Oh that sucks.. all I remember about Tony was that he video tape his at bats to study his swings to better himself.
I don't think anyone's discounting those facts. Yet Tony could have chose to be a power hitter, just like he chose against signing with another club for more money.
In fact, Ted Williams chided Gwynn as a "big man" for his underutilized ability to hit for way more power. In fact, when Ted named his top twenty hitters list, Tony was the only currently active player invited.
Yet Tony was more satisfied being the ultimate role/team player and the average HOF WAR accompanying it.
What some are trying to explain is how Gwynn was one of the purest hitters in the game. I personally think he's is one of the few players who transcend WAR as a measurement, by choice.
Just listen to what Ted Williams had to say about/to Tony reaching .400.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3hLiyNSISQ
Babe Ruth.
I can't believe he only struck out 434 times in 20 yrs... and that he batted .302 on 0-2 counts.. WOWOWOW
Has there ever been one player exceptionally good at hitting AND pitching?
What defines a pure hitter? Making contact often? Or producing metrics that translate into runs and hence wins? I understand all the love coming his way because he was a great person, very friendly, and loyal to San Diego, but his real production at the plate is not in the same league as a lot of players of his era.
According to WAR, Jeter is a WAY better player than Tony Gwynn. As much love as I have for Jeter, also a class act, don't think so.
WAR = Wins Above Replacement. It is far easier to replace a corner outfielder with an offensive juggernaut, than it is to find one who can play the shortstop position. That's why Gwynn gets knocked down on that stat.
I'm talking about at bats that on a statistically averaged out basis, turn into runs.
weighted on base average, weight runs created, offensive WAR.
Here's a quick breakdown using statistical averages of the run production value of a few at-bat outcomes.
source: http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/btf/scholars/visiting/articles/RPA_explanation.htm
This is part of the reason why Tony Gwynn has such a low WAR despite being a very good hitter. To call him the best hitter of an era is overweighting his offensive production at the plate. His at bats turned into runs scored for his team far less than other players, even discounting dirty roids players.
Damn. 6 straight seasons (8 total) of 20 of fewer strike outs. That is insane how little he struck out. Lots of guys will strike out more than 20 times this month alone.
Conclusion: Gwynn's offensive output was among the greats, even without power which he made up for by getting on base.
To me he is similar to Tim Duncan. Arguably one of the best (and classiest) to ever play his sport. But because he wasn't flashy or out-spoken, because he didn't give soundbites or kept his private life (*gasp*) private, he was never a poster child for the league because he wasn't marketable and the press had no way to sell him.
I'll just leave this here.
90's offensive production
80's offensive production
There are a lot of players that a pitcher would rather not face if given the option between them and Tony Gwynn. The only time a pitcher might not want to face him, is if he is going for a strikeout record. But overall, his offensive production (how else should you measure a hitter?) is in the top 30-50 of his era.
He is among the greats, but to just come out and call him the greatest hitter of an era, is not fair to a lot of the current living players that played in the same era. Just because he died doesn't mean we have to get nostalgic with the stats.
He was a great player, he was hard to get out, and a really great person and was a loyal fan favorite in a market that shouldn't have ever been able to keep him save for his loyalty to San Diego.
He was the best offensive hitter at his position (right field) in his era, and even arguably outfielder. You could debate that Larry Walker had a higher JAWS WAR rating but there are a lot of question marks regarding Walker - and obviously ones that will keep him out of the Hall of Fame.
If you want to expand it to all outfielders, Gwynn was still the best of the 80's (82-89). Out of all position players, Schmidt and maybe Tim Raines were probably only more feared. Maybe even Rhyno (even though Gwynn's lifetime OPS+ kills Rhyno and he has more offensive WAR).
1990 - 2001, of course Barry Bonds. Bagwell. McGwire, Vlad, Piazza even though Gwynn beats those 3 in career WAR.
If you follow baseball, you know what the 5 tools are. Hitting for average is one of the 5 tools and defines a "pure hitter". There really wasn't a better pure hitter in the history of baseball other than maybe Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Hornsby, Cobb, Keeler, Gehrig, Hamilton, Sisler, Speaker, and Honus Wagner and I would bet that if Tony played in those eras, his numbers would have been on par with them as well from a pure average and hits standpoint. It may not be glamorous, but hitting for average is the engine of baseball and players don't last long if they can't survive the .200 mark, even with power.