I met him a few times. I thanked him for staying in SD. He laughed and said "I ain't going anywhere man." My regret is that I never got to tell him what he meant to us. He was loyal when some people in my life weren't. I was loyal to the Army like he was to SD. I always wanted to take a picture with him while wearing my military uniform. And to tell him how my dad always used to say "Be like Tony. He does things the right way."
I met Tony Gwynn at a resturant in San Diego once, he had some of SDSU baseball ream with and I saw a chance to say something. All I could think of was something like I like the way your son is playing right now, Tony Jr was with the Brewers at the time, he said yeah me too.
Tony Gwynn was absolutely on the way to a .400 season that was cut short due to the players strike in 1994 when he was at .394. He said at the time he was so in the zone he could hit anything. Such a shame the strike happened. Regardless, no player who began their career after WWII has a higher career batting average than Tony Gwynn at .338. "Mr. Padre" is definitely on the "Mt. Rushmore" of hitting GOATS.
I would of froze up too. I’m showing this video to my 10 year old and making the point to him that if this sort of thing ever happens to him...to take advantage of that situation!! Great video to share with us if for no other reason than it may encourage the opportunity to gain wisdom.
I'd ask Tony if his favorite career hit of all time was the 2 run bomb he hit off the 3rd deck at Yankee Stadium in the 1998 World Series. Remember he hit a David Wells' fastball who is from San Diego (Ocean Beach) & later even pitched for our Padres. I loved watching Tony play & feel so lucky to have rooted for him his entire career.
Good to know even a first round stud player gets star struck. You have a good, wholesome honest channel.... And you were a first round pick. Now as you were.
As a slightly overweight kid with no power, Tony Gwynn was my hero. I would have asked him about consistency, just try to understand how he prepared physically and mentally that left him able to have some of those monster seasons hitting over .350.
Wow that was such an insane experience! I understand Matt didn’t know what to say with a legend taking him off guards like that. But if that was me I would’ve tried to follow up more so I could know what I should improve on.
I'll never forget the time that I met Tony Gwynn I was flying out to California to visit my brother and my flight went through Salt Lake City and when I got on the plane there in Salt Lake City he was on the plane with the team they had just played a game there in Salt Lake City and they were on their way back to San Diego at that time he was a head coach for San Diego State and I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Tony Gwynn which was just out of this world and the question I asked him and I got the answer at that time I knew how great of a hitter he was but I asked him who was the hardest picture you ever faced you know and he told me it was Greg Maddux the Atlanta Braves so I thought that was pretty cool so I had about a 25 minute conversation with him and then I'll let him get back to what he was doing and I told him I appreciated him taking time out and talkin to me and everything and just a super super nice guy Class Act and one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game
I saw an interview with Pete Rose where he said that the only changes you should ever make to your swing/stance are back in the box, forward in the box, toward the plate, away from the plate. After all, your swing is what got you to the majors, so why mess with it? Interesting take, right?
I’d ask him about bats. Wood, length, weight, “the feel” and what works for him specifically. He really studied his craft. And bats are such a personal, nuanced aspect of hitting.
Coaching a 17U team 3 years ago, We had a lefty in our bullpen throwing pregame and Tom Glavine was there and asked if he could talk to the pitcher, he goes down starts talking to the pitcher while he warmed up. The kid comes up to us about 20 minutes later and says there was a guy talking to me in the bullpen should I be listening to him? I said yeah you know who that was right? No who? Tom Glavine, Who? I said Hall of Famer lefty pitcher Tom Glavine. He says oh... Me and the other coaches just start laughing...
I can imagine a lot of the guys in the club house probably was like that as well seeing a legend stand right next to you by your locker giving you advice shit I’d be lost for words to
Live and learn Matt. Although Gwynns advice might have helped sunstain your major leage career, you now can pass your knowledge on in your new career I'd have been too gobsmacked to ask him anything
I would have asked him what he did to prepare for the pitchers he may face on a given day. That was before video was real prominent, so I wonder if he relied on just natural ability, or if he was prepping a different way.
I would like to ask one of these guys, such as Tony Gywnn or Manny Ramirez, whether they change their approach at the plate depending on if their team is struggling to win games or getting on base. I'm sure their coaches kept them in the same spot of the batting order nonetheless.
The paradox is that Gwynn did not really have a prominent load in his swing, at least not like today's players do. That prominent load is relatively new in baseball. Gwynn was very quiet at the plate, as most everyone was back then. Check out Big Mac, even from 1998 as an example. He is dead still at the plate with almost no movement. Also, guys hit with a closed stance more often back then, which put a player in kind of a loaded position without the prominent movement.
I would have liked to think I would be in the mindset to ask questions on the spot and just pick his brain on my bat plane, my hand location etc. but honestly I would have probably froze up and said "Okay" too lol
Dang Matt you blew it! LOL Seriously though I bet that was intimidating and the way it would’ve gone for 90% of most guys at that age. Awesome story and a good lesson for young guys.
I doubt anyone in your shoes would have had the balls to ask him to show them how to get more loaded. You probably beat yourself up about it, but it's not a really fair assessment, is it?
OMG Matt I have So Many Questions I would Ask lol hmmmm ok (1) Back In 1997 When You Hit the most Homers in your Career (17) What Did You Do Differently? I Imagine After You Had that Conversation With Ted Williams about Turning On the Ball Inside more I'm Thinking you did something with your Hips but I would love to hear what you did (2) Why Do You Say that The Knob Of the bat leads leads The Swing? (3) Why When you try to lead with the barrel 1st the bat goes in then out of the zone? (4) Why does taking the barrel 1st in the swing takes the bat out of the zone so quickly? (5) There is a video online of you taking hitting with some kids and you respond "Not Until After you make contact" What did he say to you? (6) Did You Ever get into counts where you tried to "launch" the baseball? (7) How did you come back and hit that ball down the line against Randy Johnson in the playoffs vs The Astros after striking out the previous ab? (8) How Were You able to maintain your swing as you got older because I read somewhere where you said your eyesight wasn't as good? (9) Did you ever think about going to another team that might have gotten you a better chance at getting a world series ring? Oh If Only lol ....
It would've been nice for him to take initiative as well to show you. Question I have is what do you do when you have different hitting philosophy or belief than accomplished hitters? Gwynn preached knob to the ball which I hate. Pete Rose despises slight upswing which I love. He was a jerk about it when I saw him in Vegas.
....what the heck do you mean, Tony...? He had you confused with a dump truck. It would seem that as a guy progresses through the system, a guy would need to shorten his swing, as pitching gets better? Matt, I admire the fact that you left everything on the field. There is no coulda' woulda' shoulda's with your time in baseball. Hypothetical, but do you think that your path would have been different, had you signed with the Dodgers, out of high school? How is the experience different for a guy that signs right out of high school, as opposed to taking the college route? Obviously, the bonuses are different, etc., but which do you think is a better path for a ball player to take? I have heard that some organizations, like the Yankees and Dodgers are tops when it comes to their minor league systems? thanks!
Tony Gwynn had more 4 hit games then multi strike out games...absolutely incredible!
jbisch009 that’s insane.
45 times. 45 times he had 4 hits in a game. Insane.
Tony Gwynn seems like the most genuine superstar there has been.
Rest in Peace Tony Gwynn.
I met him a few times. I thanked him for staying in SD. He laughed and said "I ain't going anywhere man." My regret is that I never got to tell him what he meant to us. He was loyal when some people in my life weren't. I was loyal to the Army like he was to SD. I always wanted to take a picture with him while wearing my military uniform. And to tell him how my dad always used to say "Be like Tony. He does things the right way."
Tony Gwynn was the man. A true gentleman from what I hear and stud st the plate.
I met Tony Gwynn at a resturant in San Diego once, he had some of SDSU baseball ream with and I saw a chance to say something. All I could think of was something like I like the way your son is playing right now, Tony Jr was with the Brewers at the time, he said yeah me too.
I would probably have asked him for an autograph. He was the best pure hitter in the mlb.
Tony Gwynn was absolutely on the way to a .400 season that was cut short due to the players strike in 1994 when he was at .394. He said at the time he was so in the zone he could hit anything. Such a shame the strike happened. Regardless, no player who began their career after WWII has a higher career batting average than Tony Gwynn at .338. "Mr. Padre" is definitely on the "Mt. Rushmore" of hitting GOATS.
I would of froze up too. I’m showing this video to my 10 year old and making the point to him that if this sort of thing ever happens to him...to take advantage of that situation!! Great video to share with us if for no other reason than it may encourage the opportunity to gain wisdom.
I'd ask Tony if his favorite career hit of all time was the 2 run bomb he hit off the 3rd deck at Yankee Stadium in the 1998 World Series. Remember he hit a David Wells' fastball who is from San Diego (Ocean Beach) & later even pitched for our Padres. I loved watching Tony play & feel so lucky to have rooted for him his entire career.
You blew it
Good to know even a first round stud player gets star struck.
You have a good, wholesome honest channel....
And you were a first round pick.
Now as you were.
Interesting that he immediately picked up on how you needed to “load more.” Amazing.
As a slightly overweight kid with no power, Tony Gwynn was my hero. I would have asked him about consistency, just try to understand how he prepared physically and mentally that left him able to have some of those monster seasons hitting over .350.
Man maybe you were a little “star struck” that he noticed your swing. Shows he paid attention to not just himself. He wanted you to succeed.
Don’t blame you for freezing. Many of us blew opportunities when talking to business owners or other top people in our professions.
Wow that was such an insane experience! I understand Matt didn’t know what to say with a legend taking him off guards like that. But if that was me I would’ve tried to follow up more so I could know what I should improve on.
I'll never forget the time that I met Tony Gwynn I was flying out to California to visit my brother and my flight went through Salt Lake City and when I got on the plane there in Salt Lake City he was on the plane with the team they had just played a game there in Salt Lake City and they were on their way back to San Diego at that time he was a head coach for San Diego State and I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Tony Gwynn which was just out of this world and the question I asked him and I got the answer at that time I knew how great of a hitter he was but I asked him who was the hardest picture you ever faced you know and he told me it was Greg Maddux the Atlanta Braves so I thought that was pretty cool so I had about a 25 minute conversation with him and then I'll let him get back to what he was doing and I told him I appreciated him taking time out and talkin to me and everything and just a super super nice guy Class Act and one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game
Him and Barry Bonds were my favorite hitters growing up. Tragic how early he passed.
Sounds like an amazing experience! Tony Gwynn is a freakin' legend!!!
I saw an interview with Pete Rose where he said that the only changes you should ever make to your swing/stance are back in the box, forward in the box, toward the plate, away from the plate. After all, your swing is what got you to the majors, so why mess with it? Interesting take, right?
I’d ask him about bats. Wood, length, weight, “the feel” and what works for him specifically. He really studied his craft. And bats are such a personal, nuanced aspect of hitting.
Anyone else notice the lighting was different?
@kappelmeister123 Maybe! Not sure it works with the hat though if he's doing it to improve quality
Tony"12 foot strike zone"Gwynn
Coaching a 17U team 3 years ago, We had a lefty in our bullpen throwing pregame and Tom Glavine was there and asked if he could talk to the pitcher, he goes down starts talking to the pitcher while he warmed up. The kid comes up to us about 20 minutes later and says there was a guy talking to me in the bullpen should I be listening to him? I said yeah you know who that was right? No who? Tom Glavine, Who? I said Hall of Famer lefty pitcher Tom Glavine. He says oh... Me and the other coaches just start laughing...
That is crazy, that is exactly what I would do. I always end up squandering away my moment. If there was only a rewind button in life.
I'm sitting in my house thinking about what I would ask Tony Gwynn and I'm freezing up.
I can imagine a lot of the guys in the club house probably was like that as well seeing a legend stand right next to you by your locker giving you advice shit I’d be lost for words to
Live and learn Matt. Although Gwynns advice might have helped sunstain your major leage career, you now can pass your knowledge on in your new career I'd have been too gobsmacked to ask him anything
I would have asked Tony what the most important thing he learned from his talks with Ted Williams.
I would've either asked "How do I do that?" Or "What do you mean by loading?"
I would have asked him what he did to prepare for the pitchers he may face on a given day. That was before video was real prominent, so I wonder if he relied on just natural ability, or if he was prepping a different way.
Mr. Gwynn, where did you first pick up the ball as the pitcher started to throw the ball?
He is dead
@@Awesome_Timez i know but Coach was asking what would you ask?
@@jmarti03261 i didnt watch the whole vid i missed that part
@@Awesome_Timez no worries...enjoy watching coach A
I would like to ask one of these guys, such as Tony Gywnn or Manny Ramirez, whether they change their approach at the plate depending on if their team is struggling to win games or getting on base. I'm sure their coaches kept them in the same spot of the batting order nonetheless.
interesting vid !!
The paradox is that Gwynn did not really have a prominent load in his swing, at least not like today's players do. That prominent load is relatively new in baseball. Gwynn was very quiet at the plate, as most everyone was back then. Check out Big Mac, even from 1998 as an example. He is dead still at the plate with almost no movement. Also, guys hit with a closed stance more often back then, which put a player in kind of a loaded position without the prominent movement.
Loyalty to one team and one city . Doesn't happen any more
I would have asked him what is going though his mind when he hits?
Can you describe what it's like for players to go on the IL? Also, do managers use the IL as a way to free up the roster and call up farm prospects?
After talking mechanics I would love to ask him about his approach at the plate. I’d love to hear how he approaches each pitch in various counts.
Why wasn't I a consistently good hitter. I'm a recent D3 washup and I never fulfilled my potential cause of that. I always worked and it didnt help
how antonelli fared with the girls in high school and college
I would have liked to think I would be in the mindset to ask questions on the spot and just pick his brain on my bat plane, my hand location etc. but honestly I would have probably froze up and said "Okay" too lol
I would have asked about how you to study pitchers. What are you some drills you can give me to improve my hitting overall.
Dang Matt you blew it! LOL Seriously though I bet that was intimidating and the way it would’ve gone for 90% of most guys at that age. Awesome story and a good lesson for young guys.
I doubt anyone in your shoes would have had the balls to ask him to show them how to get more loaded. You probably beat yourself up about it, but it's not a really fair assessment, is it?
OMG Matt I have So Many Questions I would Ask lol hmmmm ok
(1) Back In 1997 When You Hit the most Homers in your Career (17) What Did You Do Differently? I Imagine After You Had that Conversation With Ted Williams about Turning On the Ball Inside more I'm Thinking you did something with your Hips but I would love to hear what you did
(2) Why Do You Say that The Knob Of the bat leads leads The Swing? (3) Why When you try to lead with the barrel 1st the bat goes in then out of the zone?
(4) Why does taking the barrel 1st in the swing takes the bat out of the zone so quickly?
(5) There is a video online of you taking hitting with some kids and you respond "Not Until After you make contact" What did he say to you?
(6) Did You Ever get into counts where you tried to "launch" the baseball?
(7) How did you come back and hit that ball down the line against Randy Johnson in the playoffs vs The Astros after striking out the previous ab?
(8) How Were You able to maintain your swing as you got older because I read somewhere where you said your eyesight wasn't as good?
(9) Did you ever think about going to another team that might have gotten you a better chance at getting a world series ring?
Oh If Only lol ....
You'd probably be playing your 2000th game tonight if you didn't blow your chance learning how to start earning some of that money
THE TOY CANNON! already liked the video cause of that 👍🏽
: "Uhhhh.... o.... I... ok, th-th-th-thanks."
It would've been nice for him to take initiative as well to show you. Question I have is what do you do when you have different hitting philosophy or belief than accomplished hitters? Gwynn preached knob to the ball which I hate. Pete Rose despises slight upswing which I love. He was a jerk about it when I saw him in Vegas.
Can you do thoughts about "Stealing First Base From Home?"
....what the heck do you mean, Tony...? He had you confused with a dump truck. It would seem that as a guy progresses through the system, a guy would need to shorten his swing, as pitching gets better? Matt, I admire the fact that you left everything on the field. There is no coulda' woulda' shoulda's with your time in baseball. Hypothetical, but do you think that your path would have been different, had you signed with the Dodgers, out of high school? How is the experience different for a guy that signs right out of high school, as opposed to taking the college route? Obviously, the bonuses are different, etc., but which do you think is a better path for a ball player to take? I have heard that some organizations, like the Yankees and Dodgers are tops when it comes to their minor league systems? thanks!
Sweet video 🐜! I'd of asked what his opinion was on being told to take a pitch especially a first pitch fastball
Do a tom Brady swing analysis
Can you do a Trey Mancini swing analysis?
do an alex bregman swing analysis
8 minute video with 1 minute long intro plus sponsorship. NOT STONKS (SEE MEME FOR REFERENCE)
My question?
Can i have the glove you don't Like?
For tony not you.
But really tho....😁
First