When you finish 20 major-league seasons, including a National League record-tying eight batting titles, 15 all-star selections, five Gold Gloves as an outfielder, a career .338 batting average and 3,141 hits, being a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame is, to say the least, automatic. So it was last week for Tony Gwynn, the former San Diego Padres star who would seem a lock for selection to Cooperstown next month. While awaiting his date with baseball immortality, Gwynn, now the baseball coach at his alma mater, San Diego State, took time to toss around some horsehide thoughts.
Anthony Cotton: So, how do you feel? Are you going to be able to get through this next month?
Tony Gwynn: Oh, yeah! Gee, I’ve waited this long (a player must wait five years after retiring to be eligible for the Hall of Fame). This next month is going to be easier, I think, because I’m coaching, so I have plenty of things to do. Still … I’m kind of nervous about it, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so you go on about your business and hope that it all works out. It doesn’t really hit you until you see some of the names on the ballot, then it kind of brings it home to you how difficult it is to get in. For me, I’m hoping for the best, but at the same time feeling kind of guilty because there are a lot of great names on that list.
AC: Have you had a chance to talk with any of the other candidates?
TG: I really haven’t. The last couple of years, you get so focused in on your job, you don’t get out and mingle and talk to people. Honestly, I haven’t really been thinking about it. I thought the ballots went out in December, and I didn’t think there would be a big deal until the inductees were announced. This has all caught me off-guard. But still, I’ve waited this long, it’s just a little longer to find out.
AC: What would it mean to you to go in on your first time on the ballot?
TG: I really hadn’t thought about that. Just getting in, just being considered, is an honor. To get in is the ultimate for anybody who’s played the game. The first ballot would make it better, but again, looking at that list, this is Davey Concepcion’s 14th year on the list, Jim Kaat is 14 years, and Bert Blyleven and Dave Parker, guys I played against, they’ve been waiting a whole lot longer than I have.
AC: There are a couple of guys, one of them here, Goose Gossage. Do you look at the list and find yourself going, “Man, how does that guy not get in?”
TG: I’ve been saying that all day! All day today, all day yesterday! When I came up, we’d signed Goose Gossage as a free agent. I remember saying then that I was pretty lucky to be playing on a team with three guys I thought for sure would be in the Hall of Fame – Graig Nettles, Steve Garvey and Goose Gossage. And 20-some odd years later, none of them are in. To me, it boggles the mind. Goose would pitch the seventh, eighth and ninth to get a save! But it’s hard to talk about, because you’re not in yourself, but in my mind, yeah, Goose Gossage is a Hall of Famer.
AC: Well, I’ll call you a future Hall of Famer. As such, what do you think of some of the other names being considered – Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco?
TG: It’s weird. I’m not here to be judge and jury – it’s completely in the (voters’) hands – but you look at the accomplishments and it’s hard for me not to think of them as being Hall of Famers. In my mind, Mark McGwire is a Hall of Famer. I know there are lots of people out there who disagree, but I’ve got no proof of anything – all I have is what I saw the man do. He had over 500 homers. It used to be that if you got to that, you were a lock to get in. Now things have changed, and this year there are some guys on the ballot who there are questions about. We’ll find out in January what the voters think about it. With McGwire and Canseco on the ballot, I think people will remember more about what happened in Washington at the congressional hearings than what he was able to accomplish on the field. It’s unfortunate, but this might be the first class that, because we all played in the middle of the steroid era, writers are going to have to determine if guys were worthy enough to get in, given that some might have taken steroids.
AC: It’s going to be kind of a referendum.
TG: Yeah, and it will be like that from this year forward. All the guys on this ballot played in that era, and while there was never a question about some of the guys on this list, 20, 30, 40 years from now, people are going to look back and wonder whether they did or didn’t. Luckily, right now, we’re still here to talk about being clean and doing the things that we were supposed to do. Fifty years from now, there won’t be a lot of us left.
AC: Were you disappointed in the hearings?
TG: With what I heard? I don’t think so. You kind of figured that going in McGwire’s lawyer probably told him not to answer any questions about it. I know there are lots of people who have expressed their disappointment in Mark, but I don’t know. I don’t have the answers. I just know I played against him and he put butts in the seats. He gave St. Louis an opportunity to win. He made himself into a good hitter, and he progressed in the game. He got a whole lot better. He and Sammy Sosa got people interested in baseball again. There was no testing then. There were really no rules like there are now. He did some tremendous things for the game and I hope he gets in, but maybe the writers will make a statement.
AC: Are you getting better as a manager, and …
TG: God, I hope so! Coaching here has really been a blessing. I’ve really enjoyed it and it’s exactly the kind of environment I want to be in because the kids are always so inquisitive. I’d like to think I’m getting better. My record may not reflect that yet, but I think we’re headed in the right direction. We just need to win games. The bottom line in this game, like most of college sports, is you have to win games and you have to put people in the seats. In the South and the East, college baseball is a huge moneymaker. But in the West, it’s really not. So you have to win games to generate interest. That’s what we’re trying to do. I know I’m under .500 lifetime, but we’ve won a conference championship in my five years here. We’re nowhere near where we want to be, but we’re getting there. I enjoy working to get there. I couldn’t win a World Series championship, but I’d sure love to win a College World Series championship. This is probably the toughest thing I’ve ever had to go through because there are so many good teams out here. But I know I’m getting better at it.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
