Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn passed away at the age of 54. He played 20 seasons in the Majors, all with the San Diego Padres. He compiled 3,141 hits and a .338 career batting average, which is the highest in the last 50 years and ranks tied for 18th all time. The 15-time all-star was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a first ballot selection and received 97.6 percent of the votes. He won eight batting titles, seven Silver Sluggers and five Gold Gloves. He played with the Padres in their only two pennant-winning seasons (1984 and 1998). He was known for his knack of making contact and rarely striking out. Gwynn had cancer, which ended up being the cause of his death, which was announced on Monday. He is survived by his wife, Alicia, and children, Anisha, and Tony Jr. Tony Jr. is an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies. Here are Gwynn’s 10 biggest accomplishments in the Majors.
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10. Two Pennantsbold
Gwynn played on both of the San Diego Padres’ two pennant-winning teams. In the 1984 World Series, the Padres lost to the Detroit Tigers, and in 1998, the Padres fell to the New York Yankees.
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9. Longevitybold
Gwynn played for the San Diego Padres for his entire career, which span 20 years. He earned the nickname “Mr. Padre.”
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8. Five Gold Glovesbold
Gwynn won five Gold Glove Awards.
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7. Racking up the Hitsbold
Gwynn recorded 3,141 career hits. He led the National League in hits seven times.
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6. Seven Silver Sluggersbold
Gwynn won seven Silver Slugger Awards.
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5. More Doubles than Strikeoutsbold
Gwynn posted 12 seasons in which he had more doubles than strikeouts.
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4. 3,000 Hits and Less than 500 K’sbold
Gwynn was one of only four players with more than 3,000 hits and less than 500 strikeouts. The other three were Tris Speaker, Paul Waner and Eddie Collins.
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3. Hitting for Averagebold
Gwynn had a career .338, which is the highest in last 50 years. In every full season hit at least .300.
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2. Going to Cooperstownbold
Gwynn was a first ballot Hall of Famer. He received 97.6%, which is the seventh highest all time.
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1. Eight Batting Crownsbold
Gwynn won eight batting titles, which is tied for second most all time with Honus Wagner. Only Ty Cobb has more with 11.