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Hey guys! idk why but YT has hidden you from me for a while. Not cool lol. Seeing as you are a big Padres fan, but still, pretty new to the franchise, have you ever heard of a game against the Padres known as "The No No"? It is a massively historic game for an EXTREMELY strange reason. The opposing pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dock Ellis was hiiiiigh as a Georgia pine on LSD and threw a no hitter! There is a really awesome 4.5 minute animated video that is narrated by the Doc himself(audio recorded a year before he passed away) made by a channel called "Victory Journal". Doc spins a super groovy tale of the events, starting from 2 days prior to the game, all the way until the last pitch. But again, only 4.5 minutes I don't know if I can share the link, but the video is titled "No Mas Presents: Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden". I HIGHLY recommend you watch it, and it is appropriate to view on cam, as nothing graphic is really shown or talked about. It was a radio interview so it had to be suitable for audiences. I would love if you could do a video on it for us!! or at least watch it off cam and tell me what you thought!
A baseball can be juiced by wrapping the string that makes up most of the ball tighter, this would make the ball harder making the collision with the bat more elastic (less energy lost due to deformation of the ball) which would make the ball fly farther. Probably wasn't the start of the steroid juicing era, as HR's fell back to normal the next year and players didn't suddenly "bulk up". Ted Williams "picking his teeth" with Tony's bat is a joke. Players today use much lighter bats than they used in past. A normal bat of today is 34-38 ozs. where as in the 40s and 50's many players used 40+ oz bats.
People don't realize just how kind, gracious, and humble Tony Gwynn was. My teen-aged cousin had cancer and was an avid Tony Gwynn fan. After years of battling cancer and near his death, he was visited by Tony. Tony came to his house and stayed for several hours talking with my cousin while he was awake and sitting by his side signing the hundreds of Tony Gwynn baseball cards my cousin had while my cousin periodically fell asleep. There wasn't media or a team PR person there, just Tony. I'm sure he wasn't perfect, nobody is, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a super-star (or any person really) that's a better human being than Tony Gwynn.
Same, my dad had season tickets behind 3B in the 80’s and 90’s when I was a kid. I grew up watching some terrible teams until 1996 & 1998,, but always had fun watching Tony chase the Batting Title, and usually getting it. RIP Mr Padre
Lmao, you obviously weren't paying attention to what was going on the East Coast at the same time, since Cal Ripken Jr. is exactly that. Cal is a Maryland native, his dad was a legendary coach for the O's, and Cal's younger brother Billy played for the O's as well. The Ripken family, particularly Cal Jr., are/were Mid-Atlantic royalty.
I see you guys laughing at the San Diego Chicken 😂 Just know he is also a San Diego icon, who revolutionized the job of mascot, and eventually left SD and became nationally known as The Famous Chicken.
Another great hitter was Ichiro Suzuki. He played 9 years in the Japanese league and had 1,278 hits. In his MLB career he played 19 seasons and had 3,089 hits...that is astounding!
Some mind-blowing Tony Gwynn stats: Tony Gwynn never hit below .300 in his career, other than his rookie season when he hit .289 in 54 games, a 19-year streak surpassed only by Ty Cobb. A career .338 hitter, he would had to have gone on a streak of 0-for-1183 to dip below .300 (about two full seasons). He finished his career with only 434 strikeouts over 20 seasons, an average of fewer than 22 per season. Many players will reach that total number of strikeouts in only 2 seasons of play. He only had ONE three-strikeout game in his entire career, and only 33 games with two. No hitter born after 1900 reached 3000 career hits in fewer games than Gwynn. He had his career-high 220 hits in his age 37 season. Every other hitter with a career .338 avg or better started playing before 1940. Gwynn had 9 five-hit games, surpassed only by Pete Rose with 10. Gwynn had 323 at-bats against Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, four of the greatest pitchers of the era. He only struck out 3 times, 2 of them by Glavine. Maddux and Martinez never struck him out.
"You just cant do it. Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitches if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitchers hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. Except for the (expletive) Tony Gwynn" Still my favorite quote about Tony from Greg Maddux hahaha
It's so nice to see someone appreciate the Padres from across the pond. I went to my first Padres game as a wee girl in 1978. It wasn't always easy to be a Padres fan, but it sure was fun. I'm forever grateful Tony stayed with San Diego when he could have left and made so much more money elsewhere. His son, Anthony does commentary for the Padres now, and they sound SO much alike that I have to remind myself that it isn't Tony. What a class act he was.
My best baseball moment…playing in a police tournament at Tony Gwynn Stadium in 2001 on the campus of San Diego State University. Come off the field at the end of the inning and who is in the dugout but Tony himself. He started clapping and saying “ok who’s our leadoff who’s our leadoff.” I said uh me. He said ok let’s go then. I get up and line the first pitch to center for a hit and as I return to first I see Tony standing up clapping and shouting “that’s for you do it boys, that’s leadoff,” and then exited the dugout. It was a surreal moment. Tony was so special.
As a San Diegan who grew up with the 90's-2000's Padres, Tony Gwynn IS our hero. I'll put it like this, he was considered to be a better man than he was a baseball player, so that says a lot about his character. He was out and about in the community all the time, and always took time to greet fans out in public. Even while coaching at SDSU Baseball, I heard you could catch him in the parking lot and hew would take the time to talk to you. He is the embodiment of the phrase "Stay Classy, San Diego".
When I was 9 years old in 1987, I watched a segment on the show Kiner's Corner (Ralph Kiner former slugger for the Pirates was a Mets broadcaster who did a postgame show) where he interviewed an assistant commissioner of MLB about the allegations of the ball being "juiced up" for that season. I was inspired to write a letter to the commissioner's office, and actually got a typewritten reply denying the allegations, and advancing the theory that players were making great advances strength and athleticism. Little did I know at that time as a kid that retrospectively, that kind of reads as a euphemism for the beginning of steroids in the game!
I am a diehard Padres fan, lived my whole life here in San Diego and played baseball all the way through my first year of college. Tony Gwynn is an ICON here for us San Diegans, one of the greatest hitters of all time and an even better person. I know I speak for all Padres fans when I say that we loved that man dearly and I still get choked up thinking about him. So happy to see you guys get to learn about the greatness of Mr. Padre
I watched Tony Gwynn's first game in San Diego. Always a class guy and we lost him way too soon. I think he would have become a great coach over time. By the way, I have been a Padre fan since 1955 when they were a small minor league team and Ted Williams was a member of their team in 1937 on his way to becoming one of the best hitters in Baseball, and Tony is in that group as well.
Texas Rangers fan here, love the Tony Gwynn reaction. One of my favorite players all time, and like many others have already commented, the man had a fantastic character and huge heart.
One of the greatest pure hitters of recent years... he just would hit them in whatever gap the opponents gave him... regardless of the pitcher. A maestro with the bat. Love your baseball journey!
Let's Go Padres!! We're glad to have you on board. If you ever get a chance you have to see a game at petco park. Go on a Friday night game it's like a big party!
My brother played with Chris (Tony's younger brother) at San Diego State & on The USA 1984 Olympic Team. I briefly got to meet Tony, But Chris is a genuinely sweet guy.
Over the years, there had been different "Ball Era": There was a Dead Ball Era etc. Every now and then Home Runs become more frequent, then there is theory that the Ball is "Juiced" which means the League has altered the production of the Balls. You can wound the balls tighter or looser, will make it react differently depending.
Born and raised a Padre fan and Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn was, is and will always be the greatest, kindest and most humble humans. We were lucky to have him. RIP Tony!
I was fortunate enough to be Stationed in San Diego and Long Beach while in the Navy in the late 1980s. I got to see a lot of games at San Diego, La Dodgers and Angel games. Ticket prices in those days were very reasonable. Tony Gwynn stood out. Pure hitter! The visiting teams that I saw the most at Padres and Dodgers games was the NY Mets who were contenders in that era. The road team that I saw the most at Angels games were the Oakland A's also contenders with Canseco and McGuire. Being from my hometown of Buffalo who only had Triple A baseball, I felt honored to be able to attend games in that era of baseball.
Hey guys, half way through the video, wanted to stop and post because I've heard the name Musial twice now. He's someone you need to look up. Lifetime Cardinal and considered up there with the likes of Babe, Willaims, Aaron and Mays. A top 10 player of all time and the reason my father was named Stan. Love the channel, watched almost everyday for over a year now. Hello, from Vermont, USA.
Idk if there’s any good videos on Stan the man Musial, but he was an absolute stud. I believe he missed the 1945 season because he was drafted for WW2 as well
Went to my first Padres game in the then San Diego Stadium in 1976 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. I was six years old. Been a fan since. I remember Gwynn's rookie season, I remember talking to him in right field before the game and getting his autograph over multiple years. What a great time for me as a kid
Tony Gwynn was just the coolest guy. He put our town on the sports map. It's also cool that you guys want to learn baseball. I've become a EPL fan and I love it.
Ted Williams ("the Splendid Splinter") is, by general consensus, the greatest hitter ever. Period. Last person to hit over .400 (hit .406 in 1941). He missed 3 full seasons during WWII 1943-45, then almost 2 full seasons during the Korean War in the early 1950s (he was a fighter pilot!). In all he missed almost 5 full seasons and would likely have easily surpassed Babe Ruth in home runs. His lifetime batting average was .344 and age 41, his last year he only had 390 at bats (usual is over 500) and hit 29 homers and batter .316--which would be an excellent year now. In his last at bat of his career he hit a home run. Legend. Absolutely no peer as a hitter. You should do a retrospective on Ted Williams. The picked his teeth joke is because of the small size of Tony's bat.
So i feel like stories are make things more fun then stats. And Tony has some of the great ones. This is from a show i listen to and the guest on the shows favorite player was Gwynn. He was a HS pitcher so nothing special, but he had gone to a hitting camp of Tony's and got to throw live AB's to Gwynn. The fun part of the story is Tony is instructing while going through live AB's, and every pitch he the guy through, Tony would call out the pit, the location, and where he was hitting it as the pitch was being thrown. And continuing on with his instruction all at the same time. I am not sure why but these sort of fun stories show how much more impressive these people were than any number ever could.
I just want to say thank you for bringing back more of the traditional 4 PM Eastern uploads. I’m very happy to see more of them making a return. I’m sure many others have noticed as well and are very appreciative. This is the great content that helped most of us find your channel in the first place. Keep up the great work guys. ❤️❤️
Thank you Gracie and thank you for the donation! We are doing our best to get some sort of sports schedule going. Appreciate the patience and the support 🙏🏼
I watch him play in person for his whole career here in San Diego he was the most humble person you could meet. His own father was mad at him for not signing with another team for more money. But he refuse to leave San Diego. His brother Chris and his son Tony jr. Both played for the Padre too in their careers.
Gwynn is a rarity! He grew up in San Diego, went to college to San Diego State University, and played for his childhood team in the San Diego Padres for his whole career. Since 1960, only Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr (Orioles), Derek Jeter (Yankees) and Larry "Chipper" Jones (Braves) played their whole career with their childhood team. All 4 are Baseball Hall of Famers. -- at least counting more than 15 seasons
Finally! The video I have been waiting for, I never got to watch Mr Padre play bc I was born in 01 but he was still a massively influential person in San Diego
I'm convinced that Tony Gywnn would have finished over 400 avg. the year they canceled the season with a month to go. He was locked in it that year, especially following the All-Star break. Generally the last month of the season teams are allowed to expand their rosters with minor leaguers. Therefore, Tony would have faced many of those minor leaguers which he would have ripped apart. It's a real shame he was denied that opportunity. I feel fortunate to have witnessed this great hitter countless times over his entire career. I was at his final game which I was fortunate enough to witness another Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson receive his 3,000th hit.
Just FYI, Tony Gwynn died so young because of cancer. He'd gone through several treatments for cancer of the parotid gland, which is near the mouth. Gwynn himself suspected that the condition was a result of his longtime addiction to chewing smokeless tobacco, which he began doing when he was in rookie ball in about 1980. Chewing tobacco used to be a habit very common among ballplayers at least as late as the '70s and '80s. I think you don't see it as much among them any more, because guys finally fully caught on to what a health risk it is (besides being f***ing disgusting). Anyway, after his death Gwynn's family won an undisclosed sum by suing smokeless tobacco companies for contributing to his early demise.
Unfortunately, a lot of baseball players still chew tobacco. They just do a better job of hiding it. I believe it's against the rules openly put in a dip while on the field or even in the dugout.
@@danberman1545 I don't have a problem with anyone's vices. But to sue the companies when they know it's bad for you and the judges let them get away with it is strange to me. Lack of personal responsibility.
T Gwynn had better than 20/20 vision, like many great hitters. He and Ted Williams (the last man to hit .400, and another San Diego Padre player before they were in the MLB) were great friends as students and professors of hitting. Tony would use marker to write numbers on his batting practice balls, and then try identify and to call them out as they were pitched to him.
Tony Gwynn was one of the the most respected players in all of baseball history. By teammates, opponents, umpires, coaches, managers, team officials, former players, future players, media and ALL fans. Truly a classy person that just went out there and amassed hits day in and day out. Cardinals fan here saying Tony was one of my favorite players growing.
Some of those numbers in the chart at 14:00 did start with a 2 in the corners, but given the book is by Ted Williams, I suspect those numbers are for Ted Williams career, yes
Several seasons have had juiced balls (balls that carry further when hit), the ones that come to mind are 1987, 1996 (tons of players hit more than 30 home runs that season), maybe 1999 and 2019
So, the bit about Ted Williams picking his teeth with Gwynn's bat was likely a joke between them, and Gywnn continued to use it when talking about their first meeting. I am a lifelong Padres fan and remember that Gwynn used an extremely small bat compared to other hitters not just for when he played but one of the shortest in history. I have to use some Freedom units to give the measurements, but Gywnns bat was 32-inches long, Ted Williams used a 35-inch bat and most hitters use something closer to Williams size than Gwynns.
The smartest hitter in the timeframe right before Tony, was Rod Carew. I marveled at the hitting knowledge and ability of Mr. Carew in my childhood. I've always envied the guys that take the time to be the best they can be. He did run into some injury issues late in his career.
A baseball has a cork core with string or twine wrapped around it and then a leather covering. If the string or twine is wound extra tight around the center core, the baseball leaves the bat a lot faster. That would be a "juiced" ball, but it would be easy to determine, just by cutting a ball in half and comparing it to a non-juiced ball.
"Juiced Ball" controversies go back to the beginning of baseball. Anytime there's a change in offense trends people start talking about whether the ball has changed/should change. The most recent juiced ball controversy was in 2019, when hits/runs skyrocketed from noticeably different balls, and then offense went back down when the balls changed back in the post season. MLB and Rowlings claimed it wasn't intentional, but rather a quality control issue that they couldn't quite explain. "Rabbit ball" is an old term. Back in the 1930's offense exploded and they called it "Rabbit Ball" because the ball moved like a jack rabbit i.e. very fast. In response, The National League raised the stitches and made their ball heavier to slow down the ball, while the American League changed the stitching but kept the same weight so their players would keep hitting homeruns (largely because people loved seeing Babe Ruth hit homers).
Just needed to point out: in the early part of the video it showed 3,000 hit club members and italicized those who were lefties. Ichiro Suzuki's name was not italicized, but he did bat left handed. Maybe because he throws right-handed they got confused. But as a M's fan I had to correct this mistake.
Dudes have been juicing since well before 1986. The "juiced balls" theory was that there was a change to how baseballs were manufactured that resulted in more home runs. The process is pretty secretive so it's entirely possible it happened whether intended or not. Similar theories surrounded 1968, the Year of the Pitcher, and have come back into vogue with another home run resurgence the last few years.
Still have a ball he tossed me over the right field fence in 96 when I was 10 years old. Love Tony. Damo, if you’ve got a mailing address let me know. I have a lot of Gwynn stuff from the 90s in triplicate, I’d send some to you as you’re an adopted San Diegan!
I grew up in San Diego. It was a true pleasure to watch Tony Gwen‘s entire career as we were both the same age, many baseball games I went to. Had the pleasure of having brief conversations with him as well always the same humble honest and always had time to speak to anybody and everybody and it didn’t have to be about baseball. Thank you Tony. Let’s go Padres.🙌🙌🙌 let’s go Padres🙌🙌🙌 let’s go Padres🙌🙌🙌. Thanks for sharing this guys.
changing the winding of the ball can change the hardness or softness of the ball as well as the stitching which can affect the pitcher as well as the aerodynamics of the ball so yes you can blame the ball to some extent. Babe Ruth hit homeruns with softer balls (harder to hit out) but also smaller stadiums in many cases, but maybe better starting pitchers, BUT pitchers stayed in when they were not doing well and often pitched all 9 innings (there were no relief specialists) so you can see there is plenty of reasons on all sides for a big hitting season and blaming juiced balls.
Very obscure TG19 fact: If you match up college basketball games… there’s a chance Gwynn played college basketball against Kevin Nash, WWE wrestler (Tennessee Volunteers vs SDSU Aztecs)
If the manufacturer winds the yarn tighter in the ball, it will return more energy into the bounce off the bat. That's a juiced ball. Whether it happens is a large discussion and argument.
8:42 - Saying "the ball has been juiced" is basically saying that it's not the players who are responsible for a spike in offense by using steroids or something, but that the league has modified the specifications of how the ball is made, and it's caused the ball to react differently. There was a recent semi-scandal year where the ball was altered and players hated it. MLB reserves the rights to change the ball construction as they wish. So sometimes when there's a league-wide offensive spike, one of the first things you hear is speculation that this year, the ball is juiced.
i don't know if this was answered yet but pretty sure the strike zone with the averages were ted williams averages on every area of the strike zone throughout his career. just guessing based on the fact the averages were so high
Think there are better Gwynn videos that really break down how much better he was hitting than his contemporaries of that time. His average with two strikes what he did against Maddux and such. It explains the picking teeth because it explains how small and light his bat was cause of his tiny hands. Tim Kurkjians piece after his hall of fame selection
"Self-discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." -Tony Gwynn Going back to your oblong, square, or rectangle, if you are patient enough to wait for pitches that are in your sweet spot, then naturally your averages will go up. Take the time to know yourself and study your opponent, and apply what you learn. Here is a video idea for you guys. You each ask 5 questions about baseball you wish you knew, do a little research and present it to each other...share your findings. For starters, ask "who is the person with least amount of strikeouts in a career?" Who was the worst player in MLB history? What is the biggest blowout in MLB history? You get the idea. Even ask your Discord for suggestions.
Look up, Ted Williams stats, analyze them & when you're done, be sure to remember Ted gave up 3 years to serve his country in WWII at the prime of his Caeer... Gwynn was a pure hitter just like Ted...
