Mr. Padre

2004-09-05

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

The subject raised in the Padres’ dugout on the September night Tony Gwynn’s No. 19 jersey was retired at Petco Park was the dying breed of an athlete to play out his career with one franchise.

Tony Gwynn, drafted by the Padres in 1981 and playing with the organization throughout 20 Major League seasons until retiring in 2001, had a different spin on the expected answer. He sees baseball a little more clearly than most people.

“See everybody says that,” Gwynn says, “but what about Barry Larkin and Derek Jeter?”

Mr. Padre was met by a moment of silence. Others wondered why they hadn’t thought of that, but then others didn’t see a curve ball as clearly as Gwynn either.

“There will always be a guy who plays on just one team,” Gwynn continued. “I don’t think loyalty has a whole lot to do with it. Even in my case, it wasn’t about loyalty. It was about being happy and it was where I wanted to be. I was lucky they wanted me to be here, too. Yes, there is a certain amount of loyalty, but it wasn’t a big factor.”

The No. 19 atop the hitter’s background, along with Nos. 6 (Steve Garvey), No. 31 (Dave Winfield), No. 35 (Randy Jones) and No. 42 (Jackie Robinson), is merely the latest retirement honor that represents Gwynn’s immortality in San Diego baseball. He also has Tony Gwynn Avenue named for him outside Petco Park. Next up is his Hall-of-Fame bust in Cooperstown; Gwynn is eligible in 2007.

If he has to choose, Gwynn says the retired number means more than the street.

“People come into (the stadium) and they see your number, and if you’re inquisitive, like I am, you see that number up there and ask questions. You open the history books and you see the numbers and they’ll see that guy must have played there a long time. You don’t put up those kind of numbers in five or 10 years.”

And players don’t often get a number retired or a street named after them if those numbers are spread out over five or six franchises. To Gwynn, the retirement ceremony, one of many times the franchise has honored him since his retirement, was like sharing good times with family.

“I’m like family to a lot of people, and they grew up watching me play,” Gwynn said. “You feel like you’ve been in their living room every night. For the last three years, they’ve been bringing me out here a couple of times a year and I get a standing ovation. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’ve had opportunities to thank the fans.”

Padres manager Bruce Bochy had a front-row for Gwynn’s career as a teammate, third base coach and manager.

“You know, the most amazing thing about Tony is he never let up on his desire to be a better hitter,” Bochy said. “He never felt he arrived. I think he even got better with age. He lost some speed, but he never lost anything with the ball. Despite playing on the bad knee (at the end of his career), he still had a remarkable ability to get the good part of the bat on the ball.”

Gwynn finished his career with 3,141 hits, now 18th on the all-time list but 17th when he retired, and a career batting average of .338. Fittingly, it’s the highest average by a major leaguer since Ted Williams, The Kid from San Diego, retired from his career with the Boston Red Sox.

Gwynn has been a part of all three of the Padres’ post-season teams in 1984, 1996 and 1998. The 1984 and 1998 teams advanced to the World Series, falling to the Detroit Tigers in five games in 1984 and the New York Yankees in four games in 1998.

Gwynn was asked to identify his favorite experience in greatest in baseball.

“The World Series in 1998, without question,” he said. “In 1984 it happened too quickly and you didn’t realize it’s a pretty hard thing to do. After waiting 14 years to get there again, I really enjoyed 1998. I’m sorry we got swept, but it was an awesome experience playing against the Yankees.”

Then it was time for Gwynn’s jersey retirement ceremony and for Gwynn to speak to the crowd.

“I’ve been trying to keep my sanity,” Gwynn said. “I’ve been scared, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous. The fans are like family and they’ve heard all the stories and they know my numbers, so this is a chance for me to thank all the people who helped me along the way.”