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. Girardi said Sabathia will be out longer
SAN DIEGO -- There were two certainties about Tony Gwynn: He could hit a baseball like few other major leaguers, and he was going to laugh. Shannon Sharpe Youth Jersey . Gwynn was a craftsman at the plate, whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of baseballs greatest hitters. The Hall of Famer died Monday of oral cancer, a disease he attributed to years of chewing tobacco. He was 54. Any knowledgeable fan can recite Gwynns key stats. He had 3,141 hits -- 18th on the all-time list -- a career .338 average and won eight batting titles to tie Honus Wagners NL record. There was far more to the man. In a rarity in pro sports, Gwynn played his whole career with the Padres, choosing to stay in the city where he was a two-sport college star rather than leaving for bigger paychecks elsewhere. He was loyal, generous and approachable. He smiled a lot. It didnt take much to get him to laugh his hearty laugh. Gwynn loved San Diego. San Diego loved "Mr. Padre" right back. His death left even casual fans grieving. "Our city is a little darker today without him, but immeasurably better because of him," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in a statement. Five things to remember about Gwynn: HIS CRAFT: After spending parts of just two seasons in the minors, he made his big league debut on July 19, 1982. Gwynn had two hits that night. After Gwynn doubled, career hits leader Pete Rose, who been trailing the play, said to him: "Hey, kid, what are you trying to do, catch me in one night?" On Monday, Rose recalled Gwynns work ethic and his pioneering use of video to study his at-bats after every game. "Every day you went to the ballpark in San Diego and we used to go 2:30 or 3 oclock, Tony would be out there hitting, religiously, every day," Rose said. "Fifty-four years old is way too young." THE LAUGH: Former Padres teammate Tim Flannery recalls Gwynn as "always laughing, always talking, always happy." It didnt take much for Gwynn to cackle or break into a horse laugh. "He had a work ethic unlike anybody else, and had a childlike demeanour of playing the game just because he loved it so much," said Flannery, third base coach for the San Francisco Giants. THE 5.5 HOLE: Gwynn loved to hit the other way, through the hole between third base and shortstop. "All I keep thinking of when I think of Tony Gwynn is that line drive base hit to left field, or the one-hopper in the hole at shortstop to left field," Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said. "He hit the ball wherever it was pitched, and he was just a genius with the bat, without a doubt." SAN DIEGO STATE: Gwynn had been on a medical leave since late March from his job as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater. He called it his dream job, one he began right after retiring from the Padres following the 2001 season. He coached his son, Tony Jr., whos with the Philadelphia Phillies. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gwynn played point guard for the SDSU basketball team -- he still holds the game, season and career record for assists -- and in the outfield on the baseball team. He was drafted by both the Padres (third round) and San Diego Clippers (10th round) on the same day in 1981. As much as he loved basketball, baseball was his future. Texas Augie Garrido, the winningest college baseball coach, said at the College World Series on Monday that he tried to recruit Gwynn when he was coaching at Cal State Fullerton, but told him he wouldnt be able to play baseball and basketball. Because baseball would be well underway by the time basketball ended, "Youd have to be one hell of a baseball player to be break into the lineup," Garrido recalled telling Gwynn. "He decided to go to San Diego State. After he won his seventh batting title at Dodger Stadium on the last day of the season, he broke that story to the LA Times. He didnt leave out one bit of information about how stupid I was. Thats why my recruiting genius is limited," said Garrido, who added he and Gwynn had a good relationship. TERRIFIC TONY: Gwynn struck out only 434 times in 9,288 career at-bats. He played in San Diegos only two World Series -- batting a combined .371 -- and was a 15-time All-Star. He had a home run in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series off fellow San Diegan David Wells and scored the winning run in the 1994 All-Star Game despite a bum knee. Gwynn never hit below .309 in a full season. He spread his batting titles from 1984, when he batted .351, to 1997, when he hit .372. Gwynn was hitting .394 when a players strike ended the 1994 season, denying him a shot at becoming the first player to hit .400 since San Diego native Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Peyton Manning Youth Jersey . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. Bradley Chubb Womens Jersey . He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr.NEW YORK -- Diving through the air, fully outstretched, Josh Harrison might have been the only one in the ballpark who knew he was going to make that incredible catch in the eighth inning. And boy, it felt good when ball met leather -- even better than watching his tiebreaking homer soar over the left field wall an inning earlier. After a late-game switch from third base to left field, Harrison laid out to grab Yangervis Solartes line drive Sunday, helping to preserve the Pittsburgh Pirates first win in the Bronx in 54 years, 5-3 over the New York Yankees for a doubleheader split. "Home runs are great, but any time you can make a play in the field and help out the pitcher it feels good," Harrison said. "I knew once I left my feet it was in there." Mark Teixeira had a two-run single and Brett Gardner added an RBI double as New York beat Pittsburgh 4-3 in the opener of the first single-admission twinbill at Yankee Stadium since 2004. The Pirates had lost all eight games at Yankee Stadium in interleague play. They last beat New York on the road in Game 5 of the 1960 World Series. "Its just another win," said Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole, who grew up a Yankees fan. "We need as many as we can, and the other stuff doesnt matter." Cole (4-3), who turned down the Yankees when they drafted him in 2008 to go to UCLA, struck out eight in six sharp innings to help the Pirates snap a three-game skid. Starling Marte hit a two-run homer off Vidal Nuno in the sixth inning of the second game after striking out four times in the opener. Marte, though, left with left hamstring tightness in the seventh inning. Neil Walker and Tony Sanchez homered for Pittsburgh in the opener. "Ill be good for the next game," Marte said. Harrison, who ran into the third out of the fifth inning before a run could cross the plate, switched from third base to left field in place of Marte. Then in the eighth, with pinch-hitter Derek Jeter on first following a single, Solarte hit a sharp liner to left. Harrison raced to his right and caught it with a fully extended dive toward the line. "Harrison was a big reason they won the second game today. His defence, his offence really hurt us today. Sol put a great at-bat as well and hit a rocket," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You dont see guys lay out 320 feet away very often, but he did." Former Yankees catcher Chris Stewart had two RBIs for the Pirates. Fill-in closer Mark Melancon, who broke into the big leagues with New York, pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Solarte homered in the sixth to tie it 3-all and singled for the Yankees, who had won four straight. The teams looked as if they lost focus during the 38-minute break between games, coming out for Game 2 in front of a fraction of the 46,858 who attended the opener and making four quick errors. DeMarcus Ware Jersey. . The second game was scheduled as a makeup for Friday nights rainout. Gardner was picked off third base in the first inning, a warmup for a sloppy second in which both clubs appeared to forget the fundamentals. Solarte made a throwing error, then Brian Roberts dropped a throw from Solarte on a force attempt to put runners at the corners. Stewart had an RBI single but Jose Tabata slowed coming around second with a leg injury and was tagged out trotting into third to end the inning. The Pirates were worse in the bottom half, allowing New York to score twice with two outs. Travis Snider let John Ryan Murphys single skitter through his legs in right field for a run. Snider had replaced Tabata in right field to start the inning. The Pirates said Tabata had tightness in his right hamstring. Brendan Ryan laid down a perfect squeeze to make it 2-1 and went to second on Coles throwing error. Gardner walked and Cole balked the runners to second and third, but Roberts popped out to second base. Harrison doubled to left with two outs in the fifth but slipped about halfway to third base and was tagged out in a rundown before Snider could cross home plate. "I tried to stay in it as long as I could," Harrison said. Harrison redeemed himself in the seventh with a drive to left off Alfredo Aceves (0-2). "He can surprise you," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Harrison, usually a bench player. "He does things with intent all the time." In the opener, Brian McCann had an RBI single in the first as New York scored all its runs in the first two innings on five hits off Charlie Morton (0-6). After Gardners RBI double in the second, Morton allowed just one baserunner through seven innings. Hiroki Kuroda (3-3) yielded three runs and five hits in six innings for his first win since April 12 against Boston. "As a pitcher, the win is always a good thing," Kuroda said through a translator. "Even though you may not have perfect stuff, to get the win is very encouraging." David Robertson, the fourth Yankees reliever, got four outs for his eighth save. NOTES: Yankees RF Carlos Beltran had a second cortisone shot to try to ease the discomfort in his right elbow from a bone spur. He will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday. ... LHP CC Sabathia (right knee) will see a doctor Monday to make a plan. Girardi said Sabathia will be out longer than 15 days, for sure. ... The Pirates streak of the leadoff batter reaching in eight straight games ended when Snider struck out looking. ' ' '
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Activity: Nov 21 '19
Activity: Nov 21 '19