Filling Baseball Cleats: Tony Gwynn and Tony Gwynn
July 2, 2009
The Stuff of Legends
I love it when rad legendary dads help their sons create their own legends. Go Padres!
It’s déjà vu all over again in San Diego by Tom Friend
“The Padres wanted the kid. They couldn’t justify taking him in the first round of the 2003 draft, but they decided the second round was the absolute right spot. First of all, the goodwill in town would be off the charts, and the organization needed more speed in its farm system. The team was all set to select him with the 41st overall pick when … the Milwaukee Brewers took him at No. 39. "We thought we were going to get him," Towers says. "I was kind of — I’m not going to say ticked — but I remember saying, ‘We’re going to take some heat on this one. We’re going to get crushed by the media. We lost out on a Gwynn?’"
Like it or not, Anthony was finally leaving home, and he assured a concerned Alicia — who couldn’t handle the Little League catcalls — that he wouldn’t cave under the expectations.
"You know what, Mom?" he said before leaving for the airport. "I really, truly have embraced this, because I’m really proud of what dad did, and I know these are his accomplishments. I’m walking his path, but I’ll create my own accomplishments."
Alicia beamed: "That’s right. That’s right. You do you. Don’t do your dad. Do you."
Imagine her surprise when he came back three years later with a strange new name: Tony Gwynn Jr.”
[…]
But then, on the next to last day of the 2007 season, the hometown Padres came to Miller Park [Tony Jr.’s team] with a magic number of one. San Diego led 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, and all that stood between San Diego and its third straight postseason appearance was … someone calling himself Tony Gwynn Jr.?
Facing his Uncle Trevor with two outs, two strikes and a man on base — the same Uncle Trevor who was baseball’s all-time saves leader — Little T ripped a triple down the first-base line on a pitch down at his shins.
His father, Mr. Padre, leaped in the air [I love how his dad cheers!]. Every other Padre, including owner and family friend John Moores, slumped in their chairs. TV cameras caught Moores’ wife, Becky, saying "s—." It was too cruel: a Gwynn ripping the Padres’ hearts out. A Gwynn emasculating Trevor, of all people. A Gwynn ultimately costing the Padres a playoff berth. But as the kid stood on third base, dusting himself off, a chill came over Alicia Gwynn.
"I said, ‘This is vintage Tony Gwynn,’" she remembers. "It was so eerie when I looked at that hit. The pitch was out of the strike zone, but he put it where he put it.
"That’s when I saw the first sign. That’s when I said, "Hmmmmm.’"
Read the entire article here
[hat-tip goes to my big bro for sending me the link.]
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Entry Filed under: family, fathers. Tags: anthony gwynn, baseball, dads, legends, padres, rad dads, tony gwynn, tony gwynn jr..
