- published: 26 Feb 2013
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Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach. He played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and was elected to the All-Star game every season except his last. In 1991, Carew was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. While Carew was never a home run threat (hitting fewer than 100 career home runs), he made a career out of being a consistent contact hitter. He threw right-handed and batted left-handed.
Carew is a Zonian and was born to a Panamanian mother on a train in the town of Gatún, which, at that time, was in the Panama Canal Zone. The train was racially segregated; white passengers were given the better forward cars, while non-whites, like Carew's mother, were forced to ride in the rearward cars. When she went into labor, a physician traveling on the train, Dr. Rodney Cline, delivered the baby. In appreciation for this, Mrs. Carew named the boy Rodney Cline Carew.
Anthony Keith "Tony" Gwynn, Sr. (born May 9, 1960), nicknamed Mr. Padre and Captain Video, is a retired American Major League Baseball right fielder. He is statistically one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the San Diego Padres (1982–2001). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 9, 2007 and was inducted on July 29. He is the first National League player born during the 1960s to earn the honor (Kirby Puckett was the first American Leaguer). He batted and threw left-handed.
Despite playing much of his career at a "power position" (right field is known for producing sluggers) during a time when home runs were at an all-time high, he was not a home run threat, never hitting more than 17 in any one season during his major league career. Instead, Gwynn made a name for himself by being one of the most consistent contact hitters in the game's history. Gwynn hit .338 for his career and won eight National League batting titles. He struck out only 434 times in 9,288 career at-bats, and never batted below .309 in any full season.