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August 01, 2007
Bobby Meacham & Tony Gwynn
From the San Fran Gate last week -
Imagine if Tony Gwynn pursued basketball only. It nearly happened. If not for some college baseball players who told their coach about this Gwynn kid, a Hall of Fame baseball career might not have materialized.
"If I had ended up going to Arizona State instead of San Diego State," Bobby Meacham says now, "I don't think Tony plays baseball."
Gwynn confirmed the story in a Friday conference call arranged by the Hall of Fame, saying if Meacham didn't enroll in his college, "I'm probably not sitting here talking to you right now."
But Meacham, a highly recruited shortstop out of Mater Dei High School who later played six seasons for the Yankees, did choose San Diego State. And now Gwynn's going to the Hall of Fame. He'll be inducted along with Cal Ripken Jr. next Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Meacham played against Gwynn in high school and with him on prep tournament teams, so he knew Gwynn had game. But Gwynn was at San Diego State on a basketball scholarship and played only basketball his freshman year.
That year, Meacham was a high school senior and made a recruiting trip to San Diego State to meet with the school's baseball coach, Jim Dietz. Meacham just happened to spot Gwynn on campus.
"I recognized the guy and asked Dietz, 'Is that Tony Gwynn?' " recalled Meacham, now the Padres' first-base coach. "He said 'yeah.' I said, 'Is he playing, too?' He said, 'No, he's playing basketball.' I told him, 'Well, he's the best high school baseball player I've ever seen,' and Dietz says, 'Well, this is a different level.' I thought to myself, 'Hmmm.' "
Fortunately, when Meacham arrived on campus the following year as a freshman, he and two high school teammates who also played at San Diego State were able to persuade Dietz to consider Gwynn, though Gwynn wouldn't show up until the season already was in progress, after basketball ended.
"When I told Coach Dietz I wanted to play baseball, he said, 'Yeah, sure, come on out. You can try out,' " Gwynn said. "But every year, they had 50, 60 guys walk on to try to make the club. I would have tried to (walk on). Who knows how the scenario would've turned out. But Bobby was a very highly recruited player, and he told Coach Dietz about me. I got the opportunity."
Once Gwynn got a shot, the transition from the hardwood to hardball was easy.
"I didn't know much about Tony," said Dietz, now living in Oregon. "Bobby told me about him, so I went to watch him play basketball. It's a sensitive situation when a coach turns to another coach's athlete. He wanted to play, and that was half the battle. It evolved from there. He hadn't played baseball in a year and a half, but it was obvious he could hit a baseball."
Baseball is a funny game. Meacham plays for the Yankees and his legacy is getting thrown out at home plate with Dale Berra in the same play. Meacham doesn't play for the Padres and his legacy there is helping Tony Gwynn become a member of Cooperstown. Go figure.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at August 1, 2007 09:00 AM