Prior the 2016 All-Star game Tuesday evening in San Diego, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred took the field at Petco Park as part of a special announcement that incorporated San Diego Padres announcer Dick Enberg.
From this point forward, the American League batting title will be named after Hall-of-Famer Rod Carew, and the National League award will be named after the late Tony Gwynn. The batting titles are now The Rod Carew American League Batting Champion Award and the Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion Award.
Carew was on hand at Petco Park for the ceremony, while Gwynn’s wife, Alicia, and their children accepted a replica of the award on his behalf.
Gwynn, who died in 2014 of salivary gland cancer, spent the entirety of his 20-year career with the Padres. He finished with a .338 lifetime batting average while amassing 3,141 hits and winning eight batting titles.
After his rookie year, Gwynn hit at least .309 in every season he played, including a career-high .394 batting average in 1994. “Mr. Padre” was named to 15 All-Star Games.
Carew played 19 big league seasons with the Minnesota Twins and California Angels. He won seven batting titles and hit .328 over his career, and elected to the All-Star Game 18 times.
Carew batted above .300 for 15 consecutive seasons from 1969-83, was named the AL Rookie of the Year in 1967. He won the AL MVP Award in 1977 when he batted .388/.449/.570 with 14 home runs and 100 RBIs, which were all career highs.
The last Los Angeles Dodgers player to win a batting title was Tommy Davis when he won the award in back-to-back seasons (1962 and 1963).
