Former Padre Mike Piazza didn't make the cut.
Surprising absolutely no one, four time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux was elected to the Hall of Fame today, receiving 555 of 571 possible votes. While Maddux will be most remembered for being part of the Braves' deadly 90s rotation with fellow inductee Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, he was one of the many older pitchers who were drawn to San Diego by the beautiful weather and spacious outfield of Petco Park. From 2007 to August of 2008, Padres fans cheered for him. It was a little weird. You might even be wondering why it's worth writing this blog post. It's because there was one batter that Maddux absolutely hated facing. From the Washington Post:
But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision.
"Except," Maddux said, "for that [expletive] Tony Gwynn."
Oh, come on, Greg. Don't be whiny. It couldn't have been that bad. What does Baseball Reference say Tony hit against you?
| Year | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .250 | .500 | .250 | .750 | |
| 1988 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | |
| 1989 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .600 | .500 | 1.100 | |
| 1990 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .667 | .692 | .917 | 1.609 | |
| 1991 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .600 | .636 | .600 | 1.236 | |
| 1992 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .300 | .364 | .500 | .864 | |
| 1993 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 | |
| 1994 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | |
| 1995 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 | |
| 1996 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .600 | .667 | .800 | 1.467 | |
| 1997 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .545 | .583 | .727 | 1.311 | |
| 1998 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 1.000 | |
| 1999 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .500 | .833 | |
| 2000 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 | .400 | .400 | .800 | |
| Post | 1998 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .250 | .000 | .250 |
| RegSeason | 103 | 91 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 0 | .429 | .485 | .538 | 1.024 | |
| with Post | 107 | 94 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 0 | .415 | .476 | .521 | .997 |
Oh. Well, don't feel too bad. Lot's of people faced Tony over 50 times without striking him out. Like... uh... huh. I guess it's just you and... Rick Mahler?
I take it back. Swear all you want, Greg. Mr. Padre got you good.
