Was Tony Gwynn the best hitter in MLB history?

[CGI_Ram]

.338 career average

3,141 hits, 19th all time

1994... Hit .394... Was a 4/4 day away from being the first .400 hitter since 1941. Incredible season in the modern era of baseball when nobody sniffed that level.

Pete Rose totalled an insane 4,256 hits... Amazing hitter and IMO a HOF player. But he reached that level thru incredible longevity.

Tony Gwynn... Put him in the 1920's and he might have hit .500.

 

[OldSchool]

Tony Gwynn was amazing and a joy to watch. But the thing that doesn't get talked about with his hitting is his lack of strike outs.

In 2,440 games he had 34 multi strike out games and only once struck out three times in a game. With that he had 45 games with four hits. He had more 4 hit games than 2 strike out games let that sink in.

He struck out 434 times in 10232 games! By comparison the widely regarded best player today Mike Trout has 554 k's in 2493 at bats.

In the 3,000 hit club only one guy struck out less, Paul Waner(played from 1926-1945).

I. 1995 Gwynn struck out 15 times in 535 at bats. 27 current players have at least 15 this month.

11 times he had 20+ games without a strike out, his longest steak was 39 games!

He was second to Rose in 5 hit games one behind him with 9.

I'm not one to go for the all time rankings but imo he is the best hitter of my lifetime. And in that I don't think it's close at all.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Tony Gwynn was amazing and a joy to watch. But the thing that doesn't get talked about with his hitting is his lack of strike outs.

In 2,440 games he had 34 multi strike out games and only once struck out three times in a game. With that he had 45 games with four hits. He had more 4 hit games than 2 strike out games let that sink in.

He struck out 434 times in 10232 games! By comparison the widely regarded best player today Mike Trout has 554 k's in 2493 at bats.

In the 3,000 hit club only one guy struck out less, Paul Waner(played from 1926-1945).

I. 1995 Gwynn struck out 15 times in 535 at bats. 27 current players have at least 15 this month.

11 times he had 20+ games without a strike out, his longest steak was 39 games!

He was second to Rose in 5 hit games one behind him with 9.

I'm not one to go for the all time rankings but imo he is the best hitter of my lifetime. And in that I don't think it's close at all.

Thank you for adding those points! Amazing.

 

[PowayRamFan]

Gwynn is a legend here in San Diego, loved having him on the Padres. He was a true definition of a Hall of Famer, his ability to put the ball wherever he wanted to, on whatever pitch, was incredible.
Even more locally, he was a role model for the Poway community, extremely involved in all aspects of our fine city. The city council here is currently struggling to find an appropriate way to honor this great man, he deserves so much. Dude was a Titan, on and off the field.

 

[fearsomefour]

I have no idea about best of all time or even how that would be determined, but, he was certainly the best I ever got to watch in person. I was in San Diego to go to school, not a Padres fan in any way, but, I would plop down what little money I had to go watch Gwynn at the 'Murph on a regular basis. Amazing hitter. He had an unbelievable ability to hit where he wanted. He would just foul balls off, either pulling them foul or slapping them away, until he got a pitch he liked.
Had the opportunity (he came into the deli I worked at) to chat him up once or twice. I genuine nice guy as well. All time great no doubt.

 

[Akrasian]

He was a great hitter for batting average - though I would be skeptical about the best ever even for that. But there's much more that goes into being the best hitter, such as taking walks when appropriate and hitting for power - and he wasn't close to being the best ever at those things. Personally, I would go for either Ruth (revolutionized the game at the plate and had a great batting average along with everything else) or Ted Williams (average, walks, power - and missed large chunks of his prime years being in the military or his stats would be even more impressive).

 

[Boston Ram]

Tony Gwynn was awesome and loved watching him play but Im not sure he makes my top 5. In no particular order

Hank Aaron not only hit 755 HR's he has a career BA of .305
Willie Mays 660 HR's and BA of .302
Ted Williams 521 HR's and BA of .344 I know it was a different era but he also missed 3 prime years to military service. Even missing 3 years with no baseball he still was able to come back and hit. He also hit .316 at age 41.

I think all of these guys could hit in todays game. All had a great combination of BA and power. To me power is more important that singles.
I have also left off the following modern day players.
Griffey JR
Bonds
Arod
Pujols

To me the best hitter I ever seen hit on steroids or not was Manny Ramirez.

 

[PARAM]

Ted Williams 521 HR's and BA of .344 I know it was a different era but he also missed 3 prime years to military service. Even missing 3 years with no baseball he still was able to come back and hit. He also hit .316 at age 41.

When someone hits .400, I'll concede they might be as good as Williams. But to be considered better (in my book), they need to hit .400 at age 34, .388 at age 38 and homer on their last major league plate appearance.

I like you list but have one of my own. Gwynn is on it. So is Williams but I never saw him play. Rod Carew is on it as is Paul Molitor. And Donnie Baseball. Tony Oliva was an awesome hitter before knee injuries took their toll.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Bonds....toughest out I've ever seen....

 

[CGI_Ram]

Bonds....toughest out I've ever seen....

No offense, but .

I got no respect for him as a player. None. McGuire. Sosa. None.

Edit: I get that a lot of players doped. But I can't forgive being lied to about it.

How many home runs should have been outs? We'll never know.

 

[RamFan503]

Always been a Manny Mota fan myself. And I don't have to be right about this. I was a total Dodgers homer and Manny always just seemed to come up with clutch hits. That's all I gots to say about that.