The Best Against the Best
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Issue date: July 28, 1997
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Of the 23 Cy Young Award winners he has faced in his 15-plus-year career, Tony Gwynn has hit .400 or better against eight. Here are his stats versus the Cy winners against whom he has had at least 20 at bats.
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PITCHER |
AB |
H |
HR |
BB |
SO |
Avg. |
| DOUG DRABEK* | 49 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .469 |
| GREG MADDUX* | 72 | 33 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .458 |
| JOHN SMOLTZ* | 60 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .433 |
| JOHN DENNY | 35 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .429 |
| MARK DAVIS | 26 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 4 | .423 |
| RICK SUTCLIFFE | 43 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .349 |
| TOM GLAVINE* | 80 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 2 | .338 |
| FERNANDO VALENZUELA | 78 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 5 | .321 |
| MIKE SCOTT | 85 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 3 | .318 |
| OREL HERSHISER* | 76 | 23 | 0 | 8 | 2 | .303 |
| FRANK VIOLA | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .300 |
| DAVID CONE* | 34 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .294 |
| DWIGHT GOODEN* | 70 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 6 | .243 |
| STEVE CARLTON | 21 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .238 |
| STEVE BEDROSIAN | 34 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .235 |
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*Active; statistics through July 20
Source: Elias Sports Bureau |
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Bat Control Freak
Tony Gwynn is on pace to become the first National League hitter in 41 years to have more home runs than strikeouts in a season (minimum: 400 at bats). Here are Gwynn's numbers through July 20, along with those of the last four major leaguers to pull off the feat.
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PLAYER, Team |
Year |
HR |
SO |
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TONY GWYNN, Padres | 1997 |
15 | 13 |
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GEORGE BRETT, Royals | 1980 |
24 | 22 |
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VIC POWER, Indians | 1958 |
16 | 14 |
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TED KLUSZEWSKI, Reds | 1956 |
35 | 31 |
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YOGI BERRA, Yankees | 1956 |
30 | 29 |
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Source: Elias Sports Bureau |
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The Class of Their Generation
With seven National League batting titles and a .339 career average, Tony Gwynn is unquestionably the premier hitter of his era. His lifetime average is 79 points higher than the batting average of all major leaguers over his 15-plus-year career. That 79-point differential ranks sixth alltime among players with 2,500 or more hits. Here are the hitters (all of whom except Gwynn and the Yankees' Wade Boggs are in the Hall of Fame) whose differential is 50 points or better.
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| PLAYER | Years | Avg. | Era Avg.* | Differential |
| TY COBB | 1905-28 | .367 | .264 | .1029 |
| TED WILLIAMS | 1939-60 | .344 | .260 | .0841 |
| ROGERS HORNSBY | 1915-37 | .358 | .278 | .0810 |
| NAP LAJOIE | 1896-1916 | .339 | .258 | .0806 |
| WILLIE KEELER | 1892-1910 | .345 | .265 | .0794 |
| TONY GWYNN+ | 1982-97 | .339 | .261 | .0789 |
| TRIS SPEAKER | 1907-28 | .344 | .266 | .0780 |
| ED DELAHANTY | 1888-1903 | .345 | .270 | .0752 |
| STAN MUSIAL | 1941-63 | .331 | .258 | .0733 |
| ROD CAREW | 1967-85 | .328 | .255 | .0723 |
| HONUS WAGNER | 1897-1917 | .329 | .257 | .0721 |
| CAP ANSON | 1876-97 | .334 | .262 | .0719 |
| JESSE BURKETT | 1890-1905 | .341 | .269 | .0715 |
| WADE BOGGS+ | 1982-97 | .331 | .261 | .0705 |
| EDDIE COLLINS | 1906-30 | .333 | .266 | .0673 |
| ROBERTO CLEMENTE | 1955-72 | .317 | .250 | .0669 |
| HARRY HEILMANN | 1914-32 | .342 | .275 | .0661 |
| GEORGE SISLER | 1915-30 | .340 | .275 | .0656 |
| BABE RUTH | 1914-35 | .342 | .277 | .0649 |
| LOU GEHRIG | 1923-39 | .340 | .281 | .0593 |
| PAUL WANER | 1926-45 | .333 | .274 | .0589 |
| AL SIMMONS | 1924-44 | .334 | .279 | .0549 |
| SAM CRAWFORD | 1899-1917 | .309 | .255 | .0543 |
| HANK AARON | 1954-76 | .305 | .252 | .0529 |
| FRED CLARKE | 1894-1915 | .315 | .264 | .0514 |
| JIMMIE FOXX | 1925-45 | .325 | .275 | .0500 |
* Does not include years when target player had fewer than 100 at bats.
+Through Sunday.
Source: Elias Sports Bureau |
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