Posted on 06/16/2014 8:41:57 AM PDT by Borges
Tony Gwynn, who banged out 3,141 hits during a Hall of Fame career spanning 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres, has died of cancer at age 54, it was announced Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Mr. Gwynn was a worthy, tough opponent, and quite a gentleman. RIP, Sir.
I know people not from San Diego won’t care much about this. Tony Gwynn gave us many happy evenings and many happy years at the Murph. He is one of the people that defined our years in San Diego.
Once read a book about a baseball player (name slips my memory). He didn’t mind giving autographs but what made him angry was when kids were used by adults to get autographs that you knew were later going to be sold for a profit, or fans were rude and demanding.
I want to defend Mr. Gwynn for refusing your request for an autograph. Had he stopped for you, there’s a good chance that others would have joined you and made their requests for an autograph. Then he would have been bound to honor their requests as well. That could have taken a half-hour or more. He wasn’t refusing you simply to refuse you.
RIP Tony, prayers for you and your family.
They would've exceeded the pathetic record of the 1962 New York Mets were it not for Tony Gwynn.
Even with him, they came close.
Took out my best buddy in the Army, too.
You got that right. Tony Gwynn was the epitome of excellence.
The Padres only existed since 1969. Gwynn *was* a great ballplayer but I doubt he was playing for them at 9 years old.
Beloved, especially in San Diego. You will never ever find one person who has a bad word to say about Tony Gwynn. Tony Gwynn, Ray Kroc, and Joan Kroc are all saints in San Diego.
A friend of mine got to sit in the Dodger dugout for a game once when he was a kid. He mentioned a famous player ignored him, but Koufax treated him well.
Reread the post and don’t take what I said out of context.
“SO MANY of these athletes have an on screen persona which stands in contrast to their derision of the common folk”
There you go. Did not implicate him directly.
Hank Aaron, now that is derisive.
But really, blowing off a fan’s POLITE autograph request AFTER a game where he was not even playing. How hard is it to take 15 seconds and sign a ball, really??
Anyway, He was a great hitter. RIP
One of my favorite baseball stories was of Tony Gwynn. The Pads were in a slump. Players were bickering, blaming each other.
Tony’s advice? (to this effect)
“It’s a game! When the ump starts the game, he doesn’t say Work Balllll !”.
You’re right. I was thinking of one of their charter stars, maybe Ollie Brown.
Tony Gwynn didn’t join the pad’s until 1982
More specifically, cancer of the salivary gland.
A classy man. He signed $1 baseballs from the sporting goods store for kids while trying to sell his first book at a Barnes & Noble bookstore and was happy that people turned out to see him. He was friendly, beyond gracious, and will be missed.
Thank you for all of the pleasure you brought to me, my children, and the game of baseball.
I recall reading that too. For some reason, Ted Williams springs to mind. I know that he always had time for kids during and after his playing days.
A real shame about Gywnn. As others have posted here, he loved and respected the game, and was a great ambassador to all. Maybe they can name an award (NL Batting Champ?) in his honor? It would be a classy gesture on "Proud to be your" Bud's part.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.