Winner of eight batting titles, Gwynn finished in the top five for the league's best average 13 times from 1984 through 1997. . Tony Gwynn was the only player to have struck out Maddux 107 times. He also had the second-most regular-season . But his feats are as amazing today as they were back then. Maddux was also a good hitting pitcher, with a career . "Mr Padre" is one of the best and most consistent contact hitters in the history of baseball. Other Colleges and Conferences. Position: Rightfielder Bats: Left Throws: Left 5-11, 185lb (180cm, 83kg) . He could have stuck around the big leagues and gone 0-for-1172 and still had a .300 career batting average. In that game, Gwynn lined a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth off Dennis Eckersley to tie the game and send it to extra innings. No hitter born after 1900 reached 3,000 hits in fewer games (2,284) or at-bats (8,874) than Gywnn. High School Sports. 97 players struck out 20 or more times in May of 2014 alone (, If Gwynn went 0 for 4 for the next 295 games he would still have a career average over .300, per. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Except for that (expletive) Tony Gwynn." -Greg Maddux. Greg Maddux Stats, News, Bio | ESPN 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. He faced Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Pedro Martinez a combined 323 times, and only struck out in 3 of those plate appearances. Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn Comparison. And here's Ryan on the same thing. . 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? 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. He didn't play baseball in an age when men routinely hit .424 or .404. So how many batters probably saw a 30 count in 1986 and 1987? In 20 seasons he struck out a total of 434 times most hitters today strike out that much in three seasons. In 293 of those, the batter walked; 153 were intentional. As Howell broke for second, Gwynn put his picture-perfect swing into a Maddux slider and lifted it into center field . 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 . How They Match Up: Maddux vs. Top Hitters - Los Angeles Times Why? But Gwynn got every one of his hits in the National League. MLB analyst John Smoltz was talking about facing Gwynn, which sent me to Baseball Reference. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. So, as a result, in 287 plate appearances against Hall of Famers Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz, Gwynn only struck out three times while hitting .381. But Gwynn wasnt done showing off his old bat. No surprise, six-time NL batting champion Tony Gwynn is among the best against the four-time Cy Young winner. 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. He struck out only three times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro). 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 . With the specter of a strike hanging over the game, he ramped it up in August, hitting .475 in the 10 games before the game was stopped due to the labor strife. Who did Tony Gwynn never strike out against? Here are nine incredible facts and stats from the career of Tony Gwynn. The Book on Maddux, Glavine. Home - MLB Comparisons Maddux made his debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1986, so we do not have any pitch count data for his first two seasons in the majors. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Greg Maddux; H. Hack Wilson; Hank Aaron; Hank Greenberg; Hanley Ramrez; Harmon Killebrew; Harold Baines; Honus Wagner; Greg Maddux has made a habit of handling hitters and even breaking their bats, as he did to five Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series. 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 . Maddux was one of the best pitchers who pitched exclusively in the Live Ball Era. In 1995 he went 35 games without striking out. Tony Gwynn and Greg Maddux | AztecMesa That will include, among pitchers, Greg M. . 7 ridiculous Tony Gwynn stats | theScore.com 5 Ways Tony Gwynn Left a Mark on Baseball and San Diego 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. Greg Maddux: Baseball Pitcher And Four-Time Cy Young Award Winner NAME AB H HR RBI K AVG; Gwynn: 94: 39: 0: 9: 0.415: Maddux is indisputably one of the top pitchers in MLB history, racking up 355 career victories, four Cy Young Awards . I was actually kind of shocked when I looked up this statistic on the web. . 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. Tony Gwynn is the most proficient batter since Ted Williams There are so many great stretches, but amazingly in 1997, he got maybe as hot as hes ever been with the stick for a long stretch of time, and he did it twice. That's 49 fewer punchouts than Miguel Cabrera's lowest total in a year. Even in his era, Gwynns contact rate was far and away the best of the great hitters. Those 13 walks are the most anyone has drawn. How great was Gwynns 1994 season? And he was proud of that. In addition, Gwynns nine five-hit games rank second all-time to Pete Rose, who had 10. And in the only season he didn't -- in 1990 -- he missed by one hit. Gwynn's 60th celebrated all day, Sat. The best, must-read stories about Tony Gwynn - Larry Brown Sports That season came in the middle of a five-year stretch where he batted .369. To find how many hitters faced a 30 count against Greg Maddux, we must look at the row labeled After 30. This brings us to the correct number 644. Tony Gwynn vs. Wade Boggs? - Baseball Fever Other College Sports (Non-MWC Topics) San Diego Sports. Gwynn was without question the best pure hitter in the game of baseball in the 1980s and 1990s. As they age, batters platoon splits usually get more pronounced. Wade Boggs comes in second at .262. Some NFL teams dont make the grade, players say, New era of football begins at Mater Dei under coach Frank McManus. J.D. It means Tony Gwynn would have had to go 0-for-his-next-1,183 to get his average to fall under .300 (and even then, it would have "plummeted" to a mere .29997). Gwynn batted .331/.371/.426. 19. He dazzled batters with his precision and command. The closest anyone has come after World War II are Wade Boggs and Rod Carew at .328, a full 10 points behind Gwynn. Defensively Wade was very underrated as a third baseman. Gwynn faced Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz a combined 323 times. Mets fan tries to induce balk by incorrectly counting down p Blue Jays' Guerrero leaves spring game with knee discomfort. 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. Press J to jump to the feed. Log in. A year ago he suggested that today's livelier baseball would result in Gwynn hitting significantly more home runs without changing his swing. Where Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine Stand Among MLB's All-Time Great Gwynn has seven of those seasons . Amazing strikeout stat No. Even against hitters who can hurt them, they rarely change much from how they approach every hitter. Here's Why Tony Gwynn Was One Of The Greatest Hitters Ever Heck, we knew, he knew and everyone else knew who was going to win that NL batting title before anyone even threw a pitch. Mike Hampton, a hard-throwing lefty who finished second in Cy Young voting one season, faced Gwynn 38 times and never struck him out. Here are seven (and trust us, there are plenty more) ridiculous stats from San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn's incredible 20-year career: [Special shout out to Fox Sports'Erik Malinowski and ESPN's Jayson Stark who dug up most of these incredible statistics. The Los Angeles Lakers star James, who is currently sidelined with a foot injury, tweeted, You can unsubscribe anytime. One of the most useful research tools on Baseball Reference is the Splits data. He struck out only three times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro), per Eric Edholm of Yahoo! Tony Gwynn: Maddux's Greatest Challenger. That jump-started arguably the hottest 20-game streak of his career. One more thing: I took the top four vote-getters and went back to Twitter to post a couple of polls. 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. He had at least two hits in his first five games and hit safely in his first twelve. Tony Gwynn collected more regular season hits against Greg Maddux than any other batter (39 in 33 games). Gwynn, a Hall of Famer and 15-time All Star, is one of the greatest pure hitters to ever play the game. Tom Glavine, the other great pitcher in Atlantas rotation during Gwynns day, only struck out Tony twice. There were two strikeout specialists who got Gwynn on strikes more than a few times: Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden. Mike Mussina stifled Ken Griffey Jr. Fun/impressive fact: In 107 PAs, Maddux never struck out Tony Gwynn. Maddux was a tough competitor, earning the nickname Mad Dog for his intense focus. Share. In his entire 20-year career, Gwynn struck out 434 times -- an average of 21.7 K's per season. We'll be proud to tell our grandchildren we did. Only 644 (that we know of; we are missing data for 1,166 batters) saw a 30 count and 153 came on intentional walks. Here are seven crazy stats and facts, in no particular order. Every other player who had a career batting average of .338 or better played before 1940. #Padres Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career, more than any other pitcher; Gwynn batted .415, Maddux never struck him out. That's easily the best mark for any player since numbers were first tracked by count in the mid-1970s. For his career against all pitchers Gwynn hit .302 with two strikes. As Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm dug up: Gwynn had 323 career at-bats against Maddux, Martinez, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and struck out only . How We Ranked Baseballs Greatest Players, Best Current and Former MLB Players from New Zealand, A Few of the Greatest Players Who Arent in the Hall of Fame, Wee Willie Keeler: The Best Bunter in Baseball History. That was hit #4 and it helped spark a three-run rally that helped the Padres tie the score 10-10. Despite the respect shown in the above comment, Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 103 times in regular-season games - and never struck out (and another four times in the post-season without a whiff. His first and biggest love is baseball. 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. No hitter can tell the difference in speed of different pitches, Maddux told Thomas Boswell, except that goddamned Tony Gwynn.. Gwynn also had incredible success against many of the best strikeout pitchers. Aztec Ticket Exchange. Across his 23 seasons, he walked 999 hitters. So maybe, if someone like Tony Gwynn arrived in the big leagues tomorrow, we wouldn't value him quite the way we appreciated him in his own time. In 2.440 career games, Gwynn struck out twice in a game only 34 times. 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. When it comes to choosing between two of the greatest pitchers of all time, Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez, there are a number of factors to consider. He thinks he might have an idea of why hes receiving some newfound fan support., An embarrassing graphic involving Russell Westbrook has gone viral. I read earlier that in 323 combined career PAs against Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Pedro Martinez, Gwynn struck out only three times. He hit .338 for his career. The great players are usually the ones who are able to maintain their skills later than their contemporaries. The streak lifted his batting average to .402 as late as July 14th. On Monday, ESPNs Ethan Strauss reminded us about a fantastic quote that Maddux once had about Gwynn that summed up his sensational career. No Gavin Lux -- big problem. In 1995 he went 35 games without striking out. He racked up 39 hits off Maddux (39-for-94, .415), 32 against Smoltz (32-for-72, .444) and 30 against Tom Glavine (30-for-99, .303). So let's talk Gwynn's hitting. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. In this installment of Baseball Mythbusters, we will look at Greg Maddux and the 30 count. Only 310 saw a 3-0 count, and 177 of those were intentional walks. 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. Would love your thoughts, please comment. 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. Sucks so much he isn't around for this all-star stuff in San Diego John Smoltz just gave a ridiculous stat of the great GwynnGwynn had a combined 265 career AB vs Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Seven of those 19 times, the batter notched a base hit; the other 12 times, the batter made an out. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. They can identify pitches if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitchers hand. It dropped to 4.9% in 1993 and was only higher than 5% in one of his remaining seasons (2002). Baseball Star Kris Bryant Gets Pranked by Hall of Famer Greg Maddux 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. 19 facts about the career of Tony Gwynn - MLB.com I'd have to do some digging to find the exact players, but assume the best hitters and pitchers among Gwynn's playing cohort. And none of these pitchers ever struck him out: Pedro Martinez (35 AB), Hideo Nomo (25 AB), Mike Hampton (33 AB) or, incredibly, Maddux (in 94 AB). Tony Gwynn - redszone.com Gwynn played both baseball and basketball at San Diego State, and he still owns several records in basketball for the Aztecs. The stat: Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his time in the league. It occurred on August 4, 1993, against the Giants on a weekday evening at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The former Atlanta Braves hurler faced Gwynn 107 times during their overlapping Hall-of-Fame careers. Another foot either way and it would have been a hit. 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. Twins' Balazovic had mouth wired shut after 'sucker punch' f MLB sets up local media group, could broadcast 17 teams, Report: Padres add Odor on minor-league deal, The ultimate, personalized mobile sports experience, 7 Cubs pitchers combine to no-hit Padres in spring game, Red Sox use shift loophole to counter Twins' Gallo, Top plays in World Baseball Classic history, Scherzer tests pitch clock limits, gets quick-pitch balk, Ex-Met Wright: Judge facing 'pressure' with new contract, captaincy. Sadly, we lost Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn this week to cancer. A. Aaron Judge; Aaron Nola; Adam Dunn; Adam Wainwright; Adrian Beltre; . Only 310 saw a 30 count, and 177 of those were intentional walks. Six times in Padres history has a player recorded 200 hits in a season. 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. The bad news is they are all in slightly cryptic puzzles. 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. . In fact, according to the Elias Sports Bureau's Steve Hirdt, no hitter born since 1918 (i.e., since Ted Williams) has even gotten 2,000 hits and had an average this high. 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. There was only one Tony Gwynn - SBNation.com Myth: Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career. Who was a better hitter: Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs? - Quora Last season, 129 players had struck out 22 times by the end of April. chaque match, chaque manche, chaque frappeur pendant 25 saisons, Ryan a opt pour le retrait au bton. Baseball Roundtable "Who's Your Daddy?" . Greg Maddux Edition Nobody owned "Tony Gwynn Opening Day" quite like, well, Tony Gwynn. 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. No 3,000-hit man who was born after 1900 had a higher lifetime batting average than Gwynn (.338). 2013 Panini Pinnacle Clear Vision Single 68 Tony Gwynn 1993 Upper Deck Base Set #488 Greg Maddux 1996 Pinnacle Select Certified #32 Greg Maddux They signed Xander Bogaerts, re-signed Manny Machado, and last year they pulled off trades for Juan Soto and, Kyle Busch is in a new car and part of a new racing team this year, and he seems to also have some new fans. Gwynns four games of five hits or more in 1993 are tied with Ichiro Suzuki (2004) for the most by one player in a season since 1970. . Chris Cwik. He batted .381 with a 101 hits and 3 strikeouts. Tony Gwynn's 2 Hitting Secrets: Work and More Work - The New York Times Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, After four decades, trainer Ed Moger gets his first Triple Crown starter, An exclusive look at details of Chip Kellys two-year contract extension from UCLA, His shoe game is pretty tight. Why Dodgers hope Miguel Rojas play matches his swag, Rats in the laundry? On May 19, 1997, Gwynn was hitting .368, not to shabby for sure. It means that there are 312 plate appearances that ended on a 30 count. Did you know there were 97 hitters in the big leagues who whiffed at least 20 times just last month? More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. In 1997 he was 37 years old but his bat hadnt slowed down. In the fifth inning he lined sharply into the glove of first baseman Will Clark. Unlikely MLB players who owned Hall of Famers The latest stats, facts, news and notes on Tony Gwynn of the San Diego On 45 separate occasions, Gwynn recorded four hits in a game 11 more times than he recorded a multi-strikeout game. He lives in Michigan where he writes, runs, and enjoys a good orange soda now and again. Answer (1 of 8): I would say Tony Gwynn. The Padres' Hall-of-Fame right fielder faced the Braves' Hall of Famer more than any other pitcher in his career . He hit .303 against fellow lefty Tom Glavine and struck out twice in 105 times at the plate . New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, The subreddit for the bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players. Gwynn's 60th celebrated all day, Sat. Here's Why Tony Gwynn Was One Of The Greatest Hitters Ever. *In 323 AB vs. Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux, Tony Gwynn struck out a total of three times. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Greg Maddux ever struck him out.Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux. Wake up to the day's most important news. But baseball is a funny game, and so sometimes, a superstar finds . How many times did Tony Gwynn strike out in his career? Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson vs. Hall of Fame hitter Tony Gwynn in the 1998 NLDS: San Diego Padres vs. Houston Astros.Just a great piece of hitting vs.. 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.