{"id":1440,"date":"2012-09-20T06:04:49","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T06:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2012\/09\/20\/tony-gwynn-steps-up-to-the-plate\/"},"modified":"2012-09-20T06:04:49","modified_gmt":"2012-09-20T06:04:49","slug":"tony-gwynn-steps-up-to-the-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2012\/09\/20\/tony-gwynn-steps-up-to-the-plate\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Gwynn Steps Up To The Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- Original Post Content --><br \/>\nBeing born and raised in San Diego, I have always supported the athletes who represent my city, whether it\u2019s athletes from high school, college or the pros.  Gail Devers raced her way to gold at the 1992 Olympics games in Barcelona, Spain.  Dan Fouts, Lance Alworth, and the late Junior Seau are Chargers who have their jerseys retired because they played the game of football with tremendous tenacity and passion.  Charde Houston made school history in the state of California when she passed Cheryl Miller to become the all-time career scoring leader in women\u2019s high school basketball with 3,837 points.  Then, there is the veteran Tony Gwynn.<\/p>\n<p>\tGwynn began his career as an Aztec where he was a dual sport athlete in basketball and baseball.  He excelled in both, and even though he set two school records in basketball while at San Diego State, when debating to go pro, Gwynn made the decision to pursue baseball. <\/p>\n<p>\tWhat most sports fans know of \u201cMr. Padre\u201d is his optimum hitting skills.  Gwynn is arguably one of the greatest hitters to ever approach a batter\u2019s box.  His round frame, thick knees, sharp eye and patient swing were swift with the bat, hitting the ball towards the 5.5 hole.  It was rare for Gwynn to strikeout during a game.  The left-handed batter spent countless hours not only perfecting his stance, but also analyzing data such as field conditions, facilities, weather, day or night game, and R\/L pitchers and their delivery style.  It seemed that #19 had everything figured out.<\/p>\n<p>\tThis was until Randy Johnson, also a southpaw, marched on the field.  The \u201cBig Unit,\u201d who stood at a soaring 6\u201910, threw 100+ mph fastballs down the strike zone.  Johnson was one pitcher that Gwynn could not overcome.  He went 1 for 12 with four strikeouts against Johnson, a percentage of .083 at bat, considering Gwynn\u2019s lifetime batting average was .338.<\/p>\n<p>\tStill, despite the poor batting average against one player, there is a bigger picture to look at.  Gwynn\u2019s overall accomplishments, such as nine club records, 3,000+ career hits, 15x All-Star, 5x Golden Glove, and 8x batting titles, overwrite that slight statistic.  Not to mention in 2007, he received <em>the<\/em> highest honor in Major League Baseball; Gwynn was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame alongside Cal Ripken Jr.  These are, nonetheless, prime achievements that stand in sports history.  <\/p>\n<p>\tThere are many craps players, mentors, and instructors who have off days, whether it is in practice or live play.  A few months ago, I practiced throwing 36 rolls.  I couldn\u2019t get it together for the life of me, hitting 11 sevens in those 36 rolls.  I cussed\u2026 a lot.  Even if it is practice, I still want to throw well because practice translates into live play.  However, members of the GTC family, like myself, can overcome bad days.   We can analyze our throw and stance through videos, research casinos, table conditions, and personnel in order to assist with a profitable trip.  If you have a few strikeouts (7\u2019s) during your turn with the dice, there is no need to worry.  In the end, you are still the batting champ.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>Replies:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"migrated-reply\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;padding: 15px;margin-bottom: 15px;border-radius: 5px\">\n<p><strong>Posted by:<\/strong> T-Burg on September 21, 2012, 10:20 am<\/p>\n<div>Vera S steps up to the plate and hits one out of the park!<br \/>\n\tAnother well written piece.   Loved it <\/p>\n<p>\tMay the dice be with you   T-Burg<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"migrated-reply\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;padding: 15px;margin-bottom: 15px;border-radius: 5px\">\n<p><strong>Posted by:<\/strong> Dominator on September 21, 2012, 12:12 pm<\/p>\n<div>Just great again Vera! Looking forward to seeing you in October and talking some sports!<\/p>\n<p>\tDom<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"migrated-reply\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;padding: 15px;margin-bottom: 15px;border-radius: 5px\">\n<p><strong>Posted by:<\/strong> The WoW Man on September 21, 2012, 1:29 pm<\/p>\n<div>Thanks Vera.<br \/>\n\tAs T-Burg says, you hit another out of the park.<\/p>\n<p>\tCatch you later!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"migrated-reply\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;padding: 15px;margin-bottom: 15px;border-radius: 5px\">\n<p><strong>Posted by:<\/strong> Timmer on September 21, 2012, 1:33 pm<\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 16px\">Another winner&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\tWell done, VeraS!<\/span> <\/p>\n<p>\t\ud83d\ude0e  \ud83d\ude0e  \ud83d\ude0e<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"migrated-reply\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;padding: 15px;margin-bottom: 15px;border-radius: 5px\">\n<p><strong>Posted by:<\/strong> Dice Pilot on September 22, 2012, 4:00 pm<\/p>\n<div>Great read Vera.  I will be at the Padres\/Dodgers game this Wednesday.  After reading your post, I am fired up for the game.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"migrated-reply\" style=\"border: 1px solid #eee;padding: 15px;margin-bottom: 15px;border-radius: 5px\">\n<p><strong>Posted by:<\/strong> Rival on September 26, 2012, 4:24 pm<\/p>\n<div>GO AZTECS.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being born and raised in San Diego, I have always supported the athletes who represent my city, whether it\u2019s athletes from high school, college or the pros. Gail Devers raced her way to gold at the 1992 Olympics games in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}