In our interview with Tony Gwynn, we asked him if he ever hits against his SDSU pitchers during practice. He said that he only does it on the very rare occasion because his knees are so bad that he can't hold firm and can't practice what he preaches. Though he admits that sometimes he gets frustrated and will take a few hacks.
I have to wonder though if Gwynn has ever faced Strasburg who supposedly has thrown a pitch 103 mph and consistently hits 101 mph.
...stories about standing 60 feet away from Strasburg, apocryphal though they may seem, are more of the horror variety even if they sound comedic. His catcher, Erik Castro, tells of the time he thought a changeup was coming and Strasburg went fastball. Decapitation was barely averted.
Tony Gywnn, the greatest hitter of his generation, now an aging college coach battling the best college player and #1 prospect. Strasburg, one of the great strike out pitchers in NCAA history vs. one of the all time great contact hitters in MLB history. That would be something to see. If this match up ever happened Hollywood would make a sappy movie about it, that's how awesome it would be.
Even though Gwynn hasn't played in years, he told us last year that he could still hit Major League pitching "...it's like riding a bike..."
How would you judge something like that and keep it fair? If Strasburg gets a strikeout he wins, if Gwynn gets a hit then he wins... everything else is a draw? I'm not sure.
I'm giving the edge to Tony the Gwynn. I guarantee Gwynn knows Strasburg's pitches and every idiosyncrasy like the back of his hand by now and if Gwynn says he can hit Major League Pitching at the age of 50 then I believe him.
I just know it would be a cool thing to witness. These are the things I daydream about.