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There were a lot of great articles written about Tony Gwynn's life in baseball, his legendary hitting ability, his ebullient personality, and his many absurd statistical accomplishments. Go read some of those. There are ones by Jerry Crasnick, Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal, Jon Bois, Jonah Keri, Bob Nightengale, and many, many more. This article will be about collecting videos of Tony Gwynn hitting, because I liked watching Tony Gwynn hit, even when he was getting hits against the Giants, which he always, always did.
Tony Gwynn - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies
This is the video that Cooperstown made to explain who Tony Gwynn was and what was so great about him. The simple answer to that last part is "Everything".
Padres hit back-to-back-to-back home runs on Opening Day
In 1987, the Padres, did just that to open up the game. Tony Gwynn hit the second out of the three. Obviously, he wasn't known for his home run power, but you know that story about Ty Cobb choosing not to hit homers? Where he told someone "I could if I wanted to" and then went out and hit two homers that day? I don't really believe that's true, but if anyone in my lifetime could have done it, it would have been Tony Gwynn.
Gwynn's Game 1 Homer
Speaking of homers, here he is hitting his first (and only) career postseason homer. He hit it off David Wells, and it went far.
Tony Gwynn Drives Home Jeff Bagwell and Gregg Jeffries
Of course, Tony wasn't really a power hitter. So this video, where he doubles in two runs off David Cone in the 1994 All-Star Game, is really more his speed. A good pitcher makes one mistake, and Tony Gwynn crushes it down the line. Story of his life.
1989 Clark/Gwynn Batting Title
In 1989, Tony Gwynn and Will Clark battled it out all season for the batting title, and in the end it came down to the final game of the season. In a video from a couple years ago, Tony Gwynn remembers the last game of the season with perfect clarity. Because of course he remembered. I would have considered it literally impossible for him to not have a perfect memory of every at bat he ever took.
Tony Gwynn records 1,000th hit in the Majors
That ball looked several inches outside, so he poked it into center for a single. Of course he did. He was Tony Gwynn.
Tony Gwynn records his 2,000th hit in the Majors
A line drive up the middle, just to the shortstop side of second base. The only Tony Gwynnier hit would have been a grounder between short and third. Also, listen for a young Duane Kuiper on the call. I think. His voice has changed a little bit in the last 21 years.
Gwynn collects his 3,000th hit
He roped it over the second baseman, into right field. Because he was Tony Gwynn and he could hit any ball anywhere and he was ridiculous and he was great. We'll miss him.