Top 106 Baseball Players: #73 - Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn was the best hitter of the past 60 years, and in his 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres, he proved that fact again and again and again.

Gwynn was a two sport athlete at San Diego State, starring on both the baseball and basketball teams, and he was drafted by the Clippers and the Padres in 1981, choosing to play baseball because he had a better chance at a long career, and he wasn't wrong.

He first reached the Majors in July 1982, and that half-season with the Padres would the only one of his career where he failed to bat at least .300. In his first full season in the bigs, 1984, he led all players with 213 hits and a .351 average, and he led the Padres to the first World Series in their history, which they lost to the Tigers in 5 games.

Early in his career, Gwynn was actually good at stealing bases, reaching 25 steals 5 times, including a max of 56 in 1987, a season in which he also had 218 hits and a .370 batting average. The batting average was the highest in the NL in 39 years, and he was the first NL player ever to surpass .370 and 50 steals in the same season. He also went the entire season without 9 straight hitless at-bats, an incredible feat.

After 2 more seasons leading the league in batting, he went into a bit of a slump, batting in the low .300's for 3 straight seasons. Gwynn met Ted Williams during the 1992 season, and the two spoke at length about hitting, and Gwynn started using the advice Williams gave him to change his swing, and it caused a career renaissance.

In 1993, Gwynn hit .358, then hit an amazing .394 in 1994 before the season was cut short by a strike, robbing Gwynn of the chance to become the first .400 hitter in decades. He won the next three batting titles, making 4 in a row overall, and he was one of only 5 players to ever to do that. He also won 8 in his career, tied for the most in NL history with Honus Wagner, and behind only Ty Cobb in Major League history.

Gwynn has the highest batting average for any player who began his career after World War II, and he was the best player on the Padres in both of their World Series seasons, though they did not win the title either time. He hit over .300 for 19 straight seasons, a number exceeded only by Ty Cobb, and he finished in the top 10 in batting average for 15 straight seasons. Though he never won the World Series, and was not a power hitter, there is no doubt that he belongs on the list of the greatest players of all time.