The most notable one-sided pitcher-batter rivalries in MLB history Against Randy Johnson, however, Gwynn slashed .111/.111/.167 for a .278 OPS with no walks and five strikeouts . Mark Loretta had 208 hits in 2004. He wasnt just slapping the ball either, Gwynn had eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs off Smoltz. That's 49 fewer punchouts than Miguel Cabrera's lowest total in a year. And I have a feeling that won't change -- for about the next 12 centuries: Gwynn hit .338 over a 20-year career. In the 14 seasons from 1984 through 1997, Gwynn finished in the top five in the batting race 13 times. Most players have a disadvantage when they are facing pitchers of the same stripe as them. Tony Gwynn vs. Pitchers Event data is only available for the American League and National League. He batted .462 with 12 extra-base hits off John Smoltz. Gwynn has seven of those seasons, the most of any player in that span. Greg Maddux. Otherwise, you werent going to strike him out. 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. Theres no need to add myths to the equation. In 2.440 career games, Gwynn struck out twice in a game only 34 times. Scott only fanned Tony three times in 95 matchups. Gwynn hit below .300 just once in his career, Gwynn struck out less than 20 times in six straight seasons with a career-low 15 times in 1995. That season came in the middle of a five-year stretch where he batted .369. He torched just about every pitcher he faced. Gwynn is a .431 career hitter (25-for-58) against the Atlanta ace. In fact, Maddux saw Gwynn more than anyone. Free shipping for many products! Including postseason play, Gwynn faced 18 Hall of Fame pitchers for a total of 541 plate appearances. For his career against all pitchers Gwynn hit .302 with two strikes. In his 20 seasons, Gwynn posted 45 games in which he had at least four hits: 35 with four hits, nine with five hits, and one with six hits. The last player to finish his career with a higher average was Ted Williams' .344 mark. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. 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 finished his illustrious Hall of Fame career with a 3.16 ERA, 3,371 strikeouts, 17 Gold Gloves, and one of the best two-seamers ever thrown. Hes also drawn eight walks and whats more, is the only active batter whos faced Maddux more than a dozen times without ever striking out. Jeff Bagwell hit .368 that year the 13th highest batting average since 1961 but he still finished 30 points behind Gwynn in the batting race! Tony Gwynn vs. Wade Boggs? - Baseball Fever Column: Tony Gwynn might not recognize baseball today, but of course he During his 20-year career, he struck out 434 times, an average of 21.7 K% At the end of April, 129 players had struck out 22 times, a 49% increase from the previous year. That six-hit game deserves closer examination. 3: Gwynn never struck out against arguably the two greatest pitchers of his generation. THREE 72 AB vs Smoltz he hit .444 with a .697 slug% and 1 strikeout 99 AB vs Maddux and hit .415 and never struck out. Here's Why Tony Gwynn Was One Of The Greatest Hitters Ever. Nolan had had the best stats against him and Tony still rocked him. You just cant do it, Maddux said. He faced Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Pedro Martinez a combined 323 times, and only struck out in 3 of those plate appearances. 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. 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. I'm looking for any Tony Gwynn or Greg Maddux cards that I need. Here's Maddux on how he gripped the baseball. He batted .381 with a 101 hits and 3 strikeouts. 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. . That's easily the highest average against Maddux for any player with at least 70 plate appearances. Evan lives in Mesa, Arizona and loves history, especially of sports. He's the best hitter I've seen in 35 years.". A few years ago, a meme surfaced featuring a crazy Greg . By Tony Gwynn. WTTF: Gwynn & Maddux | The Bench Tony Gwynn won eight batting titles and hit .300 in 19 of his 20 major league seasons. in a 162 game span covering the strike year of 1994 and the first half of 1995, Tony Gwynn hit over .400. Fortune Salaire Mensuel de Npcap Vs Winpcap Wireshark Combien gagne t These miscellaneous characteristics include all counts with a certain number of balls or strikes as well as first pitch, pitcher ahead, count even, and batter ahead. Gwynn also had incredible success against many ofthe best strikeout pitchers. And thanks to statistic hubs like Baseball Reference, some unbelievable numbers are being shared from Gwynn's career. But this Saturday would have been Gwynn's 60th birthday. No hitter who has played his entire career since the invention of the designated hitter has accumulated as many hits as Gwynn (3,141) without spending a large portion of his career in the American League. The greatest lineups ever? on MLBN. Tony Gwynn and Greg Maddux | AztecMesa 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. Gwynn also had incredible success against many of the best strikeout pitchers. The only pitcher to strike out Gwynn three times in ONE game was Bob Welch, who sadly passed away last week. And Maddux knew it. On the mound was the imposing presence of the Astros' right-handed flamethrower 38-year-old future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan - who already had 241 MLB wins . How does this translate to their WAR/WAA? "Except," Maddux said, "for that [expletive] Tony Gwynn." Gwynn never struck out against Maddux . 2013 Panini Pinnacle Clear Vision Single 68 Tony Gwynn 1993 Upper Deck Base Set #488 Greg Maddux 1996 Pinnacle Select Certified #32 Greg Maddux Heck, we knew, he knew and everyone else knew who was going to win that NL batting title before anyone even threw a pitch. Born: May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, CA us Died: June 16, 2014 in Poway, CA Buried: Dearborn Memorial Park, Poway, CA . San Diego State Aztecs. Comparing Greats: Greg Maddux Vs Pedro Martinez - Who Was The Better Except for the fact he did that every darned year, no matter what. Gwynn finished his career batting .302 with two strikes. More consistently than most major-league . Tony Gwynn collected more regular season hits against Greg Maddux than any other batter (39 in 33 games). Combien gagne t il d argent ? Wade Boggs comes in second at .262. 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. 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. No hitter born after 1900 reached 3,000 hits in fewer games (2,284) or at-bats (8,874) than Gywnn. The numbers he put up are staggering, especially considering he played in an era that was increasingly dominated by big swings and steroid home runs. The Padres' Hall-of-Fame right fielder faced the Braves' Hall of Famer more than any other pitcher in his career . In this installment of Baseball Mythbusters, we will look at Greg Maddux and the 30 count. 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. Against Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Smoltz . Even against hitters who can hurt them, they rarely change much from how they approach every hitter. Because, thanks to him, you never had to dread that annual spring assignment of picking the batting champ. How They Match Up: Maddux vs. Top Hitters - Los Angeles Times H2H 52: Rod Carew vs. Tony Gwynn - Who was Better? 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. Tony Gwynn is the most proficient batter since Ted Williams Basically if you're a legendary pitcher, good luck with Tony Gwynn. Tony Gwynn had always had Greg Maddux's number. Some NFL teams dont make the grade, players say, New era of football begins at Mater Dei under coach Frank McManus. As they age, batters platoon splits usually get more pronounced. Nolan Ryan struck out Tony Gwynn more than any other pitcher with 9. Eric Karros, though, hasnt been so fortunate. He gets more of the bat on the ball on some pitches than anyone else, Maddux said. That's easily the best mark for any player since numbers were first tracked by count in the mid-1970s. His 590 career assists are the most in school history and his 221 assists in the 1979-80 season are also a record. Anthony Keith Gwynn, 1960 59 - 2014 616 . Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In fact, Gwynn has often been referred to as the greatest hitter since Williams. He had 45 games of four or more hits, so it was more likely to see him get four hits than it was to see him strike out more than once. Of course, it's not like Gwynn's numbers against Maddux were an anomaly. Winner of eight batting titles, Gwynn finished in the top five for the league's best average 13 times from 1984 through 1997. He is ranked 74th on the Baseball Reference website on position players, he also had a relatively long career. Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters in his career. That was 1997 when he struck out 28 times and hit .372. Tony Gwynn Rookie Cards Rundown and Popular eBay Auctions Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. Tony Gwynn broke Greg Maddux's spell. How Corbin Burnes became an ace by making his bed. Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams. This leaves 845 batters unaccounted for. If you were going to do it you had to get him the first time you saw him (through lack of unfamiliarity) or by having a trick pitch of some sort. The Most Ridiculous Baseball Stats of All Time - Overtime Heroics 1994 Quality Starts. *In 323 AB vs. Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux, Tony Gwynn struck out a total of three times. Lets just make sure were using the right number when describing Madduxs stats. The first problem with the 310 batters faced a 30 count claim is this: pitch count data is not available until 1988. Gross tubs? Sure enough, while Gwynn and Boggs have nearly equal Offensive RAA according to B-Ref (432/430) and Fangraphs (401.5/399), their contextual offense is much more lopsided, with Tony having a 56/36.8 WPA lead at B-Ref, and a 57.85/36.97 lead at Fangraphs. Two vs. Glavine. The Ryan Express - Baseball Roundtable Gwynn's .334 career second-half batting average is the third best in the last 50 years. OK, got all that digested. He hit .415 (in 107 plate appearances) vs. Greg Maddux, .303 against Tom Glavine (105 PA) and .444 against Smoltz (75 PA). The best memes from Instagram, Facebook, Vine, and Twitter about tony gwynn. There are few ballplayers in the history of Major League Baseball that were as skilled in the batters box than Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who passed away on Monday. 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). Greg Maddux Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac Kinda random it was just these two especially Pedro Martinez since it was probably only the beginning of his career when they were facing eachother. 19 incredible stats about Tony Gwynn's Hall of Fame career - Yahoo! The only season he didn't was 1990, in which he missed the crown by one hit. Greg Maddux (94 ABs) and Pedro Martinex (135 ABs) never recorded a K against the Padres outfielder. On Monday, ESPNs Ethan Strauss reminded us about a fantastic quote that Maddux once had about Gwynn that summed up his sensational career. My Have List is linked in my signature. How many times did Tony Gwynn record four hits in a game? They can identify pitches if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher's hand. How about .444 career average with the bases loaded. Aztec Ticket Exchange. 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 least .300 against seven more. 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. six-time NL batting champion Tony Gwynn is . In fact, in 1994, Gwynn batted an absurd .397 in two-strike counts. I did a cursory study of different good hitters vs. good pitchers on several dimensions. Ryan faced Gwynn 67 times and fanned Tony nine times (the most by any pitcher), but Gwynn still managed to hit over .300 against The Express. Gwynn was without question the best pure hitter in the game of baseball in the 1980s and 1990s. * Andy Van Slyke, now an ESPN announcer, batted .343 (23-for-67) with four home runs and 11 walks. From 1988 to 2001, Gwynn hit .302 in two-strike counts. So, as a result, in 287 plate appearances against Hall of Famers Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz, Gwynn only struck out three times while hitting .381. No hitter born after 1900 reached 3,000 hits in fewer games (2,284) or at-bats (8,874) than Gwynn. . Chipper Jones pummeled Randy Johnson. It dropped to 4.9% in 1993 and was only higher than 5% in one of his remaining seasons (2002). He hit .338 for his career. For the 20-game batting streak in May and June, Gwynn hit an incredible .494 (39-for-79) with a .534 on-base percentage. 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. Ronald Acuna vs Juan Soto Comparison. Even better man and family man. It occurred on August 4, 1993, against the Giants on a weekday evening at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Tony Gwynn hit .415 against Greg Maddux and (expletive) did not strike out even once in 107 plate appearances! Aztec Game Videos. 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. Greg Maddux; H. Hack Wilson; Hank Aaron; Hank Greenberg; Hanley Ramrez; Harmon Killebrew; Harold Baines; Honus Wagner; * Marquis Grissom, now Madduxs teammate, batted .405 (17-for-42). As if to show everyone what theyd missed in the summer of 94, Gwynn came out swinging a red-hot bat. In addition to his pitching skills, Maddux was an excellent fielding pitcher. He struck out only three times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro), per Eric Edholm of Yahoo! **, Press J to jump to the feed. 19 facts about the career of Tony Gwynn - MLB.com Share. Nine amazing facts from the career of Tony Gwynn Here's Why Tony Gwynn Was One Of The Greatest Hitters Ever 307 - Tony Gwynn has a younger brother, Chris Gwynn, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1987-1991), Kansas City Royals (1992-1993), Los Angeles Dodgers (1994-1995), and San Diego Padres . Home - MLB Comparisons The pitcher that Tony Gwynn could not hit Baseball Egg That will include, among pitchers, Greg M. Special to ESPN.com. Tony Eusebio gives Houston an early lead with an RBI single off Greg Maddux. MLB: Five Hilariously Absurd Stats to Brighten Your Day A few hitters, however, have had their way with Maddux since he made his major league debut in 1986. Gwynn owns all-time Padres records for batting average, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, walks, stolen bases and games played. Who was better Tom Glavine vs Greg Maddux? | Dependable Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Al Simmons did so before him. Registered: Jul 13, 2005. On May 27th, Tony went 4-for-5 against the Braves and lifted his average over .400. Tony Gwynn Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac Gwynn had six straight seasons (and eight altogether) in which he struck out fewer than 20 times. Para muchos Tony Gwynn es uno de los mejores bateadores en la historia del beisbol de la MLB, razn por la que el premio al champion bat de la Liga Nacional lleva su nombre, pero cmo le fue este grande con el madero contra otras dos leyendas en Pedro Martnez y . Hall of Famer Greg Maddux is one of the greatest pitchers of the Live Ball Era. BASEBALL MLB Legends Sports Magazine Cards ALL VARIATIONS YOU PICK | eBay On June 21, Gwynn started a 19-game hitting streak in which he hit .429 with 36 hits and more power (he hit five homers). 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. "When he strikes out swinging," his old hitting coach, Merv Rettenmund, once told me, "the pitcher's shocked. The Los Angeles slugger is 0-for-17 lifetime against Maddux. What was Greg Maddux strike percentage? | Dependable With Maddux it always seemed that batters were either being fooled as they watched a pitch nip the corner of the plate, or they were getting a bad swing on a pitch that dove away from their bat at the last second. Martinez is the current leader with four straight .300-plus seasons. During his career, Tony won batting titles by 32 points (1987), 30 points (1984), 28 points (1994), 22 points (1995), and 17 points (1996). Tony Gwynn was the only player to have struck out Maddux 107 times. Gooden used his fastball and curveball to keep Gwynn off-balance, actually holding Mr. Padre to a .243 mark in 77 matchups while fanning him six times. Six times in Padres history has a player recorded 200 hits in a season. Greg Maddux debuted on 9/3/1986 and was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 by the BBWAA. 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. In his entire 20-year career, Gwynn struck out 434 times -- an average of 21.7 K's per season. 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. Tony Gwynn is the greatest pure hitter I have ever witnessed. * Andres Galarraga (61 at-bats) and Howard Johnson (74 at-bats, five home runs) have struck out the most, 18 times each. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Gwynn's .338 career batting average is the highest in the expansion era -- and it's not even that close, as Gwynn sits 10 points ahead of Boggs, in second. ], Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox. Damn. 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. Pro Sports. Defensively Wade was very underrated as a third baseman. Amazing strikeout stat No. **For the best user experience, we recommend disabling the Reddit redesign. Tony Gwynn | San Diego | Major League Baseball | Yahoo! Sports Tony Gwynn owned Greg Maddux, and Mad-Dog knew it. What's the Dodgers' plan at shortstop? In the seventh, Gwynn got his third hit, a double to left field off Dave Righetti. Maddux won four Cy Young awards and ranks as one of the ten greatest pitchers in history. But baseball is a funny game, and so sometimes, a superstar finds 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 . And here's Ryan on the same thing. Except for that (expletive) Tony Gwynn." -Greg Maddux.