Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn Inducted Into Baseball Hall of Fame Today

In today's ethically challenged sports world, he is a breath of fresh air - the reason why we gravitate towards sports, and more specifically, major league baseball. So it's fitting that two of baseball's most enduring icons, San Diego Padres' Tony Gwynn and Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken Jr., are being inducted into the Hall of Fame together - both spent their entire careers with the same team, a rarity these days. And not so coincidentally, today's ceremony is anticipated to be the largest ever in Cooperstown, NY, with over 50,000 fans expected to attend the induction ceremonies. In an era tainted by Barry Bonds and Michael Vick, Gwynn's and Ripkin's popularity speaks volumes about today's athletes.

I have my own Tony Gwynn story, being a lifelong (and suffering) Padres fan. Around 10 years ago, when I was editing San Diego State's alumni magazine, we were doing a feature on the school's annual alumni awards, of which Gwynn was to receive. We had been unable to schedule a photo shoot with him, since he was busy still playing for the Padres. But he was going to be appearing at his alma mater for a press event for the school's baseball team, so we figured we'd grab a photo of him then.

I decided to tag along (I was editor, mind you, so I could), baseball tucked in my pocket, with the hopes that Tony would sign it for me - word was he would not be signing anything. Well, after the brief conference, Aztec team members started to ask him to sign items - bats, gloves, balls, etc. Deep breath...now is my opportunity.

So I slid myself behind others in line and made my way to the future Hall of Famer. When it was my turn I became starstruck and tongue-tied, barely blurting out, "Hi...could...you..." and then thrusting the baseball I had in front of Mr. Padre to sign. He looked at me like, 'Who the heck are you?" but graciously signed the ball anyway. I mumbled "Thank you" (I think), and then slinked away with a big ol' grin on my face.

I still have the baseball in a curio cabinet, along with a signed baseball card also from that day that a co-worker gave me (I scored!). The ball isn't worth a whole lot, according to memorabilia experts - even with Gwynn's induction - because Gwynn is so generous with his signature, even still signing away after SDSU Aztec baseball games, for which he is the coach. But it's priceless to me, because it represents everything that baseball should aspire to - tradition, respect, honor and devotion to a great game.

For more coverage of Tony Gwynn's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, go to the official Hall of Fame website here.