July 16, 2007
A live press conference was held on July 16, featuring San Diego State head baseball coach Tony Gwynn, who addressed the local media ahead of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29.
Video of Press Conference
SDSU Baseball
Head Coach Tony Gwynn
Hall of Fame Press Conference Quotes
July 16, 2007
Aztec Athletics Center
On his previous visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
"So many things were really intriguing to me, because I'm still a baseball fan. (I saw) Jackie Robinson's glove, and they let me hold Babe Ruth's bat. It's a pretty cool experience because I know that a lot of people aren't going to have the opportunity that I had. So I really enjoyed that and had a lot of fun."
On what he's looking forward to most about the Hall of Fame:
"Just being there. They are expecting their biggest crowd in the history of the Hall of Fame, so being a part of that is obviously pretty cool. I'm looking forward to after the speech is over so I can sit there and enjoy it ... There is so much stuff going on you don't really have a chance to reflect ... I hope our fans here enjoy themselves and hopefully we can all have some fun with it. The Hall of Fame is the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon you ... I'm just going to be myself and try to do like I've always done, which is speak from the heart and hope that people understand."
On his dreams as a kid and his baseball career:
"I dreamed about playing in the NBA to be honest. It wasn't until I got here my senior year that I realized that I should think about playing baseball. I had no idea that all of the things that were going to happen during my career were going to happen. I just knew that the good Lord blessed me with the ability, good eyesight, and a good pair of hands. I worked at the rest. If you want it bad enough its right there for you to take and I tried to take advantage of every avenue I had to get better. I didn't see this happening but now that I'm sitting here it feels pretty good."
On his fondest career memory:
"As a kid I always dreamed about what it would be like to play in Yankee Stadium. I got that opportunity and I can't even begin to describe to you the feeling that I felt that day walking into the House of Ruth. That day it was unbelievable. So the opportunity to get to play there was a lot of fun for me."
On what he believes the key was to him making it in the Hall of Fame:
"The best part of my career has to be how consistent I was, not the batting titles or the Golden Gloves. I hit .300 in 19 out of 20 years in the big leagues and that's pretty cool. I only struck out 430-something times in 20 years. I think that's pretty cool, which tells you how consistent of a player I was. But I didn't hit a whole lot of home runs nor was I a big RBI guy. My goal was putting the bat on the ball. (I went) up to the plate over 10,000 times and only striking out around 430 times, that's pretty good."
On the hardest thing about the game of baseball:
"The hardest thing about the game of baseball to me is understanding yourself and knowing what you need to do everyday. Not so much what the others expect from you, but what you do that you bring to the table that you can do everyday."
On the cancellation of the 1994 MLB season when he almost hit .400:
"My favorite memory was the last day. I think we walked August 9 or 10. When they canceled the rest of the season, I didn't really reflect on it very much because we were all in the same boat. There were other guys having their good years and doing things having unbelievable, almost record breaking seasons. It went from having an opportunity to hit .400 to how are we going to put this back together again, how are we going to convince fans that we made the right decision here."
On which pitcher made him the most uncomfortable:
"Randy Johnson is the one you feel most uncomfortable with because he's 6-11 throwing 99 (mph). But you went up there and you tried."
On college level baseball:
"At the college level you get these guys who want to get better...I tell them the hardest thing is knowing yourself. College is a lot of fun because these kids really want it. I don't have to worry about them being overpaid. The ones that want it are around all the time."
On his passion for the coaching:
"Even if it came easy, I would be passionate about this job because I love the game. I love everything about the game. Obviously I love everything about this university, too. I see the Scarlet and Black and I want to win."