Tony Gwynn bats are some of the most popular in the hobby and for good reason. Tony began his career swinging signature model LVS K55 & B267's, hickory and blonde finishes. He then briefly switched to black Adirondacks during the '84 & '85 seasons. In 1986 he just about exclusively switched back to LVS for the remainder of his HOF career. He went back to a B267 briefly before switching to a C263, briefly trying his own model G169 & G170 in 1987 and then back to C263 through 1994 before switching back to B267. He swung a short 32.5" bat until 1994 when he switched to a 33" bat. Tony began consistently taping the knob of his bats in the mid '90's. Tony's bats should just about always have his #19 on the knob or barrel end especially from 1990 on, when the Padres equipment manager began adding the bat specs to the knobs. Gwynn was such a good hitter that there should rarely be ball marks on the left barrel, typical use should be concentrated on the right barrel with the ocassional miss hits on the front and back barrel. Tony used varying degrees of pine tar throughout his career with the tar typically applied to the mid handle through the late '90's when he switched to a higher application at times. Tony was one of the first players to incorporate the tennis racket grip to his bats during the late '90's. Beginning in the 1997 season, Tony began marking his "hit" bats as he approached 3,000 hits and continued to number and sell the "hit" bats through part of the 1999 season and just past hit #3,000.

Ideal Gamer: Swinging Friar branded "hit" bat, colored in MLB Logo on barrel, '84 Gamer.

Difficulty: 2 Quality Gamer: 3 Ideal Gamer: 4

Popularity/Demand: 5 HOFer, 3,000 hit club member, played entire career with one team, considered one of the greatest hitters of all time and widely popular as one of the game's real "good guys".

Ideal characteristics: Taped handle, pine tar, heavy use.