A NO-GWYNN SITUATION HUMAN MOMENTS MIX WITH 20 SEASONS, 3,124 HITS, ONE TEAM.Byline: BOB KEISSER SAN DIEGO San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. - On the day Tony Gwynn
The San Diego Padres outfielder knew the sweaty hands and nervousness would return at the end of the day, when inevitably he would have to pick up the phone and call his mom at her home in Long Beach, who he was quite sure would rag him about not wearing a suit to his news conference. It was such a human moment, which perhaps says all one needs to know about Tony Gwynn. For all of his 3,124 hits, it's that congenial humanity that always has made him stand out. Gwynn is the quintessential nice guy who embraced loyalty and hard work, qualities increasingly rare in sports but still meaningful to fans. The common man feels good rooting for Gwynn, because he took the hometown discount several times; because he's one athlete they could safely use as a role model; because he never gave less than everything he had; and because he didn't limit his giving to the field. Someone asked Padres announcer Jerry Coleman
see atavism. . ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if he's a throwback,'' Coleman said, ``because a lot of players in my day thought baseball was a great way to have a good time. Tony has always been a hard worker and very professional. I've seen them all, and his feats are wonderful, but the big question to me has always been `What kind of man is he?' '' The kind who sets baseball records and wins awards for community service and sportsmanship named after baseball immortals such as Roberto Clemente, Lou Gehrig and Branch Rickey Leg injuries, including his current pulled hamstring, played a role in his decision to retire, but two other factors weighed more: The chance to become the head baseball coach at his college alma mater, San Diego State, where Jim Dietz will retire after the 2002 season, and the chance to begin and end a 20-year career with one team. He and Cal Ripken could be the last of this species. Potential Hall of Famers like Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24 1964 in Riverside, California) is a left fielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds, the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie , Ken Griffey Ken Griffey may refer to:
Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "the Big Unit , Greg Maddux Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is a pitcher for the San Diego Padres. He was the first pitcher in Major League history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years (1992-1995), during which he had a 75-29 record with a 1. , Pedro Martinez, Mark McGwire In nobility:
Gwynn might be leaving 250 hits on the table. He still can hit (.333 this season in 16 games), and he feasibly could DH in the American League for two or more seasons. But Gwynn likes the 20-season, one-team dynamic. ``I still want to redeem this season,'' he said. ``There are three months left, and I hope to play. I don't care what I do in my last at-bat; at this stage, I just want an at-bat. Whatever the numbers are at the end, that's fine. Top 10, 20 or 30, whatever. The back of my bubble-gum card will look pretty good. All in all, I think I did OK.'' OK? Besides being one of just 24 players to reach 3,000 hits, he's had five 200-hit seasons, hit .350 or more in five consecutive seasons, won eight National League batting titles and five Gold Glove Awards, made 15 all-star appearances, and has hit .300 or better in 19 seasons in a row, including 2001, second only to Ty Cobb's 23. The most striking number is his career .338 average, which ties him for 16th on the all-time list. Of the players ahead of him, all but Ted Williams ended their careers before World War II. He's not just the best pure hitter of his generation, he's the best pure hitter of the last half-century. ``If there's any reason for my success, it's because I always enjoyed what I was doing,'' he said. ``I still don't want to admit I'm an adult now. Maybe that's why I want to coach college baseball, so I can still be around kids.'' It was hard Thursday for Gwynn to put his memories into any kind of order. He's fond of his first Gold Glove Award, because he had to work hard to become a good fielder. He's proud to have played in two World Series, noting that the losses came to a Detroit team that won 104 games in 1984 (111 including postseason) and a Yankees team that won 114 in 1998 (125 including postseason). The home run he hit at Yankee Stadium in the '98 series still gives him chills. So did standing on the mound with Williams in the '99 All-Star Game. Hitting .394 in 1994, the closest anyone has come to .400 since Williams' .406 in 1941, is sweet and sour sweet and sour adj → agridulce , since the strike ended the chase prematurely. He laughingly adds he's the only man who has all 3,124 of his hits on videotape. He was one of the first players to use videotape as a teaching tool, and now every team has its own videographer A person involved in the production of video material. Videographers shoot the images with a video camera (analog or digital) and may perform minimal or extensive editing of the resulting footage. . He also remembers a night eight or nine years ago when he broke his bat while grounding out to the shortstop, and on the way back to the bench he saw a 3-year-old eating a hot dog with mustard smeared all over his face. It was a quintessential baseball moment that caught Gwynn off guard and made him smile. So on his way back to right field, he gave his broken bat to the little boy. On the way back in, the fan smiled back at him, holding the bat, with the mustard still all over his face. That's what the game is all about. And that's what Tony Gwynn is all about. GWYNN BY THE NUMBERS 8 Career batting titles, tied with Honus Wagner and second only to Ty Cobb .338 Careeer batting average in wo seasons, ranking him 18th all time .394 Batting average in strike-shortened 1994, highest single season average since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941 3,124 Career hits, ranking him 16th on all-time list CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) ``Whatever the numbers are at the end, that's fine. Top 10, 20 or 30, whatever. The back of my bubble-gum card will look pretty good.'' -Tony Gwynn Jack Dempsey/Associated Press (2) Eight silver bats, representing each of Tony Gwynn's batting titles, adorn a wall at the news conference Thursday in San Diego. Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press Box: (1) GWYNN BY THE NUMBERS (see text) (2) TONY GWYNN CAREER STATISTICS |
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