In the long history of Major League Baseball, few players have demonstrated the skill or dedication to their craft as San Diego Padre great Tony Gwynn has. As a student at San Diego State University Gwynn not only excelled on the baseball diamond, but on the basketball team as well, setting a school record for assists while playing point guard. Chosen by the San Diego Padres in the 3rd round of the 1981 baseball draft, Gwynn was also selected by the San Diego Clippers of the National Basketball Association in the 10th round of the 1981 NBA draft, but decided baseball was his first love. In his rookie season of 1983 Gwynn gave a brief glimpse of things to come by hitting for a respectable .289 batting average in 54 games. Ironically, it was the lowest seasonal batting average of his career.
Widely regarded for his hitting skills, Tony Gwynn had tremendous bat control that allowed him to "go with the pitch" and slap the ball to the empty spaces on the field. His ability to rarely strikeout was incredible – in his career the most times Gwynn ever struck out in a single season was 40 times, and he had a streak of 6 straight seasons with less than 20 strikeouts. Gwynn amassed 19 straight seasons of a .300 batting average or higher, had 7 seasons in which he hit over .350, and was in the top ten in National League batting average 15 times. The result of all of these feats was Gwynn won 7 National League Batting Titles, tied with Honus Wagner for the most ever in the NL. Only Ty Cobb has won more overall batting titles (11) in the American League. In 1994 Tony Gwynn hit for a .394 batting average, the highest in the National League since 1930.
The accolades and awards won by Gywnn speak volumes of his position in the hierarchy of baseball greats – a 15 time all-star, 5 time Gold Glove winner, and 7 Silver Slugger Awards for being the best offensive player at his position. In total, Gwynn finished an extraordinary career with a .338 batting average, 3,141 hits and 319 stolen bases. Gwynn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 receiving 97.6 percent of the votes cast in his favor, and the San Diego Padres retired his # 19 jersey in 2004.
Since retiring, Tony Gwynn has worked as a part-time broadcaster announcing national baseball games on television. Gwynn has also returned to San Diego State University, his alma mater, to serve as the head baseball coach.
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