Gwynn Quotes & Sayings

I'm coaching 'swing at this, don't swing at that,' and in the middle of it, a kid looks at me and says, 'Coach, I think I'm going to fail history.' Or maybe their girlfriend just dumped them. These are kids, and once I embraced that, this became a lot more fun. — Tony Gwynn

Like a lot of kids, you kind of think baseball's boring - that's the perception. — Tony Gwynn

Ted Williams is one of the best hitters ever to play the game, and I didn't get a chance to see him play, so all I could do was read books and look at pictures. — Tony Gwynn

Nobody talked about my defense or that I used to steal bases, too. — Tony Gwynn

I try to keep it real simple. I try not to add a lot of frosting on what I'm doing. Just take the swing and don't muscle the swing, because if you get in the hitting position and you take the swing, I generate a lot more bat speed, and that works for me. — Tony Gwynn

Scenes from the Playroom

Now Lucy with her family of dolls
Disfigures Mother with an emery board,
While Charles, with match and rubbing alcohol,
Readies the struggling cat, for Chuck is bored.

The young ones pour more ink into the water
Through which the latest goldfish gamely swims,
Laughing, pointing at naked, neutered Father.
The toy chest is a Buchenwald of limbs.

Mother is so lovely; Father, so late.
The cook is off, yet dinner must go on
With onions as her only cause for tears
She hacks the red meat from the slippery bone,
Setting the table, where the children wait,
Her grinning babies, clean behind the ears. — R.S. Gwynn

Sometimes technique works better than a whole lot of other things. — Tony Gwynn

Gwynn, she was always talking about wanting to be drunk and honestly I did want to encourage that, I wanted to go to a bar with her and let all the stuff sobriety pushed down be released so I could catch it in my palms and finally kiss her. She was just so sad. Melancholy was a fleshy wave permanently cresting on her face, she had to speak through it when she talked. — Michelle Tea

Either you have the ability to hit or not. But I also think you have to work at it. — Tony Gwynn

Labor is sacrificed on the inflation rates altar of oblation. — Richard Gwynn

Slightly surreal, so private, so obscure
That critics classify his work as 'pure'
Because, in digging through the endless chatter
They can't discern what is the subject matter... — R.S. Gwynn

The only thing I do to my bat is put some tape around the handle to build it up a little bit because I broke my finger about six years ago and can't really close it the way I want to. Other than that, the same bat, same Louisville Sluggers. — Tony Gwynn

At that moment, he realised that he did not exist to her in the same way that he existed in his own perception. She held a copied version, an interpretation of him, filtered through the matrix of her priorities and desires.
Therefore, surely, he only held a copy of her. — K.J. Bishop

It's about getting in position and taking a swing. I don't care if you're taking steroids or not; if you don't do those two things, it's not going to matter anyway. — Tony Gwynn

It was always right in front of me. The fear was there in the extravagant boys of my neighborhood, in their large rings and medallions, their big puffy coats and full-length fur-collared leathers, which was their armor against the world. They would stand on the corner of Gwynn Oak and Liberty, or Cold Spring and Park Heights, or outside Mondawmin Mall, with their hands dipped in Russell sweats, I think back on those boys now and all I see is fear, and all I see is them girding themselves against the ghosts of the bad old days when the Mississippi mob gathered 'round their grandfathers so that the branches of the black body might be torched, then cut away. The fear lived on in their practiced bop, their slouching denim, their big T-shirts, the calculated angle of their baseball caps, a catalog of behaviors and garments enlisted to inspire the belief that these boys were in firm possession of everything they desired. — Ta-Nehisi Coates

Lynx stood and raced to the camp. "Attend to our injured!" She unsheathed a machete and made for Hare's killer.
Heron grabbed her wrist. "Wait. He's still conscious."
"Then he will feel my machete," she replied, voice like ice. — Gwynn White

The tee drill should be a fixture in your hitting schedule, even after you think you've mastered everything there is to master in my system. There are major leaguers who hit off the tee every day before games, and even on their days off. Tony Gwynn works diligently at his fundamentals by hitting hundreds of balls off the tee every day. — Charley Jr. Lau

The idea of marrying Lukan made her skin crawl. He was a Chenayan. She, a Norin. He was her conqueror. She, his conquered. He had been born and raised to lord over her. She had been born and raised to hate him. They might as well have been different species. — Gwynn White

Keeping his voice light, he said, "As my soon-to-be crown princess, you're supposed to set an example, not a new trend."
"Pity. I seem to be particularly good at starting new trends. — Gwynn White

Knowing the strike zone is very important, but I think the first thing is knowing yourself, knowing what things you do well. — Tony Gwynn

I think the ability to hit - some guys have it and some guys don't - but I think how dedicated you are to trying to get the most out of yourself, I think kind of determines how good you are and for how long. I was born with the ability to hit, but my work ethic has taken it to the next level. — Tony Gwynn

There were honeys from across the city - Westport, Hollander Ridge, Gwynn Oak, Northwood. They were everything from redbone to yo-yo darkskin. The dimes among them carried Benetton bags, were dolled up like Lily Powers - finger waves, a head of dyed blond, and eyes like enchanted daggers. I saw we were outnumbered, as brothers who try the civilized way always are. — Ta-Nehisi Coates

He had acquired a reputation for possessing a noble character, and even for being something of a hero - or, at least, in the assessment of one contemporary commentator, one of those parties who are able to fulfil the public need in the event of genuine heroes being absent or, for any reason, unpalatable. — K.J. Bishop

I was a contact hitter my whole career but I learned how to handle the ball inside. And Ted Williams played a big part in that. He gave me the advice on how to handle inside pitches. — Tony Gwynn

When I came to this city, I would have agreed with anyone who said there was little mystery left in the world. But in you, madam, first in your image, then in your living self, I saw the allure of something far away and as secret as the stars. As I reached towards this unknown, I began to feel like a man who has ridden through a vast desert, never knowing anything but the sand around him and the dry road under him, then comes upon the mirage of a garden and a city, and finds that the mirage is real, and that it is bigger than the desert; that the desert was, after all his walking, only a small part of the mirage"
"Then you felt love, which is the state of feeling desire and the fulfillment of desire at the same time," she said. — K.J. Bishop

I have no intention of watching undersized Englishmen perched on horses with matchstick legs race along courses planned to amuse Nell Gwynn. — Gilbert Harding

Hell's got IT?
Yes, of course. Who do you think invented Candy Crush? — Gwynn Marssen

Never before had he seen a woman so angry - or so seductive. It rendered him speechless. He couldn't fight the compulsion to kiss her.
She punched him on the chin, snapping his head back. — Gwynn White

I'm a chemistry guy. I believe you've got to play together to have a chance to win. — Tony Gwynn

I think if you enjoy teaching, if you enjoy talking about your craft, that's probably the best way to do it ... because once a player starts to get it, once he figures it out, he'll never forget it. — Tony Gwynn

It's impossible to own a Norin, no matter how many cages you wrap around them. We will always follow our own star. The best you can do is to hope you've pinned your heart to the same constellation. — Gwynn White

With him died a story
That will not be retold:
How, forsaking glory,
Achilles grows old
While Hector dusts his trophies
Behind high walls-
For in his unsung strophes
Troy never falls — R.S. Gwynn

Steroids do not guarantee you're going to have success. I think a lot of people think that they will, but they don't. — Tony Gwynn

You have a way of turning the established order on its head." Instantly regretting that, he forced his face to relax; Lynx must not see anger in his eyes. — Gwynn White

I had no idea that all the things in my career were going to happen. I sure didn't see it. I just know the good Lord blessed me with ability, blessed me with good eyesight and a good pair of hands, and then I worked at the rest. — Tony Gwynn

Should I have a doughnut or my disgusting cardboard?" asked Gwynn, as she drew up languidly before me at a study table in a bookstore on State Street, raising a puffed rice cake in the air.
My eyes narrowed attentively at her face, but as I hesitated, she announced eagerly, "Disgusting cardboard it is! — Daniel Amory

When I was a kid, man, my dad used to buy me the Ted Williams glove at Sears with the Ted Williams shoes with the eight stripes on 'em. I used to play Little League, and I was Ted Williams-ed out. — Tony Gwynn

She looked up at her father. "I am bound so tight by oaths that I feel like a fly in a spider's web. All I can do is use every resource I have before the spider strikes. — Gwynn White

I am always a different man; a reinterpretation of the man I was yesterday, and the day before, and all the days I have lived. The past is gone, was always gone; it does not exist, except in memory, and what is memory but thought, a copy of perception, no less but no more replete with truth than any passing whim, fancy, or other agitation of the mind. And if it is actions, words, thoughts that define an individual, those definitions alter like the weather - if continuity and pattern are often discernible, so are chaos and sudden change. — K.J. Bishop

I hate to say it, but, yeah, I'm a tobacco junkie. — Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn, the fat batter behind Finley, is waiting. — Jerry Coleman

Struggling to control his wayward breathing, Lukan stopped at her side. "A panther. Do you purr as well as claw?"
"Only time will tell." Lynx turned to face him. — Gwynn White

What drives me is trying to be perfect. — Tony Gwynn

When you sign your name on the dotted line, it's more than just playing baseball. You have a responsibility to make good decisions and show people how things are supposed to be done. — Tony Gwynn

Remember these two things: play hard and have fun. — Tony Gwynn

Tobacco Will Slowly and Surely Kill You. And so will time, Gwynn thought. But if you want the job done quickly, professionals recommend bullet. — K.J. Bishop