Terribly sad news comes today with the death of Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Gwynn succumbed to oral cancer, the result of too many years as a smokeless tobacco user. He was way too young, only 54 years old.
Gwynn had all the credentials of a Hall of Fame player: 20 seasons, all with the San Diego Padres, 3,141 hits, and a career batting average of .338. Not known as a power guy, he had only 135 home runs in his career, he nonetheless compiled a career slugging percentage of .459.
His best year was arguably the strike shortened season of 1994. In only 110 games, Gwynn hit an incredible .394 that season and had an OPS of 1.022. Had he been able to eek out only three more base hits that season - THREE!!! - he would have wound up with a .401 average.
By all accounts, Gwynn was just as good a person as he was a ball player.
RIP Tony Gwynn.
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