Tony Gwynn

[clemenslee1]

Add in poor weight shift. lol, that should make more sense.

Lol, ok

 

[Towny9]

Only on this forum would you find people being critical of Tony Gwynn’s ability to hit.

The same Tony Gwynn that had the highest career batting average of anyone since 1938. The guy who hit .429 off Greg Maddux and never once struck out against him in over 100 at bats. The guy who hit .329 career against lefties and had 45 games with 4 hits. Yes that guy. Same guy who hit over .330 in 500+ at bats against hall of fame pitchers. Same guy who if you divided his 20 year career into two separate 10 year careers he would rank first and second all time in Padres history in hits, runs, and doubles.

Good lord folks.

 

[_MIA_]

Only on this forum would you find people being critical of Tony Gwynn’s ability to hit.

I think the word you were looking for was person..

 

[clemenslee1]

Only on this forum would you find people being critical of Tony Gwynn’s ability to hit.

The same Tony Gwynn that had the highest career batting average of anyone since 1938. The guy who hit .429 off Greg Maddux and never once struck out against him in over 100 at bats. The guy who hit .329 career against lefties and had 45 games with 4 hits. Yes that guy. Same guy who hit over .330 in 500+ at bats against hall of fame pitchers. Same guy who if you divided his 20 year career into two separate 10 year careers he would rank first and second all time in Padres history in hits, runs, and doubles.

Good lord folks.

Tony is one of my all time favorites!

 

[Towny9]

I think the word you were looking for was person..

If Tony would have joined DFP and learned the right way to hit he might have hit .400 in 1994 instead of a measly .394

 

[_MIA_]

Tony “the slapper” Gwynn

I will say that if Tony was 21 YO right now, a relevant question is would he be the same type of hitter in today's MLB environment or would they just let a guy who hit .350+ no matter the level, alone?

 

[Towny9]

I will say that if Tony was 21 YO right now, a relevant question is would he be the same type of hitter in today's MLB environment.

Assuming his upbringing and development weren’t influenced differently I think he would find a similar level of success in todays game. I can’t say what would have happened if some modern coach got a hold of him and taught him a different way to hit. I have a feeling he was definitely not “over coached” like a lot of hitters are today. We teach kids a lot now on how to swing a bat, but not enough on how to hit.

 

[CoachJD]

Only on this forum would you find people being critical of Tony Gwynn’s ability to hit.

The same Tony Gwynn that had the highest career batting average of anyone since 1938. The guy who hit .429 off Greg Maddux and never once struck out against him in over 100 at bats. The guy who hit .329 career against lefties and had 45 games with 4 hits. Yes that guy. Same guy who hit over .330 in 500+ at bats against hall of fame pitchers. Same guy who if you divided his 20 year career into two separate 10 year careers he would rank first and second all time in Padres history in hits, runs, and doubles.

Good lord folks.

Tony Gwynn got great results hitting with a style that almost nobody could replicate and have success with. He had elite, natural physical skills that allowed him to make solid enough contact at a nearly impossible rate. Tony Gwynn posted all those numbers you mentioned not because of his particular hitting style, but because Tony Gwynn was one of the best who ever lived at not swinging at missing.

I won't speak for Shawn, but I don't think Gwynn is a good model hitter because hitting like Gwynn with great success is, well, difficult. And he was a slapper! He had a career .120 ISO (still much higher than Ichiro, a true slapper, who had a .091 ISO for his career). Gwynn (and Ichiro, for that matter) just so happened to be super elite at that skill. That's not an insult. It's a description of a style.

 

[_MIA_]

Assuming his upbringing and development weren’t influenced differently I think he would find a similar level of success in todays game. I can’t say what would have happened if some modern coach got a hold of him and taught him a different way to hit. I have a feeling he was definitely not “over coached” like a lot of hitters are today. We teach kids a lot now on how to swing a bat, but not enough on how to hit.

If he hit the same way he would have similar success (maybe not quite as high an average but still higher than everybody else). I meant would they have said in Rookie ball, Tony we need you to hit for more power...

 

[Towny9]

I must be missing something. What about this swing style is unique. I don’t see a slapper. I see a shorter/simpler swing designed to make hard contact and not get out. Just cause the dude didn’t hit home runs doesn’t make him a slapper.