The Late Tony Gwynn’s Incredible Hitting Numbers

Jayson Stark on Tony Gwynn, who died of cancer last night at age 54:

• Gwynn had six straight seasons (and eight altogether) in which he struck out fewer than 20 times. Did you know there were 97 hitters in the big leagues who whiffed at least 20 times just last month?

• Finally, what does it mean to have piled up a .338 batting average over a 20-year career, over 9,288 at-bats? It means Tony Gwynn would have had to go 0-for-his-next-1,183 to get his average to fall under .300 (and even then, it would have “plummeted” to a mere .29997). We kid you not.

So sad. Gwynn was everything: an amazing athlete, great competitor, and a nice guy.

★ Monday, 16 June 2014