cy Youngs. Those 13 walks are the most anyone has drawn. Tony Gwynn is the greatest pure hitter I have ever witnessed. He also is a credentialed member of the Diamondbacks press corps for Last Word on Baseball. On May 19, 1997, Gwynn was hitting .368, not to shabby for sure. Tony Gwynn hit .415 against Greg Maddux and (expletive) did not strike out even once in 107 plate appearances! With Maddux it always seemed that batters were either being fooled as they watched a pitch nip the corner of the plate, or they were getting a bad swing on a pitch that dove away from their bat at the last second. In addition, Gwynns nine five-hit games rank second all-time to Pete Rose, who had 10. Tony Gwynn. I think I know part of the reason for Gwynns low WAR ranking, he ranks 101st among MLB players all time in total runs scored, behind Joe DiMaggio who had a much shorter career. Kinda random it was just these two especially Pedro Martinez since it was probably only the beginning of his career when they were facing eachother. . Here comes more. Gwynn hit below .300 just once in his career, Gwynn struck out less than 20 times in six straight seasons with a career-low 15 times in 1995. Maddux was a tough competitor, earning the nickname Mad Dog for his intense focus. How about .444 career average with the bases loaded. DarthIntegral JCC FODEUSS Commish VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host. Tony Gwynn, then going on 26 and . Maddux didnt strike Gwynn out a single time NOT ONCE. We cant know for sure how many of the 1986-87 hitters faced a 30 count, but chances are good that the percentage is greater than or equal to his subsequent seasons in Chicago. That was the first time in THREE YEARS that Gwynn had gone more than two games without a hit, and the first time in FIVE YEARS that he had gone more than 11 at-bats without getting a base hit. They can be viewed by season or over an entire career. 1994 Quality Starts. Caught that special the other night and enjoyed it. If you need proof of that -- besides his eight National League batting titles, career .338 batting average, seven Silver Slugger awards and 3,141 career hits -- check out some of these eye-popping stats and facts. Log in. He led the league with 220 hits, becoming the oldest player to do so. Finally, in 1998, the Padres advanced past the Houston Astros in the NLDS (this was the year Houston traded at the deadline for Randy Johnson), then beat the Atlanta Braves and their troika of aces in Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz in the NLCS, before getting swept in the World Series by the New York Yankees; Gwynn only batted .200 . Greg Maddux once explained that you could trick any hitter into not being able to read the speed of a pitch"Except for that fucking Tony Gwynn." G/O Media may get a commission 13% off As if to show everyone what theyd missed in the summer of 94, Gwynn came out swinging a red-hot bat. Gwynns career worst strikeout rate was 6.9% in 1988 when he struck out 40 times in 578 at bats. Greg Maddux debuted on 9/3/1986 and was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 by the BBWAA. Its mind-blowing. He struck out only three times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro), per Eric Edholm of Yahoo! As we outlined in #2 above, Gwynn tore apart Greg Maddux to the tune of a .429 career average and he NEVER struck out against the Hall of Fame hurler. But Gwynn also extended that success to other fine pitchers, such as Maddux's teammate John Smoltz. On this date (April 8) in, 1986, Will Clark, a 22-year-old rookie, stepped into the batter's box for his first-ever major league at bat. Wow. He also had the second-most regular-season . That brought up Gwynn, hitting better than .500 lifetime against the Cub ace. Barry Bonds TONY GWYNN Jeff Bagwell Ozzie Smith Greg Maddux PSA Auto Baseball. Thats how you maintain an astronomical batting average year after year. He is the treasurer for the Hemond-Delhi Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and also is a USSF and AIA soccer referee. In the fifth inning he lined sharply into the glove of first baseman Will Clark. From 1988 to 2001, Gwynn hit .302 in two-strike counts. I dont know that much about baseball but I wonder why Tony Gwynns WAR ranking is so low. He is the author of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs and has covered the Arizona Diamondbacks for Last Word on Baseball since 2019. 19. And Maddux knew it. However, since this is speculative, we cannot include that in the verdict. Aztec Sports and Conference Discussions. Every other player who had a career batting average of .338 or better played before 1940. "Mr Padre" is one of the best and most consistent contact hitters in the history of baseball. Tony Gwynn collected more regular season hits against Greg Maddux than any other batter (39 in 33 games). Against Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Smoltz . He played in an era when it was big news if anyone even got within 50 points of that. Gwynn owns all-time Padres records for batting average, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, walks, stolen bases and games played. Reggie Jackson's Record-breaking Strikeouts If Gwynns 20-year career were split into two careers, 10 seasons apiece, he would rank first and second in franchise history in runs, hits, total bases and doubles. Greg Maddux had my favorite . We will never know, but he was hitting like a demon as the weather got warmer and he seemed to have as good a chance as any batter in several decades. Greg Maddux got to see that firsthand. Only Ty Cobb, who won 12, all before 1920, had more. In other words, the last pitch of the plate appearance came on a 30 count. So how many batters probably saw a 30 count in 1986 and 1987? Doing the math shows us that only 3.2% of all hitters to face Greg Maddux from 1988 onward saw a 30 count, and one fourth of those were intentional walks. He told The Washington Post that if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. The first problem with the 310 batters faced a 30 count claim is this: pitch count data is not available until 1988. Winner of eight batting titles, Gwynn finished in the top five for the league's best average 13 times from 1984 through 1997. He won 18 Gold Gloves, the record for any position. Finally, what does it mean to have piled up a .338 batting average over a 20-year career, over 9,288 at-bats? On the day he retired 13 years ago, I took a look at his incredible hitting genius, measured through the columns on the stat sheet he owned like no one else -- the batting average column, the hits column and the strikeouts (or lack thereof) column. Press J to jump to the feed. Related. Most players have a disadvantage when they are facing pitchers of the same stripe as them. Only 644 (that we know of; we are missing data for 1,166 batters) saw a 30 count and 153 came on intentional walks. Maddux and Glavine are the first pair of Hall of Fame classmates both to record voting percentages in the 90th percentile since 2007 with Cal Ripken Jr. (98.5) and Tony Gwynn (97.6). Tony Gwynn vs. Pitchers Event data is only available for the American League and National League. Born: May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA us Died: June 16, 2014 in Poway, CA Buried: Dearborn Memorial Park, Poway, CA . We can make a rough estimate, however, by using the count data from 1988 to 1990, which was the last season Maddux had a walk rate that was 7.0% or higher. Tony Gwynn: man or machine? A few moments later, Pedro Martinez (not THAT Pedro, the other Pedro Martinez), laid down a suicide squeeze that scored Ricky Gutierrez with the winning run from third. Because, thanks to him, you never had to dread that annual spring assignment of picking the batting champ. SAN DIEGO -- There's never a bad time to rehash the insane numbers Tony Gwynn put up during his 20 Hall of Fame seasons in San Diego. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. Evan lives in Mesa, Arizona and loves history, especially of sports. It occurred on August 4, 1993, against the Giants on a weekday evening at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Gwynn hit .415 off of him. No hitter can tell the difference in speed of different pitches, Maddux told Thomas Boswell, except that goddamned Tony Gwynn.. Despite the fact that Martinez has won 355 games to Maddux's 355, he is still regarded as the game's leader. In 1995 he went 35 games without striking out. Among the 38 pitchers he faced at least 50 times, his lowest average was a .243 mark against Dwight Gooden. He wasnt just slapping the ball either, Gwynn had eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs off Smoltz. How Many Times Did Maddux Strike Out Tony Gwynn? High School Sports. Five of those seasons belong to Gwynn (1984, '86, '87, '89, '97). . You didn't get Tony Gwynn out, Maddux used to say. The San Diego Padres have been one of the most talked about teams over the offseason due to all their big moves. But not with Gwynn. Tony Gwynn stroked a run-scoring double for the San Diego Padres against the Chicago Cubs in 1994. . My Have List is linked in my signature. Boggs had a much better batting eye than Tony did, he knew how to work the strike zone better and did a much better job of getting on base. Hes also drawn eight walks and whats more, is the only active batter whos faced Maddux more than a dozen times without ever striking out. That's easily the highest average against Maddux for any player with at least 70 plate appearances. Gwynn finished his career batting .302 with two strikes. See his various events you wish you could of seen. fun fact: Mark Reynolds struck out 434 times from 09-10. the same amount as Tony struck out in 20 years. Greg Maddux vs. Tony Gwynn. In addition to his pitching skills, Maddux was an excellent fielding pitcher. Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters in his career. Now we have a better idea of why the team moved on. On Monday, ESPNs Ethan Strauss reminded us about a fantastic quote that Maddux once had about Gwynn that summed up his sensational career. In a high-scoring game, he was back up in the eighth, lining a single to right off Jeff Brantley. How incredible was Gwynns career batting mark? Cards available for trade are listed below. The only pitcher to strike out Gwynn three times in ONE game was Bob Welch, who sadly passed away last week. Sithi select. OK, got all that digested. He batted .381 with a 101 hits and 3 strikeouts. But baseball is a funny game, and so sometimes, a superstar finds On May 27th, Tony went 4-for-5 against the Braves and lifted his average over .400. The streak lifted his batting average to .402 as late as July 14th. 7 Cubs pitchers combine for no-hitter vs Machado, Padres, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live', Fantasy baseball rankings, projections, strategy and cheat sheets, Rojas to withdraw from WBC, stay with Dodgers, The best pitcher in MLB? In 103 plate appearances, Gwynn put the ball in play 93 times and walked 10 times. Follow on Twitter: @LWOSEvanT Greg Maddux, Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn, Orel Hershiser. Hit .372 at the age of 37 in 1997, and only struck out 28 times in 592 at-bats. But Gwynn played a pivotal role in that game, nonetheless, singling in the eighth, and scoring the tying run in the 10th after reaching on an error. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. It means that there are 312 plate appearances that ended on a 30 count. April 11, 2020 6:05 AM PT. On 45 separate occasions, Gwynn recorded four hits in a game 11 more times than he recorded a multi-strikeout game. One of the most useful research tools on Baseball Reference is the Splits data. Gwynn has hit .342 against those elite pitchers, including .364 against those still active and .406 against Atlanta's Tri-Young winners, Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Gregory Alan Maddux was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Chicago Cubs (1986-1998), Atlanta Braves (1993-2003), Chicago Cubs (2004-2006), Los Angeles Dodgers (2006), San Diego Padres (2007-2008), and Los Angeles Dodgers (2008). How many times did Tony Gwynn record four hits in a game? Tony Gwynn and Greg Maddux. You never feel like youre getting in a real good swing, a swing youre happy with, a swing with follow-through, the San Diego star said. Last season, 129 players had struck out 22 times by the end of April. On the mound was the imposing presence of the Astros' right-handed flamethrower 38-year-old future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan - who already had 241 MLB wins . Mets fan tries to induce balk by incorrectly counting down p Blue Jays' Guerrero leaves spring game with knee discomfort. No hitter born after 1900 reached 3,000 hits in fewer games (2,284) or at-bats (8,874) than Gwynn. The closest anyone has come after World War II are Wade Boggs and Rod Carew at .328, a full 10 points behind Gwynn. Perhaps the greatest pure hitter of his generation, the back of Gwynn's baseball card has enough nuggets and oddities to keep trivia buffs busy for days. From 1993-2001, the last nine years of his career, when he was 33-41 years old, Gwynn hit .349 against left-handed pitching. . Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career more than any other pitcher. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Sure enough, while Gwynn and Boggs have nearly equal Offensive RAA according to B-Ref (432/430) and Fangraphs (401.5/399), their contextual offense is much more lopsided, with Tony having a 56/36.8 WPA lead at B-Ref, and a 57.85/36.97 lead at Fangraphs. The stat: Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his time in the league. It dropped to 4.9% in 1993 and was only higher than 5% in one of his remaining seasons (2002). More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. Maddux was one of several pitchers who deftly described the challenge of retiring Gwynn at the plate. . Gwynn hit a blistering .444 off Smoltz and only struck out once against the hard thrower. Gwynn certainly did that. The primary advantage for Gwynn, however, was longevity. As we outlined in #2 above, Gwynn tore apart Greg Maddux to the tune of a . Aztec Mesa Archives. (Some versions say 133 instead of 310 and leave out intentional walks.) Greg Maddux. The great players are usually the ones who are able to maintain their skills later than their contemporaries. So, as a result, in 287 plate appearances against Hall of Famers Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz, Gwynn only struck out three times while hitting .381. So mind-blowing, in fact, that it seems too good to be true. He could have stuck around the big leagues and gone 0-for-1172 and still had a .300 career batting average. That's easily the best mark for any player since numbers were first tracked by count in the mid-1970s. He was that good. #Padres Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career, more than any other pitcher; Gwynn batted .415, Maddux never struck him out. In those three seasons, Maddux faced 3,060 batters, and 158 roughly 5.1% saw a 30 count. A year ago he suggested that today's livelier baseball would result in Gwynn hitting significantly more home runs without changing his swing. *In 323 AB vs. Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux, Tony Gwynn struck out a total of three times. . In fact, he added 37.9 percent to the Padres' win probability that day. He hit .415 (in 107 plate appearances) vs. Greg Maddux, .303 against Tom Glavine (105 PA) and .444 against Smoltz (75 PA). Position: Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-0, 170lb (183cm, 77kg) . A 76 Pitch . Order the book at store.bookbaby.com. We will see what makes this claim false, what the true number is, and the mistake made by the original creator of the meme. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy spoke with reporters on Wednesday from the, The Los Angeles Dodgers took a chance on Jason Heyward this offseason, and their move seems to be paying off. If we apply that percentage to the 845 batters he faced in his first two seasons, that makes 43.6, which rounds up to 44. If thats not respect, I dont know what is. Except for that (expletive) Tony Gwynn.. Gwynn, a Hall of Famer and 15-time All Star, is one of the greatest pure hitters to ever play the game. I would appreciate someone to clarify this for me. Of the players in the 3,000-hit club, only Paul Waner struck out less frequently. Greg Maddux (94 ABs) and Pedro Martinex (135 ABs) never recorded a K against the Padres outfielder. There are few ballplayers in the history of Major League Baseball that were as skilled in the batters box than Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who passed away on Monday. I've updated those numbers now, in the wake of the awful news of Tony Gwynn's death. The Los Angeles slugger is 0-for-17 lifetime against Maddux. Mike Trout Draft: Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 3rd round of the 1981 MLB June Amateur Draft from San Diego State University (San Diego, CA). He struck out only three times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro). Tony Gwynn won eight batting titles and hit .300 in 19 of his 20 major league seasons. I was actually kind of shocked when I looked up this statistic on the web. Since Gwynn debuted in 1982, a hitter has finished a season with a batting average above .350 only 46 times. Padres fans have called the second game of the season, "Tony Gwynn Opening Day" for years, because of Gwynn's affection for the fans who showed up for Game 2. But then again, there are force outs everywhere Found this on facebook with other notable pitchers. than of two or more strikeouts (34). Of his 18 total awards, Maddux won 10 with the Braves, five with the Cubs, two with the Dodgers and one with the Padres. But this Saturday would have been Gwynn's 60th birthday. We'll be proud to tell our grandchildren we did. The righthander was discussing how changing speeds and having control are far more important than velocity, because no hitter can tell the exact speed of a pitch. Six times in Padres history has a player recorded 200 hits in a season. "Except," Maddux said, "for that [expletive] Tony Gwynn." Gwynn never struck out against Maddux . In the past 100 years, nobody has more batting titles than Gwynn's eight. In 35 games against Maddux, Gwynn hit a Ty Cobb-like .429. six-time NL batting champion Tony Gwynn is . July 12, 2016, 10:48 PM. He released his first book, Volume I of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, in October of 2021. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Sadly, we lost Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn this week to cancer. The only season he didn't was 1990, in which he missed the crown by one hit. Only 310 saw a 3-0 count, and 177 of those were intentional walks. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. THREE 72 AB vs Smoltz he hit .444 with a .697 slug% and 1 strikeout 99 AB vs Maddux and hit .415 and never struck out. I read earlier that in 323 combined career PAs against Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Pedro Martinez, Gwynn struck out only three times. But he was about to really start heating up. Players. Ryan faced Gwynn 67 times and fanned Tony nine times (the most by any pitcher), but Gwynn still managed to hit over .300 against The Express. We kid you not. That will include, among pitchers, Greg M. The greatest lineups ever? * Marquis Grissom, now Madduxs teammate, batted .405 (17-for-42). Gwynn has seven of those seasons . Mike Mussina stifled Ken Griffey Jr. For more details, review our, a fantastic quote that Maddux once had about Gwynn, Padres 16-year-old prospect turning heads in spring training, Kyle Busch addresses his surprising newfound fan support, Embarrassing graphic of Russell Westbrook goes viral, Mike McCarthy reveals where he and Kellen Moore clashed, Ex-World Series champion likely to make Dodgers roster, LeBron James inserts himself into tweet wishing reporter well. In fact, in 1994, Gwynn batted an absurd .397 in two-strike counts. Manny Machado vs Jose Ramirez Comparison. Maddux was also a good hitting pitcher, with a career . Myth: Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career. His batting average stood at .394 and unfortunately, a run at .400 was one of the things lost when the season was cancelled. Aztec Ticket Exchange. It makes sense that great players tend to provide the biggest challenge to other greats. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Fantasy baseball: Which prospects have fantasy value in 2023? . And he was proud of that. Gwynn struck out 434 times in 10,232 plate appearances. Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn . . That was hit #4 and it helped spark a three-run rally that helped the Padres tie the score 10-10. During his career, Tony won batting titles by 32 points (1987), 30 points (1984), 28 points (1994), 22 points (1995), and 17 points (1996). Gwynn was hitting .390 as late as August 5, 1997, but cooled in late August and September and settled for a .372 average and his eighth batting title. . In the 14 seasons from 1984 through 1997, Gwynn finished in the top five in the batting race 13 times. Gwynn's 60th celebrated all day, Sat. The baseball world was mourning the passing of one of its most beloved players on Monday, as San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn lost his battle with cancer at the age of 54. In those 20,421 at-bats, only 310 hitters saw a 3-0 count. I did a cursory study of different good hitters vs. good pitchers on several dimensions. He finished his illustrious Hall of Fame career with a 3.16 ERA, 3,371 strikeouts, 17 Gold Gloves, and one of the best two-seamers ever thrown. Is it wrong that I'm STILL not over letting him go as a free agent?