Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

[grismosw]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I am a Reds fan and I have to say:

Gwynn easily....

[skitch]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

Just to put a few things in perspective

-Gwynn hit .300 or better 19 consecutive seasons (national league record)
-from 1993 to 1997 Gwynn hit .350 or better every year including .394 in 1994. Only 3 other players have ever hit more than .350 more consecutive years (Hornsby, Simmons, Cobb)
- In 10,300+ plate apperances he struck out only 434 times.
- Tied NL record with 8 batting titles. Only player to win 4 batting titles in 2 different decades.
- Hit .351 with runners in scoring position and over his last 6 years hit .390 with RISP.
- He also won 5 Gold Gloves

I could go on and on, what he did is staggering, and imo, is by far the best pure hitter of my generation.

Coming into this thread, I was already leaning towards Gwynn. Now, it's a no-brainer. The guy could just flat out hit the baseball. His knowledge and love for the game were almost as unbelievable as his eye at the plate.

[kweiss]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I have to say Gwynn.

What separates the two is that Gwynn routinely posted incredibly high batting averages, and in recent memory he's the closest anyone has ever come to .400, batting .394 in 1994. Aside from his rookie year, the man never hit less then .300. The other side is Rose's 4,256 hits. However, that feat is more of an accomplishment of longevity, which to me isn't directly related to skill.

Gywnn had more hitting skill, while Rose was able to make the most out of the skill he had. I'll have to go with Gywnn, simply because his season batting averages lead me to believe that the man isn't human.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I voted for Rose, and I might be biased too like JWally, but it wasn't easy to do. The bottom-line is these two are in the top 5 best hitters in baseball history in my book. I'd go to Reds-Pads games at Riverfront just to see Tony Gwynn. I love the guy and his approach to hitting. I could see Rose at the end of his career anytime I wanted since he was with the Reds. These two guys played in two different eras, at least in my opinion, for the bulk of their careers and I've always found it hard comparing two guys from two different eras. The 70's compared to the 90's aren't apples to apples. That's just me though.

[bkrich83]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

Barry Bonds did say that the one guy he would pay to see hit the baseball was Tony Gwynn.

Again I am biased so take everything I say with a grain of salt on the subject as Gwynn is my all-time favorite baseball player.

[thesuperles]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I give the edge to Gywnn for most of the reason pointed out, but also because he was batting in the Big Red machine's lineup liek Rose did.

[elicoleman]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I voted Rose, but obviously you can't go wrong with either.

[Triton]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

The avg and lower K count make Gwynn the better all-around hitter, IMO.

[Buckaholic]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

Pete Rose. Not only a better hitter, but a better player overall.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I voted for Rose, both are awesome though. Rost gets the nod from me because of his intensity on the field.

[glucklich]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I voted for Rose, both are awesome though. Rost gets the nod from me because of his intensity on the field.

The question is about hitting, not who is the most intense.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

doh! I thought it was who was the better player.

[Jistic]

Re: Pete Rose vs Tony Gwynn. Who's the better hitter?

I think that a lot of people on here never even saw Rose play so this might not be a fair contest.

Hitter, yeah it's Gwynn. But I gotta say that Pete Rose is probably the best 'baseball player' I have ever seen.