Tributes to Tony Gwynn

The tributes to Tony Gwynn have been phenomenal. The one thing, as fans,  that we don't need to worry about with either Tony Gwynn or Jerry Coleman is a sense of regret. Regret that they didn't know how much we appreciated them.  Maybe we didn't get to say our last goodbyes, but we as Padres fans and San Diegans celebrated them every chance we could.  They knew how much they meant to us and how much we loved them.

• Baseball Prospectus | BP Unfiltered: Goodbye, No. 19
  That .394 is an astounding number. It's worthy of attention and respect, but not as much as the man himself was.

• MLB - Tony Gwynn used fear as motivation - ESPN
  In late April, I surprised him at the hospital. He was in a wheelchair. His hair was fully gray. He couldn't open his right eye. He could only halfway open his mouth. He was on oxygen. The purest hitter of our generation was dying.

• Tony Gwynn: Hall of Fame person - Ann Killion
  So, imagine my relief when I walked into the clubhouse and saw Tony Gwynn sitting there. He spoke first to me, in greeting. Of course he did.

• Tony Gwynn was the most revered athlete in San Diego history. | SportsonEarth.com : Jorge Arangure Jr. Article
  As a boy growing up in San Diego, I found it inconceivable that Tony Gwynn had been born in Los Angeles. It did not make sense because there was nobody, or nothing -- not the Coronado Bridge, not the Navy ships, not the temperate weather -- that seemed more San Diegan than him.

• MLB - Tony Gwynn's love of hitting - ESPN
  He had a bat that he used only against pitchers who relied on soft stuff -- a special bat because it had so few grains. "Nine Grains of Pain," he called it, and he told me that if he got to the final weeks of the season and he had a shot to reach .400, he intended to use that bat in every game.

• Tony Gwynn was Great Far Beyond the Numbers " Friar Wire
  Many of my favorite Gwynn memories have nothing to do with Gwynn’s astounding abilities as a baseball player.

• Tony Gwynn: 1960-2014 "
  Those who knew Gwynn described him as an endlessly affable person and great friend.

• Video: Vin Scully on Tony Gwynn | MLB.com
  Vin Scully discusses the passing of Hall of Famer and former Padre, Tony Gwynn, who passed away at the age of 54

• Video: 1989 Clark/Gwynn Batting Title | MLB.com
  Tony Gwynn recalls the 1989 batting title race with Will Clark that came down to the final game of the season

• Video: 8/19/89: Gwynn on TWIB | MLB.com
  This Week in Baseball features Tony Gwynn and the application of video analysis as a tool for hitters

• The Baseball Hall of Fame Remembers Tony Gwynn - YouTube
  The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum mourns the passing of Class of 2007 member Tony Gwynn. May 9, 1960 - June 16, 2014. Watch more Baseball Hall of...

• Keith Remembers Tony Gwynn - YouTube
  Mourning the loss of one of the greatest players and one of the greatest gentlemen of a generation, Tony Gwynn. Watch "Olbermann" weeknights on ESPN2 at 11pm...

• Sullivan | Tony Gwynn was a pure hitter, a pure joy
  To speak of him today in the past tense is painful. To write about his death is to walk a tightrope between hagiography and mawkish sentiment.

• Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn dies at 54 after cancer battle | padres.com: News
  "People in San Diego are never going to see anybody like that again," said John Moores, the Padres' former majority owner from 1995-2012. "It's impossible. It will never happen. Not in 10 lifetimes. He was a special player, but it's more than that. It was the dedication. He just did what he wanted to do. That was the way he lived. Whether right or wrong he did it on his own terms. He wasn't interested in the money. He wanted to stay in San Diego. He wanted to live a certain way and he did."

• Video: Enberg, Padres honor Gwynn | MLB.com
  6/16/14: Dick Enberg and the Padres honor Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn before their game against the Mariners

• Tony Gwynn’s 2 Hitting Secrets: Work and More Work - NYTimes.com
  "They just feel like stuff is supposed to happen to them," he said. "They’re not going to have to work for it. And that bugs me because I know how hard I had to work to get where I got. Sometimes they sit there in amazement at why I come out here every day. But I cannot let their way of thinking into my head."

• Tony Gwynn represented the best baseball has to offer | New York Post
  But we read of his exploits from afar, and in the early years of fantasy baseball, he served as one of the best bets. He finished with 3,141 hits and an outstanding slash line of .338/.388/.459.

• Baseball mourns loss of Tony Gwynn, one of game's best hitters | MLB.com: News
  Few players, if any, could inspire similar emotions from so many athletes with whom he shared the diamond or a clubhouse, be it with the Padres or in any of the 15 All-Star Game appearances he made through his career. But Tony Gwynn was that admired.

• Padres remember San Diego's brightest star - SweetSpot Blog - ESPN
  When third baseman Chase Headley took the field for the San Diego Padres for their game against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night he knew he would be thinking of Tony Gwynn.

• How Tony Gwynn Cracked Baseball's Code And Became A Legend
  The year before Williams offered his counsel, Gwynn hit .315 on pulled balls; the year after, .587. And in the five years following it, he hit .368, won four batting titles, and made a very serious run at being the first hitter since Williams to hit .400, which he may have done if not for the 1994 strike.

• I Was Tony Gwynn's Bat Boy
  "Hey," he said to me, holding out his hand. "I'm Tony. How are you?" Flustered, I stammered, "Uh, nothing much." He laughed.

• MASUR'S MUSINGS: Missing Mr. Padre...
  Forget about the numbers. Forget about the awards. Forget about all the accolades. Don’t forget the man. Don’t forget the laugh. Don’t forget what he meant to baseball and the city of San Diego. I know, he’s pretty unforgettable.