Tony Gwynn vs Steve Nash

[Matt15]

Who was the better player at their respective sport?

[Doctor MJ]

Two of my faves, but hard to know how to compare.

I might say Gwynn has the greater career because of the longevity, but Nash at his best was more valuable (even normalizing for general sports differences there).

[O_6]

Gwynn was a very unique player. He’s the best contact hitter to grace the sport in over 40 years.

.338 Batting Average (best since 1980)
4.2 K% (best since 1980)

Ichiro is probably the best contact hitter in baseball since, he topped .338 only 4 times in his MLB career and never had a K% lower than 7.2%. I honestly don’t know how to compare that to NBA players post-‘80 aka 3pt era. Gwynn’s combo of high BA and low K% is pretty damn unique.

It’s a particular baseball skill. Shooting well in basketball is the closest thing to “contacting well” in baseball.

Nash: The 2nd best FT% ever — 11th best 3PT% ever

Amazing shooter. Maybe the 2nd best since there’s a dude named Curry. Pure contact hitting vs. pure shooting, Gwynn comes out slightly ahead but close.

But then Nash led the league in assists per game 5x and finished top 5 a total of 9x (in a row).

Gwynn played his position better defensively but overall was a poor defender considering position. Nash is even worse on D. But Nash being dominant as both a shooter and passer just feels more dominant than Gwynn just as a contact hitter with limited power (135 career HRs).

This is almost impossible. But I’d say Gwynn is somewhere between Carmelo and Durant. Durants length makes him different. Gervin is probably the best comp imo although that travels not only sports but eras. Smooth af at simply getting it.

Nash is pretty regularly rated better than the Iceman.

It’s an impossible comparison and if you compare them to their sport where it’s 9 on the field + 1 on the bench vs. 5 on the floor, Gwynn has an argument. But it’s hard to get past Nash’s insane passing/shooting combo.

As epic as Steph is, I think most people would prefer Nash’s skill set in this team USA situation more because of his distributing. That makes Nash an insane player slightly above Gwynn in basketball although it’s an impossible comp.

[homecourtloss]

Gwynn was a very unique player. He’s the best contact hitter to grace the sport in over 40 years.

.338 Batting Average (best since 1980)
4.2 K% (best since 1980)

Ichiro is probably the best contact hitter in baseball since, he topped .338 only 4 times in his MLB career and never had a K% lower than 7.2%. I honestly don’t know how to compare that to NBA players post-‘80 aka 3pt era. Gwynn’s combo of high BA and low K% is pretty damn unique.

It’s a particular baseball skill. Shooting well in basketball is the closest thing to “contacting well” in baseball.

Nash: The 2nd best FT% ever — 11th best 3PT% ever

Amazing shooter. Maybe the 2nd best since there’s a dude named Curry. Pure contact hitting vs. pure shooting, Gwynn comes out slightly ahead but close.

But then Nash led the league in assists per game 5x and finished top 5 a total of 9x (in a row).

Gwynn played his position better defensively but overall was a poor defender considering position. Nash is even worse on D. But Nash being dominant as both a shooter and passer just feels more dominant than Gwynn just as a contact hitter with limited power (135 career HRs).

This is almost impossible. But I’d say Gwynn is somewhere between Carmelo and Durant. Durants length makes him different. Gervin is probably the best comp imo although that travels not only sports but eras. Smooth af at simply getting it.

Nash is pretty regularly rated better than the Iceman.

It’s an impossible comparison and if you compare them to their sport where it’s 9 on the field + 1 on the bench vs. 5 on the floor, Gwynn has an argument. But it’s hard to get past Nash’s insane passing/shooting combo.

As epic as Steph is, I think most people would prefer Nash’s skill set in this team USA situation more because of his distributing. That makes Nash an insane player slightly above Gwynn in basketball although it’s an impossible comp.

This is a really great breakdown. Gwynn had probably unrivaled plate discipline even when down in the count, which is one reason why he was so difficult to strike out. He also had unbelievable bat control and could adjust his swing path, which is why he had so many opposite field singles. He was a true craftsman with a touch of genius as well. Also, it’s with mentioning that before he got kind of fat, he was quite adept base stealer.

Someone who can hit above 300 or even above 320 really regardless of anything even when he’s 40 years old should have higher value, but his lack of power and as you mention his mediocre/subpar defense relative to position holds him back in the discussion for the top-tier all-time greats.

In this sense, I think Steve Nash‘s overall playmaking and shooting go more towards winning impact than what Tony Gwynn provides even adjusting for the fact that a basketball player can provide more impact on winning than a position baseball player can

[madvillian]

fun comparison. both guys were what you would consider "unathletic" relative to their peers but in their own way they were magicians and quite athletic when needed. comparison is the thief of joy but just as an impact you have to say nash. Tony was a great player, had an incredible career, easy HOF with 65 bWAR and a great peak, but Nash had more of an influence as was noted up thread.

[bdp31770]

Funny when I saw this post I was hoping there'd be footage of Gwynn and Nash playing basketball against each other since Gwynn played 4 years of it at San Diego State.

[1993Playoffs]

Good comp. I don’t know. I’m not the biggest baseball guy. But it seems Nash at his best was slightly better.

The playmaking and shooting was MVP level