Tony Gwynn Memorial

This memorial commemorates San Diego Padres Hall of Famer and long-time Poway resident, Tony Gwynn (1960-2014). Drafted by the Padres in 1981, he played his entire twenty-year major league career with the organization, earning him the nickname “Mr. Padre.” In that time, Gwynn made a strong case for being one of the greatest contact hitters in baseball history. In 9,288 plate appearances, he struck out only 434 times. Despite hitting only 135 career home runs, Gwynn won eight National League batting titles and earned fifteen All-Star Game selections. The left-handed hitter also captured seven Silver Slugger Awards, reached 3,000 hits, and set a National League record when he hit .300 or better in nineteen consecutive seasons. In 1994, he recorded a .394 batting average, the highest since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Not only an offensive weapon, the Padres right fielder was also a terrific defensive player, winning five Gold Glove Awards in his major league career. Following the 2001 season, Gwynn retired, finishing with 3,141 hits and a career batting average of .338. A longtime user of smokeless tobacco, he was diagnosed with parotid cancer in 2010 and died from complications related to the disease on June 16, 2014 at the age of fifty-four. On May 9, 2017, what would have been Gwynn's fifty-seventh birthday, the City of Poway unveiled the Tony Gwynn Memorial. Located in Lake Poway Park, it consists of a statue of Gwynn situated in the center of a circular concrete plaza. Designed by Texas artist Seth Vandable, the eleven-foot-tall bronze sculpture depicts the right fielder dressed in his Padres uniform, smiling and tipping his cap to fans while holding his young daughter, Anisha, in his right arm. In addition to the statue, the plaza features informational plaques and a low wall around the perimeter to serve as seating. Etched into the concrete is Gwynn’s signature as well as stitching to make the circular plaza look like a baseball.

Anthony Keith “Tony” Gwynn was born the second of three sons to Charles A. Gwynn and Vandella (Douglas) Gwynn on May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, California. When he was nine years old, the family moved to Long Beach, California. A standout point guard at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Gwynn earned a scholarship to play basketball at San Diego State University, where he set a school record for assists. By his sophomore year, he began playing for the Aztecs baseball team. In 1981, two teams in two different professional sports leagues drafted the San Diego State two-sport athlete on the same day. The San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Gwynn in the third round of the MLB draft, while the San Diego Clippers (now the Los Angeles Clippers) of the National Basketball Association (NBA) took him in the tenth round of the NBA draft. He ultimately chose professional baseball and began playing in the Padres minor league system that year. 

In the middle of the 1982 season, Gwynn received a call-up to the major leagues. It proved to be the beginning of a twenty-year big league career, the entirety of it spent with the Padres. In that time, Gwynn made a strong case for being one of the greatest contact hitters in baseball history. In 9,288 plate appearances, he struck out only 434 times. Despite hitting only 135 career home runs, Gwynn won eight National League batting titles, tying Pittsburgh Pirates great Honus Wagner for most in league history. The left-handed hitter also captured seven Silver Slugger Awards, became only the twenty-second player ever to reach 3,000 hits, and set a National League record when he hit .300 or better in nineteen consecutive seasons. In 1994, he recorded a .394 batting average, the highest since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Not only an offensive weapon, the Padres right fielder was also a terrific defensive player, winning five Gold Glove Awards in his major league career. 

Following the 2001 season, the fifteen-time All-Star retired, finishing with 3,141 hits and a career batting average of .338. The next year, Gwynn became the head coach of his alma mater’s baseball team. In 2007, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected him to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Gwynn, a longtime user of smokeless tobacco, was diagnosed with parotid cancer three years later. He died from complications related to the disease on June 16, 2014 in Poway, California at the age of fifty-four. 

Just days later, the Poway City Council tasked the city’s Community Services Department with designing a fitting tribute to Gwynn. Sometime later, the department presented its proposal to the City Council, a bronze plaque on a large boulder. After rejecting the design, the City Council started over, hiring a consultant in October 2015 to oversee the project from start to finish. Nearly two hundred applications flooded in following a call for proposals put out in January 2016, and later a panel composed of city officials, local art experts, and members of the Gwynn family chose a design for a larger-than-life-sized statue submitted by Texas artist Seth Vandable. On May 9, 2017, what would have been Gwynn’s fifty-seventh birthday, the City of Poway unveiled the Tony Gwynn Memorial. Located in Lake Poway Park, it consists of Vandable’s statue of Gwynn situated in the center of a circular concrete plaza. The eleven-foot-tall bronze sculpture depicts him dressed in his Padres uniform, smiling and tipping his cap to fans while holding his young daughter, Anisha, in his right arm. In addition to the statue, the plaza features informational plaques and a low wall around the perimeter to serve as seating. Etched into the concrete is Gwynn’s signature as well as stitching to make the circular plaza look like a baseball. 

Dreyer, Steve. "Poway dedicates Tony Gwynn statue, plaza." Poway News Chieftain and Rancho Bernardo New Journal, May 9, 2017 <https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/pomerado-news/news/local-news/poway/sd-poway-dedicates-tony-gwynn-statue-20170509-story.html>.

Goldstein, Richard. "Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame Batting Champion, Dies at 54 of Cancer." The New York Times, June 16, 2014 <https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/sports/baseball/tony-gwynn-8-time-national-league-batting-champion-is-dead-at-54.html>.

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"Tony Gwynn." baseballhall.org. National Baseball Hall of Fame. Web. 17 July 2021 <https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gwynn-tony>.

"Tony Gwynn." Encyclopædia Britannica. Web. 17 July 2021 <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tony-Gwynn>.

"Tony Gwynn Memorial." poway.org. City of Poway. Web. 17 July 2021 <https://poway.org/863/Tony-Gwynn-Memorial>.