Reflections on a Hall of Famer

By: JOHN MAFFEI - Commentary | Monday, January 8, 2007 8:48 AM PST ∞

The moment remains frozen in my mind. It was 1998 at the workout before the World Series, and I was alone in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. On a crisp fall morning, I was standing in silent awe, marveling at the plaques of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and the rest of the Yankees greats.

For a fan of the game, this was a mecca.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Suspecting I was going to encounter a gruff New York policeman or security guard, I bristled.

I turned and was stunned to see Tony Gwynn.

Hours before the Padres were scheduled to take batting practice, Gwynn was in uniform, and we had the same idea. We both wanted to see Monument Park on our terms and not as part of a tour group.

We stood in silence for a moment, then Gwynn said, "Mafe, can you believe two old Aztecs are in Yankee Stadium, waiting for the World Series to start and we're standing in Monument Park?"

My response was simple: "T, you've got to stop talking like that because I'm getting goose bumps and I'm getting kind of misty."

"Me, too," he said.

That, in a nutshell, is Tony Gwynn ---- soon-to-be Baseball Hall of Famer. He's not just a great player, he's a fan of the game.

And since the day I met him in 1977, he has remained a class act.

I was working at San Diego State as the school's sports information director and coached Jim Dietz's summer baseball teams.

I saw Gwynn's first basketball game in an Aztecs uniform in 1977, a 100-72 win over Drake at the former-Sports Arena. And I was there the first time he swung a bat as an Aztec in 1979.

I knew Tony and Alicia Gwynn when she was Alicia Cureton ---- a sprinter on the San Diego State track team ---- and they were boyfriend-girlfriend.

I was there the day in 1981 when Tony was drafted by both the Padres and the NBA's San Diego Clippers on the same day.

I was in San Diego Stadium on July 19, 1982, when he made his major-league debut, getting his first big-league hit off left-hander Sid Monge of the Phillies. Gwynn went 2-for-4 that day, and I remember Pete Rose approaching him at second base and saying something.

After the game, Gwynn said Rose told him he wasn't going to catch the game's eventual all-time hits leader in one day.

Since then, I've seen Gwynn play hundreds of games and log maybe a thousand at-bats.

Everyone knew he could hit, but no one could have predicted eight National League batting titles.

I've seen him grow from a below-average outfielder into a Gold Glover.

We've shared lighter moments, many of them when seated in the stadium dugout. And one memorable one when we found ourselves driving side-by-side up Interstate 5 in San Clemente, pretending the McDonald's ---- Dietz's stop, up and back, on all trips to Los Angeles and beyond ---- was calling us.

Honestly, it was one of life's great pleasures to sit on the bench before a Padres game, talking baseball with a man we all knew would be in the Hall of Fame someday.

For Gwynn, that day will come Tuesday when he becomes a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

As a 10-year member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, I have the privilege of having a Hall of Fame vote.

And, yes, I voted for Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. Those votes were no-brainers.

I hope to be in Cooperstown, N.Y., when Tony is enshrined alongside baseball's all-time greats. And I hope he's surrounded by his family ---- Alicia, son Anthony and daughter Anisha.

Anisha was a basketball player at Poway High and is now a professional recording artist.

Anthony was a baseball and basketball star for the Titans and could be an everyday player for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.

Anthony and Anisha are both wonderful young people, and Tony and Alicia rarely missed an opportunity to see them perform.

And, really, the measure of a man is family.

In that regard, Tony Gwynn is truly a Hall of Famer.��

Contact staff writer John Maffei at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.