Tony Gwynn Classic Honors Memory Of Hall Of Famer

SAN DIEGO—To know something about this past weekend’s Tony Gwynn Classic, you need to first know something about Tony Gwynn.

The Hall of Famer became head coach at San Diego State in 2003, returning to his alma mater after concluding his 20-year career with the Padres.

With the opening of the Padres’ new ballpark, Petco Park, a year away, Gwynn had an idea. He wanted to stage a college baseball tournament for the park’s inaugural event in 2004.

Gwynn invited the area’s three other college teams, the University of San Diego, UC San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene, along with Long Beach State, Nebraska, UCLA and Houston, the alma mater of then-Padres owner John Moores.

SDSU defeated Houston 4-0 in the first game, which was played before a crowd of 40,106. It remains the largest gathering ever for a college baseball game.

A decade later, Gwynn was approached with the idea for an eight-team event co-hosted by SDSU and USD that would bring together teams from around the nation for a tournament that followed a true championship format.

Gwynn loved the idea, embraced it and encouraged it. Although he didn’t live to see it take place, Gwynn’s spirit was present.

Arizona, Bryant, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tulane and UC Santa Barbara joined the hosts for the inaugural event.

“What does it mean for Tony’s legacy?” SDSU coach Mark Martinez said. “We’re going to have Top 25 teams coming into San Diego year in and year out to honor Tony. The people booked to come here are really coming because of Tony’s name. … To have teams come and honor him is emotional for me, and it speaks volumes for how widespread his legacy is, not only in the professional ranks but within the college game.”

SDSU provided one of the weekend’s most poignant moments when outfielder Spencer Thornton jogged onto the field at Tony Gwynn Stadium wearing a jersey bearing Gwynn’s No. 19. The Aztecs began a tradition last year of selecting one player on one weekend during the season to wear the now-retired number Gwynn made famous.

“It’s an incredible honor,” Thornton said. “It’s an emotional thing for me. He was one of my biggest mentors in baseball and in life.”

Thornton played right field, standing beneath a large mural beyond the outfield wall. Gwynn is pictured in the middle of the mural with one of his pet phrases: “Do things right.”

“He’s a kid that epitomizes Tony’s values and standards of ‘do it right,'” Martinez said of Thornton. “Spencer’s a redshirt senior who has done nothing but do it right his entire career. He’s graduated already (with a degree in business management). He’s in grad school. He will have his MBA in another year. He’s a great leader on and off the field. That’s the type of kid you want in any college baseball program.”

It was just one takeaway from a memorable weekend.

Friday at USD’s Fowler Park had the look and feel of a regional when Tulane and Arizona took the field. And they played a game to remember. There were seven lead changes, the last coming when Jake Willsey’s solo homer—his second of the game—in the eighth inning provided the Green Wave with an 11-10 win.

Saturday’s Nebraska-Arizona game had fans at Fowler alternately chanting in support of their schools.

For Sunday’s championship game, Tony Gwynn Jr. threw out the first pitch before his sister, Anisha, sang the national anthem.

Moments later, USD and UCSB played for the title. The Gauchos, who had rolled to an 11-4 win over Kentucky and 16-2 win over Bryant in their first two games, defeated USD 9-3 to claim the inaugural championship at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

“The level of competition was high and the way it was set up, that’s what we talked to our guys about—this was a regional preview,” UCSB coach Andrew Checketts said. “We lost both our games last year (at the Lake Elsinore Regional). We need practice at this. We got to get there first, but if we do get there, let’s treat it like that.”

Gauchos sophomore DH Austin Bush was named tournament MVP after going 7-for-11 with six RBIs, and Ryan Clark was named to the all-tournament team.

After losing seven starters from last year’s team, it was a valuable experience for UCSB, Clark said.

“It’s a good test for us, especially if we make it to regionals,” Clark said. “To experience different kinds of teams, the SEC (Kentucky) and the Rhode Island team (Bryant) and all that. It’s good to make our team well-rounded and get us ready for the rest of the season.”

Arizona coach Jay Johnson shared similar sentiments.

“This is spectacular,” he said. “It couldn’t have been a better experience for our players. It’s probably, in the regular season, as close to a postseason environment as you can create.

“Getting to play Tulane and Nebraska and the Aztecs. They’re all perennial regional-caliber teams. We’re just trying to get back there. We had one player who has played in the NCAA Tournament, so it was a great experience for us. There was definitely an edge to it.”

That’s exactly what tournament director Jack Murray, the longtime play-by-play voice for USD, had in mind when he came up with the concept.

“I said from Day One that the goal was to make this the preeminent college baseball tournament in America,” Murray said. “I believe that everybody who has participated in this from a team standpoint believes that it is.

“It gives all of these players a chance to experience a championship format in gorgeous weather, in great venues and it makes them better players and coaches. … What better place to be in the country than San Diego in February.”

USD coach Rich Hill said “teams are begging to get into this thing.”

Organizers already have the fields set for the next two years.

In 2017, Notre Dame, Oregon, Seton Hall, Tennessee, UC Irvine and Wichita State are scheduled to join the hosts. In 2018, the field includes Arizona, Arkansas, Cal Poly, Indiana State, Michigan and Oklahoma.

“The fact that it’s teams from around the country, there isn’t enough of that in college baseball,” Hill said. “You see it in college basketball and football, but in baseball, because of limited resources, you don’t get to see it that much.”

“The whole atmosphere is incredible. For college baseball in San Diego to have an event like this, there are no adjectives to describe it. … Every coach I’ve talked to loves it.”

Gwynn would love it, too.