Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn has passed away at the age of 54. He had battled salivary gland cancer for four years, but remained involved in baseball, coaching San Diego State University until his death. Gwynn carried a career .338 batting average, collected 3,141 hits and was a 15-time All-Star. He is widely regarded as one of the best pure hitters of all-time.
We are terribly sad to say goodbye to our teammate, our friend and a legend, Tony Gwynn. Rest in peace, Mr. Padre.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 16, 2014
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Gwynn’s ability to put the ball in play was extraordinary, as evidenced by this mind-boggling stat.
Per @panicstreak, Tony Gwynn faced Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux a combined 143 times. He hit .349 against them and never struck out. Crazy
— AlwaysSunnyInDetroit (@Tim_Goergen) June 16, 2014
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Two Hall of Fame pitchers and not a single strikeout? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I sincerely can’t get over that. And how about this?
Tony Gwynn vs.
Smoltz .462 (30-for-65) 1 K
Maddux .429 (39-for-91) 0 K
Glavine .312 (29-or-93) 2 K
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) June 16, 2014
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The man was a machine. An absolute machine. R.I.P. Tony Gwynn.
Photo via Wikimedia