Summer
1983
Just a
few days after my ninth birthday I piled into the bed of a late-1960‘s Ford Ranchero
along with my brother and a neighborhood friend of ours as part of a four vehicle
caravan to Mission Valley. Our destination: Jack Murphy Stadium and my first
ever Major League Baseball game. It had all the sights, sounds and smells as
those of you who have attended a game could imagine. I think I need not go on,
your memories have surely come alive as soon as you read the words first and game. As an added treat, it was bat day, meaning every kid got a
free bat. Not one of those little souvenir bats the size of a baby’s arm but an
honest to goodness youth sized bat.The bat itself is long gone. Had I known better than to use it to hit rocks, marbles and just about anything I could fit into my hands; I might still have it. But what I gained that day; a lifelong love affair with America’s Pastime, will far outlast any material souvenir. It may be worth mentioning that the Phillies were in town that warm July evening, so my first game consisted of one future Hall of Famer in Tony Gwynn and one should-be Hall of Famer in Pete Rose leading their teams against each other.
Fast-forward thirty summers and I found myself at Petco Park with my family; placing a bundle of sage at the foot of the statue I helped unveil.There was a somber tone in the Park at the Park that day; reminiscent of the losses my immediate family has suffered. The silent mourning; the resurgence of tears each time I hugged another member of the Padres family reminded me of the days my mother, grandmother and grandfathers passed on. Many words were shared; fond memories recounted but the most touching moments were the silent ones. One of the first members of my Family of 40,000 I encountered was Summer Serrano; President of the Madres Organization. Few words exchanged initially; each of us knowing all too well how the other was affected by such an immense loss.
In the
days since; every night has brought memories of days past to the surface.
Whenever a major event occurs in my life, I usually have a rough draft
detailing my experiences and what I have learned completed within an hour. In
the case of losing Tony Gwynn, it took two full days to even shed a true tear.
My shock was so thorough in that it affected me as a child, as a former
coworker, as a husband, as a father, and as a fan.
Ten days
and three separate drafts later I am finally able to put my fingers to the
keyboard and finally express my thoughts in a way that truly reflects the
impact Tony has had and continues to have on me. In all honesty, I don’t think
I or anyone else will know the full impact he had on my life until my own day
of reckoning comes. Try as I might, I am only scratching the surface when I say
knowing Tony and knowing of him has made me a better husband, a better father,
a better friend and a better employee. Of all the things there are to admire about
him, his qualities that have affected me most were his human qualities; his
strengths of character. As much as his excellence on the ballfield amazed me,
his ways of achieving that excellence are what inspires me most.
The
universal truths in his career stats are not lost on anyone, but the stats
behind those stats are what I find truly astounding, making the former San
Diego State point guard a legend among legends. Stats that would make Babe
Ruth, Willie Mays and even that ornery SOB Ty Cobb bow their heads in
reverence. The eight batting titles and .338 lifetime average are astonishing
in themselves. But look behind those numbers and you’ll see that Tony batted an
un-Gwynn like .302 against Nolan Ryan; yet still a full .100 points more than the rest of
Major League Baseball. Against Greg Maddux, Tony batted an incredible .429
while the rest of the league batted a paltry .250. And against Mad Dog’s fellow
Atlanta Braves ace John Smoltz, Gwynn batted .462, nearly .250 higher than the
rest of the Majors. In short, Tony Gwynn owned the legendary pitchers of his
era much like he owned the 5.5 hole. He dominated the dominant.
Of all
his Hall of Fame credentials, what impresses me most and what I will try to hammer home in the
minds of my children are his five Gold Gloves. Upon being drafted, most MLB
scouts had Tony Gwynn rated as an average fielder at best. No matter who you
are, average outfielders don’t get rated best in the field with average
talent. He worked hard at fielding and
he mastered it, just as he mastered every other aspect of the game. When I talk
to my sons about the game of baseball, I don’t talk much about statistics; I
put the emphasis on how those statistics were achieved. In all my years of
following baseball and studying the all-time greats, I have found no better
example of hard work and discipline than those five awards.As I mentioned a few moments ago, with every major event in my life; be it triumph or tragedy I have never had a problem writing about it. Often I have a first draft complete within an hour of such occasions and it is not uncommon for a single draft to spawn a dozen new ideas, or as western writer Louis L’Amour used to say “more grist for the mill”. Yet through countless drafts, rewrites and total emotional breakdown, it has taken a week and a half to put this thing together. Had I been using actual paper and pencil, my wastebasket would have overflowed many times over with crumpled, tear-stained pages. But I have realized that one single word, one sentence, one paragraph could not possibly do Tony the justice he deserves. Many of those who read what I share publicly are just as devastated as I am and I do not want to let them down.
In my
search for the best way to create a written tribute to Anthony Keith Gwynn
Senior; I prayed, I watched the tribute videos, I read old interviews and I prayed
some more. I looked for anything to assist me in properly defining exactly what
Tony means to me. I finally found it in an unlikely place. In indigenous
languages around the globe; one word, one term can carry volumes of meaning.
Certain terms would require several paragraphs to be properly translated into
the English language.
Great Hitter.
Model Teammate. Extraordinary. Unequaled. Hard working. Honorable. Intelligent.
Focused. Dedicated. Determined. Unsurpassed. Endearing. Magnificent.
Dependable. Legendary. Consistent. Personable. Talented. Loyal. Loyal. Loyal.
Did I mention loyal?These are just nineteen terms, and surely we could add to the list and make it oh, 3,141 more or so. For the citizens of San Diego and baseball fans the world over; all those terms can be summed up with one word:
Tony…
