chris gwynn, double dipper

with the signing of tony gwynn jr, the dodgers will, for the second time, feature a gwynn on their roster.  actually, it will be for the third time, since uncle chris was a dodger double dipper!

gwynn was a 1st round draft pick of the dodgers in the 1985 draft.  he made his debut two years later in a game against the giants at candlestick.  starting in left field on august 14, gwynn singled in his first big league at bat.  in fact, he singled in his first 3 big league at bats, and reached on an error in his fourth.  in all, he drove in 2 runs in the dodgers' 4-3 win that day.  not a bad way to start, although he wouldn't drive in any more runs until 1989.

gwynn was used largely as a pinch hitter during his first dodger stay which lasted from 1987-1991.  he played in 256 games with 424 plate appearances, and had exactly 100 hits in that time, with a .256 average, 10 homeruns and 53 rbi.

in december of 1991, the dodgers traded gwynn to the royals for todd benzinger.

gwynn played in kansas city from 1992-1993. in those two years, gwynn played nearly as much as he had with the dodgers over the course of the previous 5 seasons.  he had 406 plate appearances and hit .296 with 110 hits, 2 home runs and 32 rbi. 

the royals wound up releasing gwynn at the end of spring training in 1994, and the dodgers were quick to sign him to a free agent deal.

gwynn's second go around with the dodgers lasted for the 1994 and 1995 seasons.  in that time, he played in 125 games and had 170 plate appearances.  he hit .239 with 4 homers and 23 rbi and appeared for the dodgers in the 1995 postseason, striking out in his only at bat.

this is the fifth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, and nick willhite.

here's to you chris gwynn!