Remembering the best friend baseball ever had

[Roy Firestone]

I have been blessed and honored to have met some great people in sports and figures outside of sports. I would hard pressed to name a single human being who was as humble and kind hearted and jovial and self deprecating while at the same time as truly great in his profession as was Tony Gwynn.You could talk about the 8 batting titles, the .338 lifetime batting average, the 15 all star selections and of course the Hall of Fame induction (with Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007). You could point out that he was a magician with the bat. He batted .361 with 2 strikes in his career. If he went 0 for 1,000 he still would've had a lifetime .300 batting average.He barely struck out 40 times in any season. He was perhaps the generation's greatest pure hitter. What I'd like to talk about is Tony Gwynn the person.He had a laugh you could hear from a mile away, and he laughed all day long. He was wise and he was generous with his time. He spent hours talking to me and other sports people about hitting and about his late father and the lessons he learned. Tony was deferential. He talked about his wife Alisha like she was the"boss", and he loved his brother Chris and his beautiful children(Tony Jr. is also a major league player). One story I will never forget is the night Chris Gwynn(his little brother) had a pinch hit to beat Tony's Padres at Dodger Stadium. Never mind that both teams were in the pennant race. After the game, late after everyone had left, I saw big brother Tony walk into the Dodgers locker room and hug his brother saying"Chris, i just want you to know how proud I am of you". When I tell you that even now, I get choked up remembering that story. Tony Gwynn was the best hitter I ever saw in person, but he was about the best person I ever met in sports too. He always asked about my kids and always respected the game and what it gave him. He could've been a big league hitting coach, but he took a ton less money to coach at San Diego State, his alma mater.I join the rest of the game of baseball in mourning my old pal Tony. The game lost a great great man. Humanity lost a greater person.

[Yossarian]

Thanks for sharing, Roy.

Gwynn was certainly one of a kind and was fun to watch.  I never met Tony, but I have met another good person in baseball - Dale Murphy.  He is a kind and gentle man.  Although, when he retired, he really retired from baseball.  He is almost uncomfortable talking about baseball now (he's almost more comfortable talking about his friendship with the band members of REM).  When he retired he became the ultimate family man and is active in his church and community.   I always chuckle at the story Tom Glavine tells when he was instructed to throw at Murphy by Bobby Cox as a retaliation (after Murphy had left the Braves).  Glavine did not want to do it and almost lobbed the inside pitches to hit him. 

Those days of watching Gwynn and Murphy will live for a long time in my mind. 

[Gurgi]

I watched a documentary about Tony.  He really seemed a great guy in life.  Had an amazing connection to San Diego.  Seems he was even a wonderful basketball player. 

[Tony-OH]

Gwynn certainly passed way too young!

[Pickles]

I met Tony Gwynn after a game he managed against TCU.  Arrieta started the game and pitched well for TCU.  Strasburg was a freshman for SDSU, not yet a phenom, and he blew the save in the 9th inning and SDSU lost.  

It was a crappy way to lose a game.  When Tony Gwynn came out after the game to board the bus there was a group of probably 100 people or so waiting for him to get his autograph.  I don't even think they'd showered yet.  He came out saw the crowd and you could see it on his face: It was the last thing he wanted to deal with.  Hard to blame him.  

And yet he stayed and autographed everything everybody had for him and was unfailingly polite and considerate.

[beervendor]

That deep southern accent was nearly as sweet as his swing.

Overshadowed for playing on the west coast, not being a HR hitter, and even being forced to share his HOF induction with a certain beloved number 8; he was a consummate professional and a true gentleman.

[banks703]

On 5/5/2023 at 1:56 PM, Roy Firestone said:

I have been blessed and honored to have met some great people in sports and figures outside of sports. I would hard pressed to name a single human being who was as humble and kind hearted and jovial and self deprecating while at the same time as truly great in his profession as was Tony Gwynn.You could talk about the 8 batting titles, the .338 lifetime batting average, the 15 all star selections and of course the Hall of Fame induction (with Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007). You could point out that he was a magician with the bat. He batted .361 with 2 strikes in his career. If he went 0 for 1,000 he still would've had a lifetime .300 batting average.He barely struck out 40 times in any season. He was perhaps the generation's greatest pure hitter. What I'd like to talk about is Tony Gwynn the person.He had a laugh you could hear from a mile away, and he laughed all day long. He was wise and he was generous with his time. He spent hours talking to me and other sports people about hitting and about his late father and the lessons he learned. Tony was deferential. He talked about his wife Alisha like she was the"boss", and he loved his brother Chris and his beautiful children(Tony Jr. is also a major league player). One story I will never forget is the night Chris Gwynn(his little brother) had a pinch hit to beat Tony's Padres at Dodger Stadium. Never mind that both teams were in the pennant race. After the game, late after everyone had left, I saw big brother Tony walk into the Dodgers locker room and hug his brother saying"Chris, i just want you to know how proud I am of you". When I tell you that even now, I get choked up remembering that story. Tony Gwynn was the best hitter I ever saw in person, but he was about the best person I ever met in sports too. He always asked about my kids and always respected the game and what it gave him. He could've been a big league hitting coach, but he took a ton less money to coach at San Diego State, his alma mater.I join the rest of the game of baseball in mourning my old pal Tony. The game lost a great great man. Humanity lost a greater person.

 

 

In the summer of 2004 I was 19 years old. Tony Gwynn was (and remains) one of my three favorite players of my life (with Vlad Sr. and Charles Johnson...I used to want catch). So, imagine my excitement when my girlfriend and I were waiting for our things at the baggage claim inside the San Diego airport and I hear soft words and an unmistakable chuckle. I looked at my girlfriend and said to her "that's Tony Gwynn" to which she replied "who?" with a very confused face. I didn't have to turn around to know it was him. You know his laugh and his demeanor. I felt his presence. 

 

I turned to him and said "you're Tony Gwynn". He smiled, nodded his head and simply said "yes I am" then extended his hand to me to shake mine. 

 

He told me that I looked like a ballplayer, asked where I played then went on to sincerely talk to me about hitting for 10 or 15 minutes while we awaited our bags.

 

I've had some wonderful interactions and experiences with other athletes and celebrities (I see Ryan Kerrigan at the farmers market just about every Saturday. His kids are obsessed with my American Mastiff and he is a very nice guy) but no other exchange that I have had with someone high profile has ever come close to that 15 or so minutes with Tony Gwynn. He extended a genuine attentiveness to me after a six hour flight (he was on the Braves/Padres broadcast the night before and was on my layover from Atlanta to San Diego). The advice that he gave me from that small window of conversation with him made me a better baseball player but to this day, it makes me try to be a better person. 

 

I didn't know Tony Gwynn personally but I am lucky enough to say that he personally touched my life. I never understood why folks would cry when celebrities passed but when we lost Tony Gwynn, I felt it. I share in the feeling that after the strike, the game of baseball was saved by the likes of Tony Gwynn, Griffey Jr. and Cal. Tony Gwynn was not just an all-time great player. He was all-time great person.

 

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Greg Maddux when discussing pitching - changing speeds, location, etc. vs. pure velocity:

"Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitches if there are different release points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher's hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision"

"Except for that (@#$%*) Tony Gwynn."

 

Cancer sucks. We miss you, Tony Gwynn.