Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn was one of the greatest pure contact hitters ever, spending his entire 20-year career with the San Diego Padres.

Anthony Keith Gwynn was born on May 9, 1960, in Los Angeles, California, to Charles, a warehouse manager, and Vendella Gwynn, a postal worker, both originally from Gallatin, Tennessee. The family moved to Long Beach when Tony was nine, and he and his brothers — including younger brother Chris, who also reached the majors — grew up idolizing the Los Angeles Dodgers, particularly outfielder Willie Davis, and playing makeshift games in the backyard using fruit off the trees or homemade sockballs when they ran short of real baseballs. Gwynn arrived at San Diego State University in 1977 on a basketball scholarship, and spent his freshman year focused entirely on the court, where he would go on to set the school's career record for assists as the Aztecs' starting point guard. A former high school teammate persuaded the baseball coach to give him a look in 1979, and Gwynn quickly proved himself a two-sport star, drafted by both the NBA's San Diego Clippers and the San Diego Padres in 1981. He chose baseball, debuting with the Padres in July 1982 and never leaving the organization for the rest of his 20-year career. Gwynn became one of the most precise contact hitters the sport has ever produced, an early and enthusiastic adopter of videotape study who broke down opposing pitchers' tendencies with scientific rigor. His signature skill was directing the baseball into the gap between third base and shortstop — the "5.5 hole" — with remarkable consistency. He won eight National League batting titles, tied for the second-most in history, and came within six points of hitting .400 in the strike-shortened 1994 season, finishing at .394. He retired in 2001 with a career .338 batting average, the highest of any player to have played primarily in the post-World War II era. After retiring, Gwynn became head baseball coach at his alma mater, San Diego State, a job he called his dream role. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 with 97.6% of the vote, and the Padres retired his No. 19, with a statue of "Mr. Padre" later erected outside Petco Park. Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer on June 16, 2014, at age 54 — a death that, given his history of using chewing tobacco throughout his playing career, helped drive increased awareness of smokeless tobacco's dangers in baseball and contributed to MLB's 2016 ban on the substance for new players.

Contact hitter with exceptional bat control

Greatest pure hitter of his generation

• 8x NL batting champion
• 15x All-Star
• 5x Gold Glove
• 7x Silver Slugger
• Hall of Fame 2007