The good news is I won't be showing off the same autograph, rookie, or memorabilia cards that you're used to seeing here.
Today in honor of his birthday, I picked out five collectibles that aren't rare... but they're a little more obscure than his 1983 Topps rookie card and combined the with five interesting facts (that I discovered in AJ Cassavell's article on MLB.com).
Collectible #1: 1984 Miller Lite #NNO
No idea how these 5x7 cards were distributed, but it commemorates him being the 1984 National League Batting Champion when he had a .351 batting average.
Gwynn's first season with the Padres was in 1982. Since that time, a batter his hit .350 or higher forty-six times. He represents seven of those times.
Collectible #2: 1984 Smokey San Diego Padres #NNO
Another oddball issue from 1984 when he won his first batting title.
Gwynn has won more batting titles than any other player over the past century. Ty Cobb is the only player in MLB history with more. He won twelve, but his last one was won in 1919.
Collectible #3: 1984 Fun Foods Buttons #28
Gwynn collected four hits in a game forty-five times. He struck out three times in a game... only once (against Bob Welch).
Collectible #4: Autographed Legends Magazine Vol. 2 No. 4 (Winter 1989)
Imagine being able to buy a Gwynn autograph for $15 (postage paid). That's how much this magazine cost back in 1989. I paid a little more than that in 2013 ($12.16 + $5 shipping).
Gwynn went up against eighteen hall of fame pitchers over his twenty year career (including the postseason) with a total of 541 plate appearances. What's his stat line? .331/.371/.426 Not too shabby.
Collectible #5: 1996 Chris Martin Enterprises D/C Magnet
Like pogs, sports magnets were a thing back in the 90's and Chris Martin Enterprises were at the heart of it. No... not Chris Martin of Coldplay. Pretty sure it was the NFL linebacker.
Anyways... I've gotta say they did a great job with the design. And here's your last piece of Gwynn trivia for the day...
Mr. Padre struck out 434 times in his career... and averaged only 21.7 strikeouts per season. Last year, one hundred twenty-nine players had struck out 22 times by the end of April.
It sucks that Gwynn passed away at such a young age. Thankfully he was well loved by so many people who make sure that his legacy will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Okay it's your turn...
Do you have a favorite Tony Gwynn collectible? What about a favorite Gwynn memory?
I look forward to reading your comments. Happy 60th birthday Mr. Padre! Happy Saturday and sayonara!
20 comments:
I was thinking about you today when I saw it was Tony's birthday. RIP to the great Mr. Padre! You have such a cool collection of his stuff. For me, my favorite Gwynn items are his RCs and an autograph I have, and I think my favorite memory of him would be the All-Star Game with Ted Williams.
What a talent. My fave gwynn collectible in my collection is a dual auto book with steve garvey from panini a few years ago. I'm glad I got to see him play a few times in San Diego including the last home game at the murph one year. He got.one of the biggest ovations I've ever witnessed as he was called in to the dugout near the end of the game. It was awesome.
Even though he played on the west coast, and I live in the midwest, I always appreciated the way that Tony Gwynn played the game. He has some cards in my Hall of Fame set. I was so happy to see Gwynn inducted into the Hall in 2007 with my childhood and all time favorite player, Cal Ripken Jr.
What cool cards! I love the Miller Lite.
My favorite Gwynn is a TTM on a clear cut 1996 Ultra Seasons Crowns. I love it.
Those are some great collectibles. I didn't see Gwynn much as he was in the NL. But I remember his awe at Yankee Stadium in the '98 World Series. I also remember that great Denny's commercial where he was bummed about being traded for a side of fries.
My favorite Gwynn is my 1983 Topps. It also helps that that is my favorite set all-time.
Some Gwynn basketball trivia: Still San Diego State's all-time leader in assists and seventh in steals, without being in the top ten in games played.
Gwynn was a great player, taken all too soon. Love that Miller Lite card. I don't think I have that one yet. Did you see any of the programming MLB TV featured about Gwynn today. I also posted about Tony's Birthday, as he, Starr and Lombardi were my three favorite sports heroes of all time.
Nice oddball Gwynn collection.
Wow, so many great pieces of information there! I think the most interesting Gwynn collectible I have is a Topps coin from 1987. But it was great to have grown up with guys like Gwynn and Boggs posting such high batting averages and low strikeout totals.
Oddballs are always fun, but a bear playing baseball is just priceless!
Great oddballs. I wish I wouldn't have discarded so many oddballs as a kid.
The Lite cards were handed out at a game(s). That’s how I acquired my stack. I remember picking up a bunch off the ground at Jack Murphy.
I got a balled signed by him about 10 years ago at a Durham Bulls game. Have it on a shelf in my baseball card room, need to do a post about it one day. I love that Smokey Bear card.
Love this post. I marked Tony Gwynn's wearing a t-shirt I had made by a contact in the UK baseball card collecting group.
I always liked his 1984 Donruss card ,very color coordinated.
Wow, impressive statistics no doubt. 21 struck outs a season....that in of itself speaks highly of his abilities. Definitely passed too young. Love the oddball cards!
Scoring from first on Moises Alou's walk-off RBI double to win the 1994 ASG and homering off of David Wells in Game 1 of the 1998 WS are contenders, but my favorite Gwynn memory is his repartee with my favorite player, Mackey Sasser, after Sasser robbed him of a homerun in exceedingly-unlikely fashion in 1991.
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/15/sports/baseball-sasser-in-right-is-unable-to-do-wrong.html
I think I still have a wrapper from the candy bar that Pacific Trading Cards did for him kicking around here somewhere.
My favorite memory of him is from the late 90's. I had taken my five year old daughter to an afternoon game at Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia between the Phillies and the Padres during the summer of 1998 (I think). I was disappointed that he didn't play in the game as I think he was injured at the time. After the game the Phillies let kids on to the field to run the bases. After my daughter and I ran the bases we went back into the lower part of the ballpark to head out. As we were working our way out of the ballpark we passed a well dressed man talking to a reporter. I made eye contact with the man and realized it was Tony Gwynn. It turned out we were leaving the stadium via the same corridor that the Padres were. We didn't interrupt the interview or see any other players but I will always remember making eye contact with him - although he was probably worried he was about to be harassed by some idiot.
dennis - oh yeah... seeing him help williams throw out the first pitch at fenway was pretty awesome.
gcrl - i'll have to search your blog to see if you've showcased that book. if not, i hope you write about it one day
ohiotim - yeah, it was pretty awesome to see him go in with ripken. two once in a generation players who stay with one franchise their entire careers
the lost collector - i definitely know the insert set you're referring to. i've gotta go see if i own the gwynn though
bo - i don't remember the commercial, but i tried looking it up on youtube. couldn't find it. sounds like a classic though.
the angels in order - yeah... it's one of my favorites too. and for years the 1983 topps set was my all-time favorite set as well
elliptical man - gwynn was definitely a baller. i'd love to one day own an autographed card of him playing basketball
comatoad - i read some really awesome posts and watched some clips. didn't get a chance to see the mlb tv feature though
johnnys trading spot - thanks!
gregory - i came close to scanning one of my topps coins. not sure if it's the 1987 though. boggs was another guy i admired during the 80's.
billy kingsley - smokey has been popping up on a lot of blogs lately and that's not a bad thing
base card hero - i feel like i didn't appreciate them as much as i should have as a kid. honestly... the older i get, the more i appreciate them
punkrockpaint - thanks for the info. tried looking up info, but didn't find anything.
the snorting bull - can't wait to read the post. my buddy would invite me to go out and get his signature whenever arizona state was in town to face sjsu, but i never went. i regret that. it would have been cool to meet him in person
jongudmund - oh man... that's pretty cool. i hope you write a post about that one day
sg488 - i own a copy, but it's part of my set. i don't have one for my gwynn binder, so i had to look it up on comc to see what it looks like. you're right. very color coordinated
sumomenkoman - yeah, he was definitely a student of the game. just another thing i loved about him
mike - thanks for the link. great game for sasser... even if it was at gwynn's expense.
npb card guy - running the bases with your daughter has to be one heck of a memory. and thanks for bringing my attention to his candy bar. i don't have one of those... but i want one. heading over to ebay right now
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