Former SDSU point guard (better known for baseball) dies

[NMSooner'80]

Of course, I'm talking about Tony Gwynn. People probably don't realize that he was recruited to play college basketball at San Diego State back in 1978. He walked on in baseball, and the rest is history.

The MLB Network had non-stop tributes to Gwynn earlier in the day. I never got to meet him, but I saw his teams play baseball out here in Albuquerque when he became the Aztecs' head coach. He also has the ballpark named after him.

Gwynn also had a very slight tie to OU. Former OU center Drew Head transferred to SDSU in the off-season in '78, so they were teammates for a couple of years. Head was in the then-noted '76 recruiting class (more famous guys were Terry Stotts, Al Beal and Aaron Curry), and he was also in my very first OU class (freshman English) that fall.

 

[BigTime]

I'm guessing Sooner04 has always been a fan. I know I have. RIP to the 5.5 hole hitting legend.

 

[WTSooner]

Three amazing Tony Gwynn stats for you.

1. He has more career doubles than strikeouts.

2. He would have to go something like 0 for his next ~1,200 for his career average to dip below .300.

3. He faced Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Pedro Martinez for about 325 at bats. He struck out exactly THREE times against them, and two of those were against Glavine.

Dude was an incredible hitter of the baseball.

 

[bocabull]

We gotta find a cure for the big C. It's gonna happen. Hopefully sooner than later. RIP TG. The guy had a great smile.