Greatest quote ever...I've mentioned before doing this one day: a thread for the many Tony Gwynn stats that show up here and there that at first sound like pure science fiction. One on Facebook today that I have checked out and verified: in 1994, the year he made a run at .400, Gwynn hit .368 with two strikes on him. And it wasn't that small a sample size: 125 AB. And he didn't just choke up and hit singles: four HR, .504 slugging average.
― clemenza, Friday, 14 November 2025 18:42 (one month ago)
Full quote (Greg Maddux), just in case you're not familiar with it:
"Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitches if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher’s hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. Except for that (expletive) Tony Gwynn."
Not sure exactly when he said that, and I hope it's not apocryphal.
― clemenza, Friday, 14 November 2025 18:48 (one month ago)
Remind me what the expletive was? We're all adults here, probably.
― hey man, smell my finger, then another finger, then cigarette (WmC), Friday, 14 November 2025 18:56 (one month ago)
I've got to assume it's Sam Jackson's favourite word, but I've never actually seen that spelled out.
― clemenza, Friday, 14 November 2025 19:35 (one month ago)