{"id":2258,"date":"2014-06-18T03:08:59","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T03:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2024-09-08T08:42:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T12:42:59","slug":"tony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2014\/06\/18\/tony\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony"},"content":{"rendered":"

What a week.<\/p>\n

Late last week, former MLB pitcher Bob Welch died. He wasn\u2019t an icon of his era, nor one of my heroes. But for kids who grew up watching baseball in the late 70s through the 80s, his passing was noted.<\/p>\n

Then Casey Kasem.<\/p>\n

And just as I was posting my thoughts about Casey on Monday came word that San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn had died.<\/p>\n

Such a terrible run of days for our generation.<\/p>\n

The remembrances of Tony Gwynn have been amazing. I loved him growing up, but because of where he played and who he played for, he was far down my list of favorite players. In fact, I probably heard him talk about baseball, and hitting in particular, than I actually saw him play. But his love of the game and the art of swinging the bat rang through in every interview and rendered that unfamiliarity pointless. Here was a great player who loved the game, loved talking about it, and seemed like a great guy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure Tony wasn\u2019t perfect. But, holy hell, these stories about him that have come out in recent days\u2026 They make me a bit sad that I didn\u2019t appreciate him more, that I didn\u2019t get to see him play live more, that I didn\u2019t place him higher on my list of favorite players growing up.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ll share three with you.<\/p>\n

First, Tyler Kepner\u2019s wonderful accounting of how Gwynn treated him with kindness and respect and may have helped launch his professional career.<\/p>\n

In a .338 Lifetime Average, Every Day Counted<\/a><\/p>\n

Next, from David Johnson, the story of his year as a Padres bat boy, and the enduring memory of Gwynn: his laughter.<\/p>\n

I Was Tony Gwynn\u2019s Bat Boy<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, a classic Keith Olbermann monologue about Gwynn.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7PXSVbLhyMY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What a week. Late last week, former MLB pitcher Bob Welch died. He wasn\u2019t an icon of his era, nor one of my heroes. But for kids who grew up watching baseball in the late 70s through the 80s, his passing was noted. Then Casey Kasem. And just as I was posting my thoughts about Casey on Monday came word that San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn had died. Such a terrible run of days for our generation. The remembrances of Tony Gwynn have been amazing. I loved him growing up, but because of where he played and who he played for, he was far down my list of favorite players. In fact, I probably heard him talk about baseball, and hitting in particular, than I actually saw him play. But his love of the game and the art of swinging the bat rang through in every interview and rendered that unfamiliarity pointless. Here was a great player who loved the game, loved talking about it, and seemed like a great guy. I\u2019m sure Tony wasn\u2019t perfect. But, holy hell, these stories about him that have come out in recent days\u2026 They make me a bit sad that I didn\u2019t appreciate him more, that I didn\u2019t get to see him play live more, that I didn\u2019t place him higher on my list of favorite players growing up. So I\u2019ll share three with you. First, Tyler Kepner\u2019s wonderful accounting of how Gwynn treated him with kindness and respect and may have helped launch his professional career. In a .338 Lifetime Average, Every Day Counted Next, from David Johnson, the story of his year as a Padres bat boy, and the enduring memory of Gwynn: his laughter. I Was Tony Gwynn\u2019s Bat Boy Finally, a classic Keith Olbermann monologue about Gwynn. http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7PXSVbLhyMY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,183],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baseball","tag-obits"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14283,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions\/14283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}