Ted Naiman Popular Books

Ted Naiman Biography & Facts

Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hitting Gwynn won eight batting titles in his career, tied for the most in National League (NL) history. He is one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. Gwynn had a .338 career batting average, never hitting below .309 in any full season. He was a 15-time All-Star, recognized for his skills both on offense and defense with seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards. Gwynn was the rare player in his era that stayed with a single team his entire career, and he played in the only two World Series appearances in San Diego's franchise history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. Gwynn attended San Diego State University (SDSU), where he played both college baseball and basketball for the Aztecs. He was an all-conference player in both sports in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) but was honored as an All-American in baseball. Gwynn was selected by the Padres in the third round of the 1981 MLB draft as the 58th overall pick. He made his major-league debut the next year and captured his first batting title in 1984 when San Diego advanced to its first-ever World Series. A poor fielder in college, Gwynn's work on his defense was rewarded in 1986 when he received his first Gold Glove. The following year, he won the first of three consecutive batting titles. Beginning in 1990, Gwynn endured four straight injury-shortened seasons. However, he experienced a resurgence with four consecutive batting titles starting in 1994, when he batted a career-high .394 in a strike-shortened season. Gwynn played in his second World Series in 1998 before reaching the 3,000-hit milestone the following year. He played two more seasons, hampered by injuries in both, and retired after the 2001 season with 3,141 career hits. A contact hitter, Gwynn excelled at hitting the ball to the opposite field. After first meeting Hall of Famer Ted Williams in 1992, Gwynn modified his hitting approach and became more adept at pulling the ball and using the entire field, as well as hitting for more power. In his early career years, he was also a threat to steal bases. Widely considered the greatest player in Padres history, Gwynn regularly accepted less money to remain with the small-market team. After he retired from playing, the Padres retired his No. 19 in 2004. Gwynn became the head baseball coach at his alma mater and also spent time as a baseball analyst. He died of salivary gland cancer in 2014 at the age of 54. Early life Gwynn was born in Los Angeles, California, to Charles and Vendella Gwynn. At age nine, his parents decided they would move from their apartment and buy a house in nearby Long Beach, a location they chose because of its schools, parks, and youth sports options throughout the year. He grew up with older brother Charles Jr., who played college baseball and became a teacher, and younger brother Chris, who also became an MLB player. Gwynn's parents were civil servants who were tag-team parents. Gwynn's father worked at a warehouse from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., and he also coached Pop Warner football and Little League Baseball; his mother worked at the post office from 5:30 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. His mother and father instilled in him the value of being prepared. He played mostly basketball, then his favorite sport. Gwynn's father encouraged his sons to play ball in the makeshift baseball field that he assembled in their backyard. The setup was a narrow strip of grass that was longer than wide. Pulling the ball too much resulted in it being lost over the neighbor's fence, but left field being short ruled out hitting it to the opposite field as well. Once the brothers' supply of wiffle balls was exhausted, they resorted to using a sock rolled in rubber bands, a wad of tape, or a hardened fig from a neighbor's tree. Gwynn could pull the ball in his backyard, but he would naturally hit it the other way during regular games. Growing up, he attended Los Angeles Dodgers games and watched his hero, Willie Davis; the Dodgers outfielder had twice as many stolen bases as home runs (398 SB, 182 HR) in his career. Gwynn admired Davis for being black, left-handed, and "aggressive but under control"; he respected Davis' work habits as well. Unlike other kids that tracked home run hitters, Gwynn checked the box scores in the newspaper every morning to follow high-average hitters like Pete Rose, George Brett and Rod Carew. Gwynn attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, a high-profile sports school. He was a two-sport star in basketball and baseball. In his final two years, his Jackrabbits baseball teams were a combined 3–25–2 in the league, while the basketball teams went 53–6 and twice reached the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section 4A championship game. Gwynn had considered quitting baseball as a senior to concentrate on basketball, but his mother talked him out of it. "She said it might be something down the road and that I might be sorry later if I didn't play", recalled Gwynn. As a junior, he was the starting point guard on Poly's basketball team that went 30–1 and won the Southern Section 4A title. The final was played before over 10,000 fans at the Long Beach Arena, where Gwynn scored 10 points in the 69–50 victory over Buena of Ventura. His teammates included Michael Wiley, who became a professional player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In Gwynn's senior year, Poly was 23–7, and again advanced to the championship round despite finishing third in the Moore League. Their bid for a second straight title ended with a 57–50 loss to Pasadena. Gwynn averaged 10.3 points and totaled 178 assists for the season, and he was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Second Team. After the season, he switched to baseball, whose season was already well underway. Despite his shortened season, he earned first-team All-Southern Section honors after batting .563. Poly's baseball team's struggles taught him to remain focused, continue executing, and stay productive. Gwynn received scholarship offers to play college basketball but none for college baseball. He also went unselected in the 1977 MLB draft, which Gwynn attributed to his limited playing time. He wanted to play both sports for Cal State Fullerton, which was okay by basketball coach Bobby Dye, but baseball coach Augie Garrido did not believe an athlete could handle both sports in college. San Diego State basketball coach Tim Vezie wanted Gwynn to commit to playing two years of basketball before playing baseball. Gwynn also had an offer from Texas Christian University (TCU). However, he was told that he would be their first black player in 30 years, which ruled them out from his consideration. .... Discover the Ted Naiman popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ted Naiman books.