Tony Gwynn would have been 58 today.

[SJ24]

Career against Hall of Fame pitchers: 577 PA, .333 avg, 36 XBH, 31 BB, 23 K

[SJ24]

1994-1997 combined stats: 2,201 PA, .371 average, 165 BB, 79 K.

[Carp]

Maddux, Glavine, and I'm pretty sure Smoltz have all said he was toughest hitter they ever faced. Considering all the HOF batters they faced during the steroid era, that's some pretty high praise.

[Tapate50]

Career against Hall of Fame pitchers: 577 PA, .333 avg, 36 XBH, 31 BB, 23 K

This. is. ridiculous.

[DaneHill]

1994-1997 combined stats: 2,201 PA, .371 average, 165 BB, 79 K.

Best pure hitter I've ever seen. Not discussed much about the things fans were robbed of from the '95 strike was Gwynn posing a real threat to hit .400 that year. He was hitting something like .390 on the rise when the strike hit. We'll never know.

[Southcack77]

Best pure hitter I've ever seen. Not discussed much about the things fans were robbed of from the '95 strike was Gwynn posing a real threat to hit .400 that year. He was hitting something like .390 on the rise when the strike hit. We'll never know.

More than that, I could never find a reason to dislike the guy. He was a pleasure to watch and seemed like a great guy.

I recall he and Ted Williams becoming friendly and talking hitting. I always took that as a great compliment to Gwynn.

[CrimsonCowboy]

He and Cal Ripken are my two all time favorite non Braves players.

[FreemanFan]

I wept when Tony Gwynn died. With him died another piece of my childhood, since I was only 9 and in my third year as a baseball fan during his first full MLB season. He was easily the greatest pure contact hitter I ever saw. He left us much too soon.

[chipchildress]

this guy is why you should take your BABIP readings with a grain of salt.

Chris Johnson having a lucky half season should be why you use BABIP. Beyond that, you're just punishing players for getting hits. TG was the ****ing greatest and surely will be remembered by the advanced stats folks as the most overrated player ever. ha.