Tony Gwynn is the best hitter I’ve ever seen, and he’ll surely (and deservedly) be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

I’ve even got a 1983 Fleer Tony Gwynn rookie card that’s presumably signed by Gwynn. I say presumably because I sent the card (in a self-addressed stamped envelope) to the Padres in about 1985 when I was in elementary school. It came back to me a few weeks later with Gwynn’s autograph on it. I assume it’s legit and not signed by a clubhouse boy or someone else appointed by Gwynn to handle his mail. But who knows.

And I just saw the most amazing stat about Gwynn: He had 233 three-hit games in his career, and only one three-strikeout game (source: ESPN). That’s just ludicrous.

Gwynn struck out once every 23.2 plate appearances (434 strike outs in 10078 plate appearances). By comparison, Pete Rose struck out once every 13.7 plate appearances (1143 strike outs in 15619 plate appearances). Gwynn is only 87th on the all-time list for best strikeout ratio, but that’s misleading. The vast majority of players ahead of him on the list are old-old-old timers like Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner, Stuffy McInnis, Doggie Miller, Cap Anson, Pie Traynor, Patsy Donovan, Doc Cramer, Cupid Childs, Paul “Big Poison” Waner, Irish Meusel, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Taffy Wright, and more.

Gwynn played the game the right way, and he deserves Cooperstown as much as anyone who’s ever played.