@@tspot816 ....me too. Lol. Im a lifelong Orioles fan but grew up in the 80s and 90s and always was amazed by Tony Gwynn. On another post here I mentioned that Tony Gwynn was a career .321 batter when he had 2 strikes against him. That is pure insanity. It didn't help a pitcher to get ahead of the count against Tony because he put up hall of fame batting average numbers with 2 strikes against him over his career. To put that in perspective....Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and all the other legendary players didn't even finish with a career .250 with 2 strikes. Ted Williams had the highest career average when he was behind the count at .233.... Which is still amazing in its own right when you figure that works out to getting a hit 25% of the time when you already have 2 strikes against you. I don't think I know of any stat in all of sports that is more clutch then Tony Gwynn being almost 90 points higher then Ted Williams and over 100 points higher then other legends in that situation.
@@patrickbrinkmeier1858 Facts! Another way to say it is that with any other batter that got close to .400, I always thought, "Aw, too bad, he was close." With Gwynn, I still absolutely can't believe he didn't hit .400 multiple seasons! It's an injustice, LOL! He was just that good.
Gwynn had a .338 lifetime BA, amazing during any era, but to do something like that today, with the differences in pitchers and pitching strategies, it's even more incredible.
Tony had a career batting average of .415 against Greg Maddux and Greg would get peeved if he was warming up in the bullpen before a game and he heard fans yelling "Hey, Maddux, Gwynn owns you!" I know, I was one of the fans yelling this!
I went early to the ballpark one day and got to see Tony Gwynn take BP. In his last turn in the cage, he hit a hard ground ball directly over the 3rd base bag. A line drive in the 5.5 hole, a line drive directly over second base, a screaming grounder through the 3.5 hole, a line drive that missed the 1st base bag by 8 inches, fair, and on the last pitch launched a line drive into the right field bleachers and he turned and walked out of the cage not even looking to see where the ball landed. I don’t care how far the home run guys hit them, that was the most amazing thing I ever saw in a BP format.
Exactly, the truly elite batters in MLB history like Tony Gwynn, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, etc were able to hit balls to specific areas of the field. Just making contact is hard enough... When you see the defense do a shift and you can intentionally drive the ball and put it in play where the fielders are not is a true generational talent.
“ intentionally drive the ball and put it in play where the fielders are not is a true generational talent.” Boggs was another one of those. Truly impressive.
@@baseballsux2 . Indeed.. out of the 80s guys you had Boggs, Molitor, Murray, Brett, and Mattingly that were all great at that in addition to Tony. But Tony stood above them all. And I say that as a die hard O's fan who idolized Cal Ripken Jr.
“But Tony stood above them all.” I certainly agree with that. And while those you mentioned were all great in their own right, Tony was in another level. But among tall the others, only Boggs came close to Gwynn. At least in terms of control of where he was hitting. I think a lot of that had to do with how well aware they (Gwynn and Boggs) were if exactly where any specific pitch was on the plate. Where other had it down to inches, Boggs had it down to centimeters and Gwynn had it down to millimeters. Ripken, Molitor, Mattingly, all greats with amazing plate awareness. But Boggs was on another level; while Gwynn was a step ahead of even Boggs.
When did Tony Gywnn pass away? I remember how well Ted Williams thought of him. He loved Tony Gywnn. And imagine how low Ted’s stats are considering he left to fight in WW2 and then again in Korea. I don’t believe anyone could have touched him but he was patriot first. Tony had said he ready William’s book, “The Art of Hitting.” I am truly bummed out to hear this and Ken Caminetti too? What did they both die from? I’ve been a Cubs fan my whole life which if you never had a done anything until 2016, we were just absolute suckers for watching them all the years we did. So sad that two Great players died. 😅😊
@@DudeEggs Greg Maddux is the most intelligent sane pitchers in baseball history. Matched by his Gold glove abilities. His movement isn't that great as plenty of other pitchers have better stuff but don't do nearly as well. Because Greg is so good with placement and control. Not to mention his well thought out mixture of pitches I'm just tired of this silly new youth word used incorrectly compared to the many decades before it when Insanity meant Bellevue, schizophrenia, straight jackets and medication.... Psychiatrists...
Maddux did have good movement. And it was LATE movement, which is even better. It’s like at the very last millisecond before the ball crosses beyond home plate, Maddux’s pitches would abruptly veer a few inches to the right, veer a few inches to the left, or the bottom would abruptly drop out of it where it would be coming at the hitter about waist-high, then it would abruptly wind up at or near shin-level. Maddux’s movement was definitely above average, but what was even more impressive was his command of the baseball. Smoltz said it perfectly. “Greg threw the ball precisely where he wanted it to end up about 90% of the time. And for the remaining 10% of his pitches, he was pretty darn close to throwing it where he wanted it to end up.” One of the greatest control pitchers in MLB history.
@@Mr-Angelo0U812 Oh I won't! My favorite player of all time. Only pitcher w over 300 Wins, 3000 Ks and under 1000 walks (999 exactly). When I get a dog I'm naming him Maddux!
@@brandocalrissian3294 He only had one 3 strikeout game in his entire career and never had more than 40 in a season. Batted .341 against the 25 Cy Young pitchers he faced. The best pure contact hitter of all time.
Grew up watching these guys play the game before analytics destroyed the game! Pitchers still pitched complete games and BA was the important stat not WAR something the people who made it up can't explain what it means 😅
Tony was one of the best ground ball hitters. Ever heard of the 5.5 hole? That's why Maddux went away, away, away, and away. It took a great play by Galarraga to get the out and keep the runner on 2nd from scoring.
@@KamalaToe He's a bit below but I think it's only because his MLB record is shifted 5 years too old, starting at 27 and ending at 45. (His last 7 years lowered his overall batting average)! So if he was in America 5 years earlier I think he could have easily matched or exceeded Tony Gwynn's career record ...nine NPB seasons in Japan, Suzuki had 1,278 hits, a . 353 career batting average. So even though in Japan that could have translated into better than Tony Gwynn numbers in USA... But I'm not sure how well he would have done at 18! More than likely Major League baseball wouldn't have taken him until he was at least 20, but he might have been an exception! He was exceptional!
@@danielrice7234And I agree with you-Tony Gwynn would have gotten praise no matter where he played. I honestly thought Maddux was going to strike out Gwynn.
@@KevinMiller-xn5vuGwynn never struck out against Maddux which is crazy. If I remember correctly, he only struck out 3 times in his career vs Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz combined.
The 90’s was great for all sports! Baseball was so exciting back then. The critics can say what they will but those crazy HR races were GREAT for the game. It was so entertaining back then.
If there is a player that examplifies the linedrive-hitting approach that has virtually vanished in MLB, it's Tony Gwynn. This guy considered hitting bombs in BP a failure, cause he felt it messed up his swing. Tell that to today's players of which most resemble the players on Arcade game of those years....
@@lethalus3494 Back in the day, contact-hitting was a more widespread and respected approach to/ability of hitting. Carew, Rose, Gwynn, Boggs, Butler, Lofton, Ichiro to name a few. Nowadays, guys like Arraez are unicorns.....
@@rudivanrooijen7611 oh yeah no doubt the game has changed more towards power I wasn't arguing you. Was just saying Arraez reminds me of Gwynn w the bat just not quite the all around player. It's similar to how the NBA went from post up/mid-range ball to the 3 pointer. NFL went from running the ball way more often to throwing it all the time. Sports evolve it is interesting!
@@lethalus3494I liked play in the big leagues more when teams had different philosophies, Whitey's Cardinals, Weaver's Orioles, Martin's Yankees, Kuenn's 'Brewers, Anderson's Tigers, Johnson's Mets, Cox's Braves. No doubt the level of play of today is higher, but MLB has also changed into more of an arcade version of itself. But hey, I guess I'm just getting old......
@@rudivanrooijen7611 I can see that side of things. The overall game has changed but each team still has there own unique DNA. And some teams do still rely on small-ball contact, speed and defense like the Cleveland Guardians. But at the end of the day HRs are exciting and they score runs which is how you win! More of a feast or famine league now but it isn't necessarily a bad thing it just sucks how many injuries occur nowadays.
Funny how we put such emphasis on speed these days. Imagine the rpm on some of those bugs bunny changeups and two seamers Maddux threw smh. And don’t get me started with Gwynn, they don’t build em like that anymore at the plate.
Yep, spin is more important than speed. If you have both though, forget about it. But if you want one vs the other, spin is more important, within reason.
Wade Boggs was like that, too, the AL version of Tony. Bill Madlock was also a similar hitter, sort of a forgotten guy, the only non-HOFer to win 4 batting titles.
That was a very good question, but even a better answer. But let's not kid ourselves... That was one of the best comparisons I have ever heard in all my time following sports. You nailed it ✅
For you younger people that didn't see Greg maddux pitch, you missed out on a legend. It was like watching a robot. Although he did lose me a lot of money in the mid-90s. He would pitch 8 innings and give up one run, but the braves would lose. With him pitching the odds would be so high. Him and Pedro Martinez were insane
Tony Gwynn is one of the most underrated athletes in any sport of the modern era. He’s like the Tim Duncan of Baseball, where everyone knows he’s a star, but they don’t fully appreciate how great he was because he never made splashy plays or hit a lot of HRs.
How would you shift against Gwynn? To pull? He would make use of the entire left side. To push? He'd pull it. He had such an understanding and command of hitting that trying to shift against him would only help him.
One of the greatest pure hitters ever vs, imo, the greatest true pitcher I’ve ever seen. They are also great guys outside baseball and guys you’d want your kids to look up to. So many athletes are trash in reality but not these two.
It's not fair to Tony. Greatness in the flesh displays humility and admiration for a rival competitor..... How do you not get romantic about baseball.....
The glory days are gone. No personalities in sports anymore, no great one on one or team match ups. I’m so thankful to have been alive during the best times 🙏
I love the conversation Gwynn had with Ted Williams where they discussed the smell of the burn of the bat when you hit it just right.... I apparently never hit a ball that hard
I'm so lucky to have grown up in San Diego and watch the greatest hitter of our time. Love you Mr Padres. When his son started being an announcer it hurt because he sounds exactly like Tony. But now I realize his voice makes me feel like Tony is still here and brings back great memories
I loved watching Tony Gwynn play all those years in San Diego. One of my treasured possessions is a Rawlings T.G. model mitt that he signed. I stopped watching MLB when he was ignored by them at the All-Star game after his passing.
Tony Gwynn was an amazing ball player, who was also a massive student of the game. He loved to study hitting like people study history or mediece. In 1993 he met Ted Williams, and they apparently shared several long conversations about hitting. On Ted's advice, Tony started pulling the ball more, and had his best seasons to date.
Maddux is ridiculously humble. And tat comparison is soo good. Never thought about it before but absolutely. Two of the smartest players of all time who weren't physically dominant but did it with their heads.
All of Tony's stat lines are insane. There are multiple players in the modern era that strike out more in a season than Tony did in his entire career. That dude was something special to watch. RIP to Mr Padre.
I went to a baseball camp in San Diego. Tony Gywn taught us how to bat, Hoffman on how to pitch and Caminiti on how to field balls. What a fucking insane experience.
![Lil Uzi Vert - Chill Bae [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D7F42F_JM3U/mqdefault.jpg)
341 batting average against Cy young winners is absolutely insane
He was my favorite hitter. I did everything I could to hit like he did. I only missed it by .340 lifetime (in high school and college) LOL:)
@@tspot816 ....me too. Lol. Im a lifelong Orioles fan but grew up in the 80s and 90s and always was amazed by Tony Gwynn. On another post here I mentioned that Tony Gwynn was a career .321 batter when he had 2 strikes against him. That is pure insanity. It didn't help a pitcher to get ahead of the count against Tony because he put up hall of fame batting average numbers with 2 strikes against him over his career. To put that in perspective....Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and all the other legendary players didn't even finish with a career .250 with 2 strikes. Ted Williams had the highest career average when he was behind the count at .233.... Which is still amazing in its own right when you figure that works out to getting a hit 25% of the time when you already have 2 strikes against you. I don't think I know of any stat in all of sports that is more clutch then Tony Gwynn being almost 90 points higher then Ted Williams and over 100 points higher then other legends in that situation.
@@patrickbrinkmeier1858 Facts! Another way to say it is that with any other batter that got close to .400, I always thought, "Aw, too bad, he was close." With Gwynn, I still absolutely can't believe he didn't hit .400 multiple seasons! It's an injustice, LOL! He was just that good.
Gwynn had a .338 lifetime BA, amazing during any era, but to do something like that today, with the differences in pitchers and pitching strategies, it's even more incredible.
Tony had a career batting average of .415 against Greg Maddux and Greg would get peeved if he was warming up in the bullpen before a game and he heard fans yelling "Hey, Maddux, Gwynn owns you!" I know, I was one of the fans yelling this!
That was a classy line from Maddux.
Absolutely
It was a compliment to Tony
@@shawnsbrooks Thanks for explaining that! Lol
@@jimbluebaugh6090 oh shit... I thought he said "cheesy"
Great!
It’s not fair to Tony is very funny to me. 😂
It really is. That made me lol
Maddux had some cocky to him... he was a competitor. So for him to say that was very humble.
To make it even: Tony Gwynn was the Greg Maddux of Hitting & Greg Maddux was the Tony Gwynn of Pitching.
Both players are pure class
That matchup itself is worth the price of admission.
2 of the greatest to ever do it head to head
I went early to the ballpark one day and got to see Tony Gwynn take BP. In his last turn in the cage, he hit a hard ground ball directly over the 3rd base bag. A line drive in the 5.5 hole, a line drive directly over second base, a screaming grounder through the 3.5 hole, a line drive that missed the 1st base bag by 8 inches, fair, and on the last pitch launched a line drive into the right field bleachers and he turned and walked out of the cage not even looking to see where the ball landed. I don’t care how far the home run guys hit them, that was the most amazing thing I ever saw in a BP format.
Tony Gwynn was so graceful at the plate. Was a pleasure to watch him in his prime.
Exactly, the truly elite batters in MLB history like Tony Gwynn, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, etc were able to hit balls to specific areas of the field. Just making contact is hard enough... When you see the defense do a shift and you can intentionally drive the ball and put it in play where the fielders are not is a true generational talent.
“ intentionally drive the ball and put it in play where the fielders are not is a true generational talent.”
Boggs was another one of those. Truly impressive.
@@baseballsux2 . Indeed.. out of the 80s guys you had Boggs, Molitor, Murray, Brett, and Mattingly that were all great at that in addition to Tony. But Tony stood above them all. And I say that as a die hard O's fan who idolized Cal Ripken Jr.
“But Tony stood above them all.”
I certainly agree with that. And while those you mentioned were all great in their own right, Tony was in another level. But among tall the others, only Boggs came close to Gwynn. At least in terms of control of where he was hitting.
I think a lot of that had to do with how well aware they (Gwynn and Boggs) were if exactly where any specific pitch was on the plate. Where other had it down to inches, Boggs had it down to centimeters and Gwynn had it down to millimeters.
Ripken, Molitor, Mattingly, all greats with amazing plate awareness. But Boggs was on another level; while Gwynn was a step ahead of even Boggs.
Rest in peace, Tony Gywnn one of the best hitters of all time 🙏
Noooooooo
Absolutely, and the guy they showed on deck Ken Caminiti,is also no longer with us as well.
He only hit under .300 once, his rookie year. He made it look easy.
@@operasinger2126 I am a big dodger fan, but I always admired him
When did Tony Gywnn pass away? I remember how well Ted Williams thought of him. He loved Tony Gywnn. And imagine how low Ted’s stats are considering he left to fight in WW2 and then again in Korea. I don’t believe anyone could have touched him but he was patriot first. Tony had said he ready William’s book, “The Art of Hitting.” I am truly bummed out to hear this and Ken Caminetti too? What did they both die from? I’ve been a Cubs fan my whole life which if you never had a done anything until 2016, we were just absolute suckers for watching them all the years we did. So sad that two Great players died. 😅😊
Of all the things I admire about Greg Maddux I admire most his humour and class.
💯
I love Greg Maddux, but if someone took a dump on my birthday cake, I think I wouldn't hang with that guy
@@mortson978Greg Maddux took a dump on someone’s birthday cake?
@@JoeBuck-uc3bl he did indeed
But also his baseball, lol
These are two masters of their craft. I could watch this matchup everyday
I did during the 96-97 season as a season ticket holder.
@@bobs8005 I could, you are 100% correct about that.
The movement on Maddux's pitches was insane
No it represents sanity based on hard work and rational approaches
@@mickeydrago9401to think that is possible strikes most as the opposite of sane due to a lack of belief in self. To them it is truly insane.
@@DudeEggs
Greg Maddux is the most intelligent sane pitchers in baseball history. Matched by his Gold glove abilities.
His movement isn't that great as plenty of other pitchers have better stuff but don't do nearly as well. Because Greg is so good with placement and control. Not to mention his well thought out mixture of pitches
I'm just tired of this silly new youth word used incorrectly compared to the many decades before it when Insanity meant Bellevue, schizophrenia, straight jackets and medication.... Psychiatrists...
@@DudeEggsI think you and the other guy are taking OP's statement a hair too literally.
To be clear: not a literal hair
Maddux did have good movement. And it was LATE movement, which is even better. It’s like at the very last millisecond before the ball crosses beyond home plate, Maddux’s pitches would abruptly veer a few inches to the right, veer a few inches to the left, or the bottom would abruptly drop out of it where it would be coming at the hitter about waist-high, then it would abruptly wind up at or near shin-level. Maddux’s movement was definitely above average, but what was even more impressive was his command of the baseball. Smoltz said it perfectly. “Greg threw the ball precisely where he wanted it to end up about 90% of the time. And for the remaining 10% of his pitches, he was pretty darn close to throwing it where he wanted it to end up.” One of the greatest control pitchers in MLB history.
Yes. 2 Legends facing off. A pure hitter vs. a pure pitcher.
The greatest of contests 😮
Very classy, Greg Maddux. Thanks for being a part of Baseball when it was great!
If all hitters were as good as Gwynn was, the rule would probably be 2 strikes you're out.
If all hitters were as good as Tony Gwynn, you wouldn't need a "shift rule".
Two of the greatest and classiest players ever! Greg Maddux 18 gold gloves 🐐. RIP Tony Gwynn!
And don't forget Maddux won 4 Cy Youngs in a row.
@@Mr-Angelo0U812 Oh I won't! My favorite player of all time. Only pitcher w over 300 Wins, 3000 Ks and under 1000 walks (999 exactly). When I get a dog I'm naming him Maddux!
Had it not been for the strike shortening season, Tony would have had a .400 or better season.
@@brandocalrissian3294 He only had one 3 strikeout game in his entire career and never had more than 40 in a season. Batted .341 against the 25 Cy Young pitchers he faced. The best pure contact hitter of all time.
Grew up watching these guys play the game before analytics destroyed the game! Pitchers still pitched complete games and BA was the important stat not WAR something the people who made it up can't explain what it means 😅
"that damn Tony Gwynn". Everyone has their nemesis, but Tony was everyone's. But a ground ball was exactly what Maddux wanted, he pitched to contact.
You don't throw a 78 pitch complete game by striking everybody out...ergo...Strikeouts are for suckers who just want to waste time 😂
and Tony hit for contact.
Tony was one of the best ground ball hitters. Ever heard of the 5.5 hole? That's why Maddux went away, away, away, and away. It took a great play by Galarraga to get the out and keep the runner on 2nd from scoring.
The most humble man in sports. A person to emulate both on and off the field. May his legacy live on forever.
Any talk about baseball in the 80's and 90's who would you start your team with these two guys were right at the top.
Greatest hitter I have ever seen in my personal lifetime (now 54 yrs old).
I agree. Although, Ichiro is right there with him!
@@KamalaToe
He's a bit below but I think it's only because his MLB record is shifted 5 years too old, starting at 27 and ending at 45. (His last 7 years lowered his overall batting average)!
So if he was in America 5 years earlier I think he could have easily matched or exceeded Tony Gwynn's career record
...nine NPB seasons in Japan, Suzuki had 1,278 hits, a . 353 career batting average. So even though in Japan that could have translated into better than Tony Gwynn numbers in USA... But I'm not sure how well he would have done at 18! More than likely Major League baseball wouldn't have taken him until he was at least 20, but he might have been an exception! He was exceptional!
Same.. ichiro also to be fair
Same age and in total agreement.
What a great compliment and comeback.
341 is special, but with 25 cy young winners...damn 😅
Imagine how much more praise Tony Gwynn would have gotten if he played in a major market.
I don't agree
@@danielrice7234And I agree with you-Tony Gwynn would have gotten praise no matter where he played. I honestly thought Maddux was going to strike out Gwynn.
Everyone in MLB and anyone who followed baseball was well aware of the greatness of Tony Gwynn despite playing in SD.
@@KevinMiller-xn5vuGwynn never struck out against Maddux which is crazy. If I remember correctly, he only struck out 3 times in his career vs Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz combined.
I know.
Two great MLB players, it was an honor to have watched them play the game of ⚾️...
Maddox (355 wins), Glavine (305 wins) and Smoltz (213 wins) were three of the best pitchers in baseball all on the same team.
Steve Avery was no slouch either
By far the best hitter I have seen in my lifetime. RIP Tony. You were so much fun to watch.
Such an amazing time in baseball. Two giants at their respective positions/crafts. 🙏💯🔥
The 90’s was great for all sports! Baseball was so exciting back then. The critics can say what they will but those crazy HR races were GREAT for the game. It was so entertaining back then.
@@nickolaslewis4416 without a doubt, for me was the 300vg hitters. There where so many, now it's the 200 avg club with a 40 homers
Tony left us too soon. I could listen to him talk baseball for hours. Such a nice dude too.
What a lethal 1-2 punch, Gwynn consistently getting on base and Caminiti juiced up to drive him in
Both now dead.
That top 4 of Gwynn, Fernandez, Sheffield, and McGriff may have been best in baseball that year. No one wanted to start the night off against those 4.
If there is a player that examplifies the linedrive-hitting approach that has virtually vanished in MLB, it's Tony Gwynn. This guy considered hitting bombs in BP a failure, cause he felt it messed up his swing.
Tell that to today's players of which most resemble the players on Arcade game of those years....
Luis Arraez is a lot like Gwynn.
@@lethalus3494 Back in the day, contact-hitting was a more widespread and respected approach to/ability of hitting. Carew, Rose, Gwynn, Boggs, Butler, Lofton, Ichiro to name a few. Nowadays, guys like Arraez are unicorns.....
@@rudivanrooijen7611 oh yeah no doubt the game has changed more towards power I wasn't arguing you. Was just saying Arraez reminds me of Gwynn w the bat just not quite the all around player. It's similar to how the NBA went from post up/mid-range ball to the 3 pointer. NFL went from running the ball way more often to throwing it all the time. Sports evolve it is interesting!
@@lethalus3494I liked play in the big leagues more when teams had different philosophies, Whitey's Cardinals, Weaver's Orioles, Martin's Yankees, Kuenn's 'Brewers, Anderson's Tigers, Johnson's Mets, Cox's Braves. No doubt the level of play of today is higher, but MLB has also changed into more of an arcade version of itself. But hey, I guess I'm just getting old......
@@rudivanrooijen7611 I can see that side of things. The overall game has changed but each team still has there own unique DNA. And some teams do still rely on small-ball contact, speed and defense like the Cleveland Guardians. But at the end of the day HRs are exciting and they score runs which is how you win! More of a feast or famine league now but it isn't necessarily a bad thing it just sucks how many injuries occur nowadays.
2 of the GREATS !!!!
Yep. Both were so smart and intense.
Best contact hitter if all time
Let's just say "one of the greatest". You're not accounting for the history of baseball you've never watched.
@@strkeout fair enough...
Worst contact hitter ever
Pete Rose and Ichiro have an argument for that title but Gwynn is definitely in the conversation
Ever hear of Ted Williams? @mmarocker
Funny how we put such emphasis on speed these days. Imagine the rpm on some of those bugs bunny changeups and two seamers Maddux threw smh. And don’t get me started with Gwynn, they don’t build em like that anymore at the plate.
Yep, spin is more important than speed. If you have both though, forget about it. But if you want one vs the other, spin is more important, within reason.
@@dthorne4602 I always tell people, Pedro Martinez was 5’10 max, but he could hold 4 baseballs with one hand.
Greg was just that good... His 2 seam was straight up NASTY!
2 of the best baseball players that ever lived!!!
The 90s was peak sports. NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, WWF, WCW, ECW.
Doesn't matter. We lived the best times.
TGwynn was an awesome hitter! LB represent!!!!
Wade Boggs was like that, too, the AL version of Tony. Bill Madlock was also a similar hitter, sort of a forgotten guy, the only non-HOFer to win 4 batting titles.
If they'd kept Boggs hitting coach in Boston he'd have even more impressive batting statistics
Greatest hitter of the last 50 years
With 8 batting titles...he's the BEST hitter in the history of baseball/ML
I’ll take Barry
Barry who? Barry Larkin? He was great....but Gwynn was much much better!
@@enriqueelpiquemedina2665 haha. Correct. I like Barry Larkin better then Barry Steroid
Ichiro deserves an honourable mention
A 341 average against 25 Cy Young winners? WOW. That dude was a phenomenal hitter
My favorite hitter and pitcher growing up
Amazing hitter... Gwynne was incredible
Two of the best at each side. Great contact hitter and best placement pitcher! Loved this
Gwynn simply tortured Maddux. I guess every pitcher has that one hitter they can't get out all that often.
And Tony was that one hitter for many pitchers.
Two of the best ever. To be able to watch them oppose each other is exceptionally special to see.
Maddux has always been so gracious. I hear matchups were so fun to watch. Legends doing legendary things.
Ken Caminiti on deck...
R.I.P. to him and Tony
I love that Greg and Tony were able to be teammates towards the end. Two all-time greats 👍
Couple of legends! Both of them were "quintessential" ball players
So many memories
Both were just incredible to watch. RIP, Mr. Qwynn.
I met Greg Maddox at a pitching camp about 20 years ago
Didn’t even know he was going to be there
Great experience
Gotta love Greg’s humbleness, dude was the ultimate ball player.
If Strider could learn that 2 seamer, he would be unhittable
That was a very good question, but even a better answer. But let's not kid ourselves... That was one of the best comparisons I have ever heard in all my time following sports. You nailed it ✅
Can you imagine this matchup in the bottom of the 9th of a World Series game 7 with the bases loaded…that would’ve literally been a movie!!
Rest in peace Tony gwynn the best of the best hitter of all time...
For you younger people that didn't see Greg maddux pitch, you missed out on a legend. It was like watching a robot. Although he did lose me a lot of money in the mid-90s. He would pitch 8 innings and give up one run, but the braves would lose. With him pitching the odds would be so high. Him and Pedro Martinez were insane
Tony Gwynn & Greg Maddux, two of the best back in those days 👍
Two masters of their craft. Both were amazing
My goodness, Tony Gwynn was a different breed of ball player.
Maddux is still painting the corners with a masterful reply in respect to Tony G. I want to go back in time. RIP Tony Gywnn.
Tony Gwynn was one of the greatest contact hitters of all time. Rod Carew was also one of the best I ever watched.
Tony Gwynn is one of the most underrated athletes in any sport of the modern era. He’s like the Tim Duncan of Baseball, where everyone knows he’s a star, but they don’t fully appreciate how great he was because he never made splashy plays or hit a lot of HRs.
Gwynn & Ichiro?
Two best pure Contact hitters EVER SEEN
Noone could intentionally foul one off like Gwynn. Best pure hitter of my lifetime.
Maddox... Best methodical picture ever.
Can you imagine his average in the shift game? Unlike today's hitters, Tony could hit to all fields, he was awesome!
How would you shift against Gwynn? To pull? He would make use of the entire left side. To push? He'd pull it. He had such an understanding and command of hitting that trying to shift against him would only help him.
@@ahoneybee823 My point exactly!!
@@pwd1679 If that level of shifting were a thing in 94, he'd have hit well over .400
@@ahoneybee823 easily!
I actually watched that at bat. Tony was a savage. Seeing him up against Greg was epic. Both fellas were just unstoppable. Great stuff.
Imagine if Tony Gwynn played in today's era.
A total baller quote from Greg
Best hitter in my life, Ichiro was excellent as well.
Griffey jr had "the sweetest swing I've ever seen"
Gwinn was one of my favorite hitters. A pure get in base batter. Nothing fancy, no big swings for home runs. Loved it
Omg that is beyond a compliment. I’m a blue jays fan from the 90’s and we respected Maddox to our utmost
Hacksaw just has that chill personality. He’d be awesome to talk to, you can tell
One of the greatest pure hitters ever vs, imo, the greatest true pitcher I’ve ever seen. They are also great guys outside baseball and guys you’d want your kids to look up to. So many athletes are trash in reality but not these two.
Got the pleasure to see him play many times while living in San Diego and it was a treat to see him bat, one of the best contact hitters ever.
It's not fair to Tony.
Greatness in the flesh displays humility and admiration for a rival competitor.....
How do you not get romantic about baseball.....
Greg wasn't being humble; he was simply telling the truth🤔😁😎
The glory days are gone.
No personalities in sports anymore, no great one on one or team match ups.
I’m so thankful to have been alive during the best times 🙏
I love the conversation Gwynn had with Ted Williams where they discussed the smell of the burn of the bat when you hit it just right.... I apparently never hit a ball that hard
Miss those days ❤😊
I'm so lucky to have grown up in San Diego and watch the greatest hitter of our time. Love you Mr Padres.
When his son started being an announcer it hurt because he sounds exactly like Tony. But now I realize his voice makes me feel like Tony is still here and brings back great memories
2 of the THOUSANDS of incredible ball players from back in the day
Love Greg's answer. What a legend!
I loved watching Tony Gwynn play all those years in San Diego. One of my treasured possessions is a Rawlings T.G. model mitt that he signed.
I stopped watching MLB when he was ignored by them at the All-Star game after his passing.
The end 😂😂 both were the best at what they did fun to watch
Two of the best to do it
Damn. Thats serious honesty. His stock went up to a large degree with that response.
Tony Gwynn was an amazing ball player, who was also a massive student of the game. He loved to study hitting like people study history or mediece.
In 1993 he met Ted Williams, and they apparently shared several long conversations about hitting. On Ted's advice, Tony started pulling the ball more, and had his best seasons to date.
This guy is a true hitter sheeesh he was too good
Greg Maddux with the best circle change ever seen. Love that dude.
What a respectful answer to that question! Maddux didn’t want to steal any of Gwynn’s thunder.
Two class acts. Especially Tony G. Hard to find any like him in baseball today.
This was the great thing about being stationed in the navy in San Diego. Getting to watch Tony Gwynn play baseball.
The movement has n those pitches is insane. It doesn’t break until it’s literally almost over the playe
Tony and Greg were two reasons 90s baseball was so much fun
Anonthy Keith Gywnn Sr was my favorite player to watch. I was privileged to watch him play in San Diego his whole career.
Two of the best to ever do it! RIP TG🙏
Maddux is ridiculously humble. And tat comparison is soo good. Never thought about it before but absolutely. Two of the smartest players of all time who weren't physically dominant but did it with their heads.
All of Tony's stat lines are insane. There are multiple players in the modern era that strike out more in a season than Tony did in his entire career. That dude was something special to watch. RIP to Mr Padre.
One of the best pure hitters of all time versus one of the best pitchers of all time.
I went to a baseball camp in San Diego. Tony Gywn taught us how to bat, Hoffman on how to pitch and Caminiti on how to field balls. What a fucking insane experience.
Tony the Accountant Gwynn was an absolutely amazing hitter.