With the baseball strike looming, Tony Gwynn pounded out three more hits on this date — Aug. 11 — in 1994 to push his batting average to .394. He’d been making baseball’s most serious run at .400 since Ted Williams, but Mr. Padre apparently believed more serious matters were at stake that summer.
“People look at this as individuals not having a chance to break records,” Gwynn told the Union-Tribune after the Padres’ 8-6 win at Houston. “But guys have sacrificed careers to make things better for a lot of young baseball players. … As far as I’m concerned, getting an agreement is more important than hitting .