In the 1980s, Tony Gwynn’s wife hauled a suitcase-sized Betamax VCR through hotel lobbies so he could study his swing decades before anyone in a dugout used video. This episode explores how Mr. Padre used data, obsessive discipline, and a radically analytical mind to become the greatest pure hitter since Ted Williams.

We trace his upbringing built on discipline, his black-walnut hitting drills, and his two-sport stardom at San Diego State. We cover his choice to spend all 20 seasons with the Padres, his Captain Video film library, scouting umpires’ strike zones, his mid-career power adjustment after meeting Ted Williams, and the smokeless-tobacco addiction that led to his death and a league-wide ban.

• Why he valued being a civic icon over maximum profit
• Spending nearly $100,000 of his own money on video gear
• Turning poor early fielding into five Gold Gloves
• Generously sharing scouting reports even with rivals
• How his death reshaped clubhouse culture in 2016