Tony Gwynn by Barry Bloom

Author:Barry Bloom
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61321-155-7
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2010-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Tony has won eight National League batting titles in his major-league career. (AP/Wide World Photos)

What Charles Gwynn was telling his son that perhaps he should think about moving to another team. As a veteran player with 10 years of service in the major leagues, the last five with the same club, Tony had the privilege of saying where he would or would not be traded. He admitted he didn’t know what he should do. He wanted to win, but he considered San Diego his home.

“He wanted me to go,” Tony said. “He kept saying, ‘You deserve better than that.’ I tried to explain both sides of the fence. He turned it around and put it back in my lap. He said: ‘If you feel like it’s time to go then ask them to trade you. But if you feel like you have unfinished business to take care of, hang around. Nobody is going to criticize you for staying someplace where you’re happy.’”

Two days later, the phone calls from dad stopped. Tony learned his father had been taken to the hospital with chest pains. A decade earlier, his father had survived a heart attack and had been closely monitored ever since.

This time, Charles Gwynn didn’t recover. He died at age 61 on November 27, 1993, the day Tony describes as “the worst day of my life.”

Tony now would have to face the challenges ahead without his dad’s advice, something he wasn’t certain he would be able to do.

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