I'm a Brit and have seen one Major League Baseball game in my life. Cincinnati Reds at the Padres in about '99. Gwynne hit a run, Ken Griffey Jr hit a home run for the Reds, Padres won. I could see how much the fans thought of Tony Gwynne. Bought a mug with his picture on to take home. Memorable experience.
Two intresting facts: Tony Gwynn had more 4-hit games than he did games where he struck out twice. Nolan Ryan had more no-hitters than Tony Gwynn had games where he struck out 3 times.
7-1. Gwynn had one three-strikeout game: 1986 vs Bob Welch at The Murph. Friars win it in 11 with a Bochy walk-off dinger. Sidenote: Gwynn actually said Welch struck him out four times but the umpire made a bad call in one of the abs.
Through the 162-game stretch (counting the beginning of the '95 season after the '94 strike) Tony batted .406 Tony would have hit that .400 mark in '94 no doubt. He will always be robbed of that accolade in my opinion.
Makes me nostalgic for Jack Murphy and the simplicity of things then back in San Diego. No cell phones, summer evening, slower life watching the great TG do this thing.
Best pure hitter since Ted Williams....and by a wide margin. Never struck out more than 40 times in a season. Insane vision and eye hand coordination. If he wanted to he could have put up big hr stats but did not approach the game that way. He is sorely missed.
First major person of note to use video to improve his craft...that began when his average dipped to .229 in his second season (he recovered to hit .309 that year and never dipped below .309 for a season again). Mind you, video recording equipment was heavy then.
Batting average is what I miss in today's game. Tony Gwynn was a great example of that. Now they say batting average isn't as important anymore but I'm old school and batting average is still very important.
Ted Williams was a dead pull hitter who hit based on the philosophy of getting a hit off of one mistake pitch made the pitcher every at bat. Tony Gwynn on the other hand was a better all around hitter, who could hit good pitches just as good as mistake ones. Thus, I can't call Ted Williams a pure hitter.
So funny. My dad was a huge Padres fan, as I am, and I grew up watching Tony play while my dad drank high life's as well. Hahaha, my first beer was a high life when I was 12, I stole it from my pops.
I remember watching him from the stands as a little kid... i saw him as the hero to save the day with a guaranteed hit or so i thought back then truly stuff of legends RIP Mr. Padre
Grew up watching Winfield and was sad to see him leave town but a couple years later Gwynn appeared and I had a new idol. Having gone to my share of Aztecs games I thought he’d play for the Clippers. Instead he was next face of our franchise. Couldn’t have had a better childhood going to all these games at San Diego Stadium and the Murph. Thanks Tony
Best hitter the game's see. It's not about the quantity of hits, it's the variety of pitches he can hit. Perfect clip. He owns each far corner of the strike zone. RIP.
That fourth hit, the home run, was just immaculate. Up and in, he brings his hands in, stays back just long enough and puts the barrel on the ball. Crazy how well he could do that. He used a 32 inch bat, the shortest ever used in MLB to be able to bring those hands in and barrel up the ball nice and strong on jam jobs.
I'm late to replying, but I am in awe of that swing. The fast twitch muscles just instantly clip upwards and the ball hits the barrel perfectly. Just a masterclass in one swing.
Might be true. Ted Williams has to be the best hitter period. In the modern era, Gwynn, Carew and Boggs put up very similar career numbers and all three put together amazing stretch of seasons. I think Gwynn vs Carew could be a good debate.
If you wanted to show one game of how Tony could hit, this is the game. He hit one off his shoes in the hole between 1st and 2nd, he hit a sharp single up the middle, they tried to pitch him high and up and he pulled one for a double and another for a HR, and then a nice single the other way. When he was locked on, you couldn't throw anything by him he couldn't hit where he wanted to. If I remember correctly, in BP he had a routine where he'd hit so many to left, so many to center, and so many to right, then drop some bunts down each line. Every game. He was fun to watch. I moved to SD after the first WS and left before his second one, so I didn't get to watch him in the post season much live, but he was still the best hitter almost his entire career. I even have his autograph on a ball. Mr Padre indeed.
As a Dodger fan for over 50 years, I hated the Padres and mostly saw them as doormats. But Tony Gwynn was another story. I respected him more than anyone else in Baseball. Greg Maddox would talk about how between fastballs and curves and sliders and most of all a good change up hitters didn’t have a chance against pitchers.He would then add a bunch of expletives in and say; except Tony Gwynn. When Gwynn was at the plate, every PLAYER watched.
Watching this video if i noticed it correctly this wasnt even his home stadium and everyone still seemed to give respect to the accomplishment...the respect he had is absolutely amazing!!!
John Kruk (first baseman for the Phillies in that game) and Tony Gwynn were roommates in the minor leagues coming up through the Padres minor league system. Weird that you don't see them talking after Tony got his fifth hit of the night.
Yeah, it was good seeing them together here, even if they didn't say anything. (Kruk's at-bat against Randy Johnson is _still_ one of the funniest things in MLB history, IMO.)
That double was classic Tony turning on the inside pitch and one-bouncing it to the wall in right-center. The only guy I ever saw get to that gapper was Willie McGee. And he only got to it once.
Love that the editor of the video kept in the "On This Day" about Ted Williams. Great trivia fact! Tony was really feeling it that day. Wonder if he'd be a victim of the shift in today's game, or if he would just beat you no matter how you play him.
The epitome of tony Gwynns hitting is you look at his 2nd & 3rd hit. One down in the zone and one high. The man covered the whole plate. Pitchers could not lay one in there like they would others
I like the way MLB uniforms use to fit in the 1980's and 1990's. Today the uniforms are too baggy which in turn makes them look less like sports wear and more like street clothes.
0:09 Gwynn was batting an amazing .367 early in the season around late April. He finished the season batting .394. Meaning he batted like .400 the rest of the season.
Tony batted .447 against 355 game winner 4 time Cy Young award winner Greg Maddux and trust me in those 107 at bats Tony hit the ball hard right at someone for an out. Chamberlain wasn't the only 1 to say f*** after Tony smoked it 😊
ABSOLUTELY ONE OF THE GREATEST HITTERS. Only 2nd greatest behind Ted Williams. Greg maddux NEVER struck out tony gwynn!!!?! You can't deny he's top 2 or 3. And imo he's 2nd
I'm a Brit and have seen one Major League Baseball game in my life. Cincinnati Reds at the Padres in about '99. Gwynne hit a run, Ken Griffey Jr hit a home run for the Reds, Padres won. I could see how much the fans thought of Tony Gwynne. Bought a mug with his picture on to take home. Memorable experience.
I love you
awesome story thanks for sharing
Wtf is “ hit a run “. Do you mean he had a base hit and it scored a run ? No wonder you ain’t a empire anymore
@@MM-qi5mk lol I'm sure you're an expert or cricket as well. By the way its an before empire not a.
Awesome memory and thank you for sharing. Keep that mug!
Two intresting facts:
Tony Gwynn had more 4-hit games than he did games where he struck out twice.
Nolan Ryan had more no-hitters than Tony Gwynn had games where he struck out 3 times.
Wow very cool
this is the stat i throw out to people who appreciate baseball stats.
While reading this I chuckled twice. Thank you for the details.
In his entire career Tony Gwynn hit more doubles than he stuck out.
7-1. Gwynn had one three-strikeout game:
1986 vs Bob Welch at The Murph. Friars win it in 11 with a Bochy walk-off dinger.
Sidenote:
Gwynn actually said Welch struck him out four times but the umpire made a bad call in one of the abs.
he hit .394 that season, absolutely unreal
Would've hit .400 if wasn't for the strike!
Tony Gwynn was the man and he still IS THE MAN.
Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr, awesome players.
MANCHESTER UNITED F.C but not one of those soccer players could ever hit like Mr. Padre
@@TheGeoScholar Barry bonds
@M no one cares
@M Tony Gwynn hitting balls go brrrrr
1:45
Cameraman was ready for that shot
@Don Clark I think u mean 1:47 XD
Nice
Ah you beat me to it....I was about to comment "really nice hitting at 1:45"
If not for the strike, Tony Gwynn might have had a .400 batting average that year.
That would’ve been amazing.
Through the 162-game stretch (counting the beginning of the '95 season after the '94 strike) Tony batted .406
Tony would have hit that .400 mark in '94 no doubt. He will always be robbed of that accolade in my opinion.
No doubt
Conspiracy
Fucked over Mattingly really bad too. Would have been a career year for him.
Makes me nostalgic for Jack Murphy and the simplicity of things then back in San Diego. No cell phones, summer evening, slower life watching the great TG do this thing.
Tailgating....UNLIKE Dodger Stadium
You know you can turn off your phone, right?
KGB radio the San Diego Chicken 👌🏽
@@user-gb2nv4ho7t The Sky Shows...
They should have handed out awards to pitchers who struck out tony Gwynn.
Greatest hitter I’ve ever seen. R. I. P.
John Kruk wasn't THAT good.
@@Pwnzistor Yes, he was. He was right there near the top, which his career stats prove.
Greatest pure hitter of our generation.
Rod Carew, previous generation.
Tony Gwynn hitting .367---so what else is new?
Yeah, he was in a slump at the time.
Best pure hitter since Ted Williams....and by a wide margin. Never struck out more than 40 times in a season. Insane vision and eye hand coordination. If he wanted to he could have put up big hr stats but did not approach the game that way. He is sorely missed.
First major person of note to use video to improve his craft...that began when his average dipped to .229 in his second season (he recovered to hit .309 that year and never dipped below .309 for a season again). Mind you, video recording equipment was heavy then.
Batting average is what I miss in today's game. Tony Gwynn was a great example of that. Now they say batting average isn't as important anymore but I'm old school and batting average is still very important.
Batting average is very Important!
A great person !!
Ted Williams was a dead pull hitter who hit based on the philosophy of getting a hit off of one mistake pitch made the pitcher every at bat.
Tony Gwynn on the other hand was a better all around hitter, who could hit good pitches just as good as mistake ones.
Thus, I can't call Ted Williams a pure hitter.
I remember watching him play as a kid. Sitting on the living rm floor while pops drinks a high life hahha
Back in the days
So funny. My dad was a huge Padres fan, as I am, and I grew up watching Tony play while my dad drank high life's as well. Hahaha, my first beer was a high life when I was 12, I stole it from my pops.
Gwynn, what a hitter, what a class act.
“Hitting .367, so... what else is new”. I’ve been paying attention to baseball for almost 50 years. He’s the best I’ve ever seen.
I'm going to guess your age is maybe like 65, 70, 75? Older? Younger?
I Love the statue outside of LCF @Petco. Beautiful
R.i.P. The Great Tony Gwynn
Real padres fans tear up seeing videos of Tony
I remember watching him from the stands as a little kid... i saw him as the hero to save the day with a guaranteed hit or so i thought back then
truly stuff of legends
RIP Mr. Padre
He did this SEVEN TIMES.
Grew up watching Winfield and was sad to see him leave town but a couple years later Gwynn appeared and I had a new idol. Having gone to my share of Aztecs games I thought he’d play for the Clippers. Instead he was next face of our franchise. Couldn’t have had a better childhood going to all these games at San Diego Stadium and the Murph. Thanks Tony
Best hitter the game's see. It's not about the quantity of hits, it's the variety of pitches he can hit. Perfect clip. He owns each far corner of the strike zone. RIP.
That fourth hit, the home run, was just immaculate. Up and in, he brings his hands in, stays back just long enough and puts the barrel on the ball. Crazy how well he could do that. He used a 32 inch bat, the shortest ever used in MLB to be able to bring those hands in and barrel up the ball nice and strong on jam jobs.
I'm late to replying, but I am in awe of that swing. The fast twitch muscles just instantly clip upwards and the ball hits the barrel perfectly. Just a masterclass in one swing.
If he didn’t trip going around second he would’ve had the cycle this night
Exactly
if his double became a triple, he would still need the double...@@IZZY-nk7ss
I hope everyone here finds as much joy in their own life than Tony found in playing baseball.
Tony Gwynn is Bat Man Forever.
Notorious POS, Curt Schilling, threw at Tony’s knees in his first AB the next game cause they thought he was stealing signs.
EDHOLLA 2 seasons in a row with Harper and no playoffs, ouchhhhhhhhh
Failing 7 times out of ten is good. Gwynn: hold my beer.
One of the only batters I’ve ever seen who could literally hit the ball to anywhere he wanted.
TONY GWYNN MR PADRE GRANDE POR SIEMPRE Y PARA SIEMPRE 🙏🙏🙏EL BATEADOR MAS INTELIGENTE QUE A JUGADO ESTE HERMOSO DEPORTE BÉISBOL 💯🥎🥎PADRES FAN.
Mi jugador favorito grex madux no le sacaba de au lo mataba de por vida a madux
Nunca lo poncho maddux eso te dice todo. @@mayobanexgarcia6924
Best contact hitter ever
Rick Nash no
@Bowie-West, Jayden rod carew
Might be true. Ted Williams has to be the best hitter period. In the modern era, Gwynn, Carew and Boggs put up very similar career numbers and all three put together amazing stretch of seasons. I think Gwynn vs Carew could be a good debate.
Mr. Padre....enough said.
Luis Arraez has been reminding me on Tony Gwynn! Hope he continues to hit and bring back those Tony Gwynn like hits and swagger!
If you wanted to show one game of how Tony could hit, this is the game. He hit one off his shoes in the hole between 1st and 2nd, he hit a sharp single up the middle, they tried to pitch him high and up and he pulled one for a double and another for a HR, and then a nice single the other way. When he was locked on, you couldn't throw anything by him he couldn't hit where he wanted to. If I remember correctly, in BP he had a routine where he'd hit so many to left, so many to center, and so many to right, then drop some bunts down each line. Every game. He was fun to watch. I moved to SD after the first WS and left before his second one, so I didn't get to watch him in the post season much live, but he was still the best hitter almost his entire career. I even have his autograph on a ball. Mr Padre indeed.
Rip Mr Padre.
Best pure hitter I’ve ever seen
I'm a Yankee fan and had never seen Tony Gwynn play until the 1998 World Series. To say I was amazed would be an understatement.
What a great swing. Beautiful in its simplicity. A great player gone far to early.
just the best. Everything about Tony Gywnn is classy. Best pure hitter of my generation.
Feel blessed to have grown up during Tony Gwynn's career. He was such a great player. He and Wade Boggs were my fav players as a kid.
Greatest hitter i ever saw, RIP Mr. Gwynn
I love that even some Phillies fans were standing and clapping for Gwynn after the 5th hit.
Tony Gwynn and Paul Molitor. The two best hitters of the 1980s and 1990s.
George Brett and Wade Boggs would like a word
Greatest hitter in baseball.
Good hearing Bob Chandler again.
I MISS T GWYNN! Superb hitter and awesome person!
awesome footage. even a smooth 60 fps.
My favorite of all time. What a class act and arguably the greatest hitter of all time. I miss Tony. RIP brother.
Machine of hitter... Legend of the baseball....
Another 5 hit performance and another standing O. Enough said. Watch this man kids!
As a Dodger fan for over 50 years, I hated the Padres and mostly saw them as doormats. But Tony Gwynn was another story. I respected him more than anyone else in Baseball. Greg Maddox would talk about how between fastballs and curves and sliders and most of all a good change up hitters didn’t have a chance against pitchers.He would then add a bunch of expletives in and say; except Tony Gwynn.
When Gwynn was at the plate, every PLAYER watched.
Watching this video if i noticed it correctly this wasnt even his home stadium and everyone still seemed to give respect to the accomplishment...the respect he had is absolutely amazing!!!
Tony Gwynn “the Legend”. R. I. P.
John Kruk (first baseman for the Phillies in that game) and Tony Gwynn were roommates in the minor leagues coming up through the Padres minor league system. Weird that you don't see them talking after Tony got his fifth hit of the night.
Yeah, it was good seeing them together here, even if they didn't say anything. (Kruk's at-bat against Randy Johnson is _still_ one of the funniest things in MLB history, IMO.)
So smooth damn
1:45 bouncy
The best hitter in baseball bars none Everytime he hit the ball it was always a hard hit pill rip great Tony gwynn
That double was classic Tony turning on the inside pitch and one-bouncing it to the wall in right-center. The only guy I ever saw get to that gapper was Willie McGee. And he only got to it once.
One of the best hitters, my favorite player growing up..
What a shame this season was cut short
Die hard Dodgers fan but couldn’t wait for a series at the Murph. Road trip!
Tony! Tony!
Love that the editor of the video kept in the "On This Day" about Ted Williams. Great trivia fact!
Tony was really feeling it that day. Wonder if he'd be a victim of the shift in today's game, or if he would just beat you no matter how you play him.
Gwynn was never going to get accused of steroid use, that is for sure.
He tripped going around second or it would have been a cycle
I have seen some REALLY good hitters. But Tony Gwynn is the very best I have ever seen!!!
The "hit king" in my eyes
No shift could defend against Tony
The swing and contact at :31 is simply amazing. Seeing-eye single, sure, but the fact that he still made contact that well is simply amazing.
The epitome of tony Gwynns hitting is you look at his 2nd & 3rd hit. One down in the zone and one high. The man covered the whole plate. Pitchers could not lay one in there like they would others
Mr. San Diego and the mayor of Poway . Dodger fan but my home town hitter was T Gwynn! Rest in Love and peace ! Go Aztecs!
Legend...
I like the way MLB uniforms use to fit in the 1980's and 1990's. Today the uniforms are too baggy which in turn makes them look less like sports wear and more like street clothes.
I agree with you 100%. Having watched baseball back in the 1990s vs now, the uniforms today tend to be sloppy these days.
Mr. Padre, RIP. many memories....
god gwynn was incredible. Pitchers could throw him nothing but waste pitches all night, and he'd still come away with games like this.
The One and Only Sweet Tony! Notice how he uses all fields. No shifts on him.
G.O.A.T.
Wait, did he say .367???
GODDAMN... He had the flu!!!
Unconscious!!!
It's gotta be so demoralizing for a pitcher to serve up his best stuff, and the hitter eats it all up like birthday cake.
A legend for the padres.
My Idol i was a SR. in high school in 94!
Gwynn hitting off a stiff front leg with the back foot off ground at 2:10-----masterful hitting approach!
Damn they had a packed crowd that year.
He looks like me when im hitting the tee
Tony Gwynn made it look way too easy.
0:09 Gwynn was batting an amazing .367 early in the season around late April. He finished the season batting .394. Meaning he batted like .400 the rest of the season.
Greatest/smartest hitter of all time....
Fight me
The best
That first single was just poetry
Tony batted .447 against 355 game winner 4 time Cy Young award winner Greg Maddux and trust me in those 107 at bats Tony hit the ball hard right at someone for an out. Chamberlain wasn't the only 1 to say f*** after Tony smoked it 😊
ABSOLUTELY ONE OF THE GREATEST HITTERS.
Only 2nd greatest behind Ted Williams.
Greg maddux NEVER struck out tony gwynn!!!?! You can't deny he's top 2 or 3. And imo he's 2nd
I wish I had met you, Tony. I would have loved to talk baseball with you.
The broadcaster said it best, the Gwynntessential Hitter
John Kruk was on first. He played like Pete Rose and I saw him play live during Winter ball in Mexico, Los Aguilas de Mexicali back in the 80’s.
He was like a created player...
You can't strike him out, contact all the way.
If he was willing to lower his Avg, He could hit 30 home runs.
338 career batting average over 20 seasons of playing. He only struck out 434 times in 20 seasons let that sink in !!!
a pure hitter if there ever was one.
Legend RIP
Mr 3000!
I can imagine Tony Gwynn plays today's game. He's such a great contact hitter that he'll jack up the pitcher's pitch count.
Never a ball unhit, always the first pitch