Many of you reading this might have never seen Tony Gwynn play baseball. You might not even know that it is argued that he was the best hitter EVER. You may well know more about Ted Williams, the other player who commonly
enters that argument, even though he played in the mid-1900s. Of course, there are others whose names are batted around in the conversation. But, in your lifetime, you might not know another.
Gwynn's MLB career (1982-2001) is adorned with a lifetime .338 batting avg. and multiple Gold Gloves, which assured him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame, in which he was inducted following his first nomination in 2007. Other amazing stats include the fact that he never hit below .309 during a full season (and only did that once during a shortened season).
So, we say, get to know Tony Gwynn. Look up any hitting video on YouTube that feature his instruction or analyzes his hitting technique. Google "Tony Gwynn stats," and I think you'll start to get it. He was AMAZING. And when you ask "Why?" or "How?" you'll find that he pursued excellence in the sport he loved.
Tony Gwynn was a great hitter, and since this is a baseball instruction blog (of sorts), what this soft-spoken, classy guy SCREAMS to you young hitters is this - you need to continually analyze your swing. And, Gwynn would encourage you to videotape it and have a hitting instructor use that video to improve your swing.
Finally, I say rest in peace, Tony. Thanks for the inspiration you were; the class act; the role model; and the player who I most often refer to when teaching hitting mechanics.
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