Gwynn's quick ascent preludes storied career

Tony Gwynn made his professional debut in June of 1981. Thirteen months later, he was in the Major Leagues.

With that sort of spectacular career trajectory, one would think that an article on the newly elected Hall of Famer's Minor League career would be as short and non-essential as a story detailing Cecil Fielder's stolen base exploits. One would be wrong.

While Gwynn's time in the San Diego farm system didn't last long, he certainly made an impression on those he played with, for and against. After all, he hit a spectacular .347 (246-for-708) with four teams over three levels of play. That sort of offensive output is bound to get people's attention, even when the player generating that level of production is as unassuming and humble as the esteemed Mr. Gwynn.

Gwynn, a native of California, attended San Diego State University (where he currently serves as the school's baseball coach). His geographical proximity to the Padres gave the club a distinct advantage when it came to scouting him.

"Myself and [former Padres general manager] Jack McKeon saw Tony play quite often at San Diego State," said former Padres scout Bob Fontaine, Jr., who now works as the director of scouting for the Seattle Mariners. "We were always intrigued by him, especially since he had played so little baseball. He had been a basketball standout as well, so there were a lot of demands on his time. A lot of people had concerns about what he couldn't do, especially his fielding, but once he got out there and started playing everyday he was able to improve in all areas."

The Padres selected Gwynn in the third round of the 1981 First-Year Player Draft on the same day that the San Diego Clippers chose him in the 10th round of the NBA Draft. In what proved to be a fortuitous choice, Tony opted for a baseball career.

"We projected Tony to be an everyday corner outfielder, a guy who could hit well and had decent speed," said Fontaine. "He had power, too, but he was such a good hitter that his primary approach was just to make contact."

But before Gwynn could begin his career as an everyday corner outfielder in the big leagues, he had to ascend the rungs of the Padres' Minor League ladder. Walla Walla, Wash., was his first stop.

Walla Walla was home to the Padres' Class A Short-Season franchise, which competed in the Northwest League. Gwynn played in 42 games for the club in 1981 and put up spectacular numbers -- a .331 average, .411 on-base percentage and .612 slugging percentage.

"In addition to being a natural hitter, Tony was just an all-around class act," said Bill Bryk, the manager of the 1981 Walla Walla club. "I used him as our leadoff guy, just because I wanted him to get up to the plate as much as possible. His makeup was outstanding -- off the charts, really. While Tony was not a very outspoken guy, he was well-liked by everyone on the team. He led by example."

"Tony was a real nice guy, but he didn't go out too much," recalled Dave Kordeck, the club's catcher. "One of his best friends on the team was John Kruk, of all people. They were total opposites but got along real well. Kruk was a lot different back then. He and Tony would be talking shop while the rest of us were out having a few beers."

Another good friend of Gwynn's on the Walla Walla team was Greg Booker, who is proud to say that he witnessed Tony's first professional hit, his last, and "a whole lot in between."

"A lot of times in the Minor Leagues, guys would pool together about $100 and buy some beat-up old car," said Booker, who went on to pitch eight Major League seasons, primarily with the Padres. "But Tony chose to ride around on a bicycle. I remember one time he and Kruk both had wrecks on their bikes, because someone threw an M-80 in their direction and they ran into a ditch because they were so scared."

"But Tony worked real hard," continued Booker. "He spent just as much time on his fielding as he did on his hitting. He didn't have a good arm, but he'd take buckets of balls into the outfield and throw them into second base over and over again.

"Tony could flat out run, too. He had two or three inside-the-park home runs in Walla Walla, but I remember one of them was called back after the umpire said he missed first base. That was in Eugene, Oregon. Tony was so mad that he threw his tobacco at the umpire and got ejected. That was the only time I ever saw him try to get thrown out of a game."

But more than a few of Gwynn's home runs actually left the park. In fact, he hit 12 over just 178 at-bats in Walla Walla. P.J. Carey, manager of the Northwest League's Bend Phillies in 1981, clearly remembers Gwynn's power stroke.

"I remember Tony hit two home runs against us in the last game of a series, and the second one won the ballgame," said Carey, who now serves as the Minor League field coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "He hit one to left-center and one to right-center, and those balls were really crunched. To me, it was like he was saying goodbye to the Northwest League, because next thing I know he was sent to Double-A."

Gwynn's Double-A stop was the Amarillo Gold Sox of the Texas League. While the jump from Class A to Double-A is usually considered one of the most difficult for a Minor League ballplayer to make, Gwynn handled his new surroundings with ease. He arrived in Amarillo in August and hit a gaudy .462 (42-for-91) over the final month of the 1981 season.

Gwynn opened up the 1982 campaign with the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League, and he picked up right where he left off. Over 93 games in Hawaii, he hit .328 while striking out just 18 times over 366 at-bats.

"Hawaii was a great place to play, but there were a lot of distractions with all the beaches and nightlife," recalled Jim Pankovits, Gwynn's Islanders teammate who now manages the Class A Salem Avalanche. "Our schedule was strange, too. Because teams would only visit us once a year, we'd play an eight-game series against them.

"But Tony was a real professional, a quiet guy who worked as hard as anybody I'd ever seen. The one thing about Tony that really stood out in my mind was how he'd hit so many balls up the middle and get a base hit. No matter the pitch or location, he'd use the middle of the field to his advantage. He was unlike any hitter I'd ever seen."

Gwynn was called up from Hawaii midway through the 1982 season. He made his Major League debut -- the first of 2,440 games over 20 seasons -- on July 19 against the Phillies. He went on to play 54 games for the Padres that season, hitting a career-low .289 over 190 at-bats.

Gwynn opened the 1983 season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Stars (which replaced Hawaii as the Padres' Triple-A affiliate), but it was clear that his future was in the big leagues. Gwynn hit .342 for the Stars over a mere 17 games before getting called up to the Padres for good.

What occurred over the next two decades is the stuff of legend. Gwynn retired after the 2001 season with 3,141 hits and a .338 lifetime average, numbers that were good enough to easily merit a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction.

One of the highlights of Gwynn's storied career occurred on Aug. 6, 1999, when he collected his 3,000th base hit. Booker, more than nine years removed from his final Major League appearance, was serving as the Padres bullpen coach at the time.

"After Tony got the hit, a lot of people came up to congratulate him," recalled Booker. "When Tony saw me, he gave me a big hug and said 'We've sure come a long way from Walla Walla.' "