The NCAA.com Baseball Chat Series continues on Thursday, May 7 with our special guest, San Diego State coach Tony Gwynn.
Coach Gwynn is the second of four current college coaches joining us this season, and all four have one thing in common – they were all major league players before entering the college coaching ranks.
A San Diego State All-American as a collegiate player, Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn was named SDSU’s head baseball coach on September 21, 2001, and officially took the reins of the Aztec program in July 2002.
It didn’t take him long to become acclimated to the college game as he was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in just his second season after leading the Aztecs to the league’s regular-season title in 2004. After five seasons at the helm of the Aztec program, his coaching record in league play stands at 80-54 (.597). His teams have finished among the top three in the conference very year.
The 47-year-old Gwynn concluded a 20-year career with the San Diego Padres on Sept. 30, 2001, as one of only 16 players (including four National Leaguers) to have played at least 20 seasons and spent their entire careers with one team. Known as “Mr. Padre” both during and after his long and distinguished major league career, the San Diego club retired his No. 19 jersey in ceremonies held at PETCO Park in September 2004. In spring of 2005, the street on which the stadium is located was named Tony Gwynn Drive in his honor. The club also unveiled a statue of Gwynn in the Park at the Park at PETCO Park on July 21, 2007.
A native of Long Beach, Gwynn attended Long Beach Poly High before arriving at San Diego State in 1977 as a highly-recruited basketball point guard. Primarily a left fielder and designated hitter during his three-year baseball career at San Diego State, Gwynn was a two-time All-American as an outfielder after leading the Aztecs in hitting his final two seasons.
In addition to three years of baseball, Gwynn was also a point guard for the Aztec basketball squad for four seasons and was named to the all-Western Athletic Conference team on two occasions. He remains the only athlete in WAC history to be honored as an all-conference performer in two sports.
On June 10, 1981, Gwynn was drafted by both the San Diego Padres (third round) and the NBA’s San Diego Clippers (10th round). In his 20 seasons with the Padres, Gwynn compiled a career average of .338, a mark that ranks 17th all-time among major league players. Gwynn ended his playing days ranked 17th in career hits (3,141). He was also ninth all-time in singles with 2,378, 17th in doubles with 543, and was among the top 75 in runs scored with 1,383. He was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in July of 2007.
SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS BY CLICKING HERE.
