MLB: Batting Crowns Named For Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew
By Ron Juckett
Future batting champions will win awards named in honor of Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn, MLB announced Tuesday before the All-Star Game.
Major League Baseball will honor those winning the batting title with the Rod Carew Award in the American League and the Tony Gwynn Award in the National League.
Announced Tuesday night before the All-Star Game in San Diego, Carew and the family of the late Gwynn received a warm standing ovation on the field prior to the first pitch.
An 18-time All-Star, Carew won seven batting crowns, including six over a seven-year period between 1972 and 1978. As the second baseman for the Minnesota Twins, he won the Rookie of the Year in 1967 and the MVP in 1977, the year he hit .388. During his run in the mid-70s, in the one season he did not win the crown, 1976, he still hit .331. In 1979, he signed a free agent deal with the California Angels, helping propel them to two AL West titles in 1979 and 1982.
Never a power hitter—his career high in home runs was 14, done in 1975 and 1979—Carew flashed speed on the bases. He led the AL twice in triples, breaking double digits five times overall. Between 1973 and 1976, he stole more than 35 bases a year including a career best of 49 in 1976.
The master of the slap bunt, earning many infield hits like Ichiro Suzuki, Carew played the game with a quiet elegance and grace. In recent years, severe heart trouble nearly killed him. With a team of doctors stabilizing his heart, the reserved Carew went public with his struggles last winter and looked overjoyed at his reception Tuesday.
Gwynn is still the face of the San Diego Padres.
In 20 seasons with the club, he was a key part of both their NL championship runs in 1984 and 1998. A winner of eight NL batting titles between 1984 and 1997, his speed and agility was a critical part of his game. In 1987, he swiped 56 bases. Five times he topped 200 hits. Four times he hit double-digit triples. A great defender, he also snagged four Gold Gloves.
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His best year was the strike-shortened 1994. Gwynn’s .394 average was the closest any hitter has come to hitting .400 since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Like Carew, Gwynn was a master of hitting, able to place the ball where he needed to. A career .338 hitter, he never struck out more than 40 times in a season. In 1999—while hitting .338—he struck out 14 times in 446 plate appearances.
His legacy is more than numbers. A giant in Southern California, he managed San Diego State University’s baseball team as he battled oral cancer. A tobacco chewer in his career, the cancer would claim him at the age of 54 in 2014. Chris Sale, the ace of the Chicago White Sox, went on record this week saying Gwynn’s death caused him to stop dipping cold turkey.
For MLB, not only is this a wonderful gesture for two men who graced the game, it is a nice acknowledgement of recent baseball history.
Batting champions are overlooked. Slapping singles or running out doubles does not grab the attention of a home run or strikeout. Both men went out of their way not to be showy. Carew was content to let Reggie Jackson draw headlines while Gwynn simply hit as Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco grabbed the camera time.
It is big for MLB to immortalize these men. Too often, baseball struggles reaching too deep into history at the expense of today’s players. To honor two legends playing after 1970 and fresh in the memory of fans is the right thing to do.