MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn has died

[markdash]

@running_coach

Makes you wonder about the idiot 3% who didn’t vote HOF.

If I might play devil’s advocate:

Gwynn’s overall contributions are actually somewhat similar to a number of players who aren’t in the HoF. For example, Tim Raines, Bobby Grich, Larry Walker, Lou Whitaker, Dwight Evans, and Craig Biggio all have more career WAR (fangraphs version) than Gwynn.

Now, you can nitpick with this particular stat, but it basically boils down to this: Gwynn was very, very good at one particular thing. That was a thing which is generally over-emphasized by HoF voters. Which isn’t to take anything away from him, but BA isn’t everything. He was a bad defender and baserunner in the second half of his career. He also didn’t hit for much power.

Which isn’t to take anything away from him. His bat control was legendary and he’s certainly a worthy Hall of Famer. But he’s also not an inner-circle guy. He’s 86th on the Fangraphs WAR list and 72nd on the BaseballReference list. Hell, Willie Fucking Mays got a lower percentage (94.9%).

[Geek_Mecha]

@GrandWino

Tony Gwynn faced Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux a combined 143 times, he batted. 349 against them, and never struck out. In his entire career, ZERO pitchers have 10 or more strikeouts against Gwynn. Nolan Ryan struck him out 9 times in 67 AB, but Gwynn owned a .302 batting average against him.

I was a Braves fan in the 90s and Tony Gwynn was one of the few batters that made me nervous.

RIP. This is very sad news.

[MonkeyMensch]

@ZipperJJ

…They mentioned that Masterson played in Tony Gwynn stadium and it made me smile that the park there is named for Gwynn, because the only thing I know about San Diego apart from the chicken is Tony Gwynn. And I don’t just mean the Padres, I mean he is the only thing I know about all of San Diego …

Well, as a San Diegan I can say that if Tony is the only thing you know about us, then that’s pretty OK.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

This may be a stupid question, but was it ever confirmed that his tobacco chewing was the cause of his mouth cancer?

Everyone in the media reporting his early demise seems to just say “cancer”, like it’s “regular cancer” that someone would just get.

I swear I am not trying to dishonor him but if this is true, why aren’t more people speaking out against it?

[Superdude]

He had been diagnosed with cancer of the salivary glands.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

@markdash

If I might play devil’s advocate:

Gwynn’s overall contributions are actually somewhat similar to a number of players who aren’t in the HoF. For example, Tim Raines, Bobby Grich, Larry Walker, Lou Whitaker, Dwight Evans, and Craig Biggio all have more career WAR (fangraphs version) than Gwynn.

Now, you can nitpick with this particular stat, but it basically boils down to this: Gwynn was very, very good at one particular thing. That was a thing which is generally over-emphasized by HoF voters. Which isn’t to take anything away from him, but BA isn’t everything. He was a bad defender and baserunner in the second half of his career. He also didn’t hit for much power.

Which isn’t to take anything away from him. His bat control was legendary and he’s certainly a worthy Hall of Famer. But he’s also not an inner-circle guy. He’s 86th on the Fangraphs WAR list and 72nd on the BaseballReference list. Hell, Willie Fucking Mays got a lower percentage (94.9%).

I agree with you. I do feel he was probably the best hitter I ever saw but he deff had his flaws. I was surprised that he had such a high career OPS plus though. A 132 career ops plus is pretty damn good for a singles type of hitter.

[Tom_Tildrum]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

This may be a stupid question, but was it ever confirmed that his tobacco chewing was the cause of his mouth cancer?

I’m pretty sure there’s strong link between chew and mouth cancers overall, but I don’t know that there’s really any way to confirm the connection in a particular case. Certainly, Gwynn himself considered his chewing habit to be the cause of his cancer.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I would think the chewing was the why he developed cancer but John Kruk stated today that the doctors said it wasn’t the cause.