Some numbers to contemplate on Tony Gwynn's career:
The hitting machine
Gwynn has won eight batting crowns, tied with Honus Wagner for second-most behind Ty Cobb's 12. Gwynn won his first crown in 1984, when he hit .351, and his final one in 1997, when he hit .372.
In his 19 seasons prior to 2001, he hit below .300 just once -- in his rookie year of 1982, when he hit .289 in 190 at-bats.
Those 18 consecutive seasons of hitting .300 rank second all-time, once again behind Cobb. The most: Cobb 23; Gwynn 18; Stan Musial 16; Ted Williams and Rod Carew, 15.
Not only did Gwynn win the eight batting titles, but he finished in the top five on five other occasions: second once, third two times, fourth and fifth once each.
Gwynn's .338 career average is 11th all-time since 1900. However, Gwynn ranks even higher when comparing his average to the league average. Gwynn has been 27.7 percent better than the league average entering this season, fourth all-time since 1900, trailing only Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ted Williams.
With 3,124 hits, Gwynn currently ranks 16th on the all-time hits list. That is also the fifth-most hits for a player who spent his entire career with one team. What's interesting is that eight members of the 3,000-hit club played with just one team -- and four of those players (Gwynn, Cal Ripken, George Brett, Robin Yount) played in the '90s.
Gwynn had a lifetime average of .343 at his home stadium in San Diego entering the 2001 season. Among NL parks, his highest lifetime average was .360 at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium.
Highest single-season averages since Ted Williams hit .401 in 1941:
1. Tony Gwynn, Padres, 1994: .394
2. George Brett, Royals, 1980, .390
3. Ted Williams, Red Sox, 1957, .388
4. Rod Carew, Twins, 1977, .388
5. Larry Walker, Rockies, 1999, .379
6. Stan Musial, Cardinals, 1948, .376
7. Tony Gwynn, Padres, 1997, .372
8. Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox, 2000, .372
9. Todd Helton, Rockies, 2000, .372
10. Tony Gwynn, Padres, 1993, .370
11. Tony Gwynn, Padres, 1987, .370
12. Andres Galarraga, Rockies, 1993, .370
13. Ted Williams, Red Sox, 1948, .369
14. Tony Gwynn, Padres, 1995, .368
15. Wade Boggs, Red Sox, 1985, .368
Career highlights
First major-league hit came on July 19, 1982 at home off Philadelphia's Sid Monge.
Hit No. 3,000 came in Montreal on August 6, 1999, off Dan Smith.
Has won five Gold Gloves -- 1986-87, 1989-91.
Has been elected to start in the All-Star Game 11 times and has played in 13 (missed two due to injury).
Top-10 finishes in the MVP vote:
1984, 3rd
1986, 9th
1987, 8th
1989, 8th
1994, 7th
1995, 9th
1997, 6th
Gwynn had a career-high six hits in a 12-inning game in 1993 vs. San Francisco. He has had five hits in a game on eight occasions.
Has had more walks than strikeouts every season since his rookie year, when he had 14 walks and 16 strikeouts.
As a high-average hitter who doesn't walk a lot, you would think Gwynn would have some long hitting streak, but his career-high is 25 games, set back in 1983.
Longest slump of his career was an 0-for-19 skid in 1998.
Take that, Will
Gwynn's largest margin of victory among his eight batting crowns was 32 points over Pedro Guerrero in 1987 (.370 to .338). His closest race was 1989, when he edged out Will Clark, .336 to .333. The Padres and Giants played head-to-head the final series and Gwynn went 6-for-8 as Clark went 3-for-10 to capture the title.
But where's the power?
Gwynn's season-by-season top-five NL rankings in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS (on-base + slugging):
Year AVG OBP OPS
1984 1 3 ---
1985 4 --- ---
1986 3 5 ---
1987 1 2 5
1988 1 5 ---
1989 1 --- ---
1990 --- --- ---
1991 3 --- ---
1992 5 --- ---
1993 2 --- ---
1994 1 2 4
1995 1 3 ---
1996 1 --- ---
1997 1 --- ---
1998 --- --- ---
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