Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn is the head coach of the San Diego State Aztecs baseball teams and former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres. Gwynn was born on May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, California. He played at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and San Diego State University before being drafted by the Padres in the third round of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft. Gwynn is often considered to be one of the greatest "pure hitters" ever to play the game, completing his career with a lifetime .338 batting average and 3141 hits. In 2007, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Cal Ripken, Jr.. In 9,288 career at-bats, Gwynn only struck out 434 times and never finished a full season with an average below .309.

Tony Gwynn was drafted by the Sand Diego Padres on June 16, 1981. After spending just a little over a year in the minor leagues, Gwynn made his Major League debut on July 19, 1982 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Gwynn had two hits in four at bats in his first game with a double. Tony Gwynn finished his rookie season with a .289 batting average in 190 at bats. He started the 1983 season on the disabled list with a fractured wrist. Gwynn returned to the Padres and batted .309 in the final 86 games.http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/gwynn_tony00.html

Gwynn became an All-Star in his first full season in 1984. he lead the league with a .351 batting average and also in hits with 213. He lead the league in hits in 1986, 1987 and 1989. Gwynn also lead the league in batting average from 1987 through 1989, which included a .370 average in 1987. In 1990, Gwynn batted .309, which was the lowest average since 1983.http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gwynnto01.shtml

Tony Gwynn continued to hit over .300 every season and went through a four year stretch from 1994 through 1997 where he hit no lower than .353 and a career high of .392 in 1994. He lead the league in hitting each of those seasons and set a career high of 17 home runs and 119 runs batted in during the 1997 season.http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gwynnto01.shtml

Injuries stared to take it's toll and Gwynn played in just 107 games combined during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Gwynn retired following the 2001 season at the age of 41. He batted over .300 every year from 1983 through 2001. At the time of his retirement, Gwynn was ranked 17th in career hits, ninth in singles with 2,378 and 17th in doubles with 543.http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/gwynn_tony00.html

Since his retirement as a player, Tony Gwynn has done commentary as a baseball analyst for ESPN. On September 21, 2001, Gwynn was named head coach of the San Diego State Aztecs baseball team. He was a volunteer assistant coach with the team during the 2002 season and officially took over the team in July 2002 following the retirement of Jim Dietz, for whom he played for. Gwynn became just the fourth coach in Aztec's history, which dates back to 1936.

Tony Gwynn was honored by San Diego Padres when the team retired his number 19 at PETCO Park in September 2004. The street location of the stadium was named Tony Gwynn Drive in 2005 and in 2007 a statue of Gwynn was unveiled at the Park.http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/gwynn_tony00.html

Gwynn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 9, 2007, being selected on more than 97% of ballots, the seventh highest percentage in voting history. He was elected on his first year of eligibility with Cal Ripken, Jr. Gwynn entered the Hall of Fame as a Padre, as he played all of his 19 seasons with the club, earning him the nickname "Mr. Padre." A record crowd of 75,000 people attended Gwynn's induction ceremony.

• All-Star Appearances: 15 (1984 - 1987, 1989 - 1999)
• Silver Slugger Awards: 7 (1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1997)
• Gold Glove Awards: 5 (1986, 1987, 1989 - 1991)
• Roberto Clemente Award: 1999
• Batting Champion: 8 (1984, 1987 - 1989, 1994 - 1997)
• Hall of Fame Induction: 2007