STORIES
Tony Gwynn was the greatest pure hitter of his time. When he steps completely into the shadows, there's no one in sight to keep his brand of baseball in the game. The Union-Tribune examines his remarkable 20-year career.
PHOTO GALLERIES
After playing more than 2,400 games, plenty of pictures have been taken of Tony Gwynn. Here are some photos from the archives of the Union-Tribune.
THROUGH THE YEARS
A timeline of Tony Gwynn's career including highlights, stats and photos.
VIDEO
SignOnSanDiego talks with Tony Gwynn and people who have worked with him about a career that would eventually include eight National League batting titles.
Forever, A Hit
Is it possible there's even a single blade of Qualcomm Stadium grass untouched by the artistry of his 31-ounce brush? A single baseball fan untouched by at least one of those 3,100-plus little miracles? A single San Diegan not warmed by his childlike bursts of laughter?
The very beauty of baseball is that so often it gives you something you've never seen before. Yet each of his hits came off looking the same as the one before, virtually identical, even as they were all so different. That sheer consistency and dependability became the beauty of his game. Which became our game.
For most summers over 20 years, we awoke to morning haze and a player at or near the top of the National League leaders in batting average, itself a contradiction. There never was anything average about his skill.
Hardest thing in sports, hitting a baseball. Half a century has passed since any man hit it better than Tony Gwynn, whose talent and diligence reduced the art to its essence.
