Major League Baseball

Aztecs retire Gwynn's No. 19 in 'emotional' ceremony

Published Feb. 14, 2015 1:20 p.m. ET

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He was a 15-time National League All-Star, a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, a seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner, an eight-time National League batting champion, a Roberto Clemente Award winner and a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer. And yet, all of those accolades still don't do justice to the man that was.

Tony Gwynn was renowned not only for his ability to connect bat to ball just about as well as anybody ever has, but for his capacity as a human being. He was cherished in San Diego. He was a Padre. He was an Aztec. He was their guy, and he probably wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

And then there was his laugh. You'd be hard pressed to think about Gwynn and not find that awkward chuckle making its way to the surface in your sea of memories.

Members of the San Diego State baseball team look on as Ted Leitner speaks to the crowd at Tony Gwynn Stadium Friday, Feb. 13. 

Some 2,500 people—including many of the immediate family he is survived by—filled the seats at Tony Gwynn Stadium Friday night to drown themselves in those memories as a way of commemorating the man that was and the legacy that will forever be. Had the stadium been able to hold more than 3,000 people, there likely would have been more to share in the emotional moment.

"It's always emotional," first-year head coach Mark Martinez said. "It's hard to not get choked up and shed some tears. I did that tonight during the standing ovation. It was unbelievable. It gives you chills every time you see that many people rise for coach Gwynn and for Alisha (Gwynn) and Chris (Gwynn) and Anthony (Gwynn, Jr.).

"It makes me very proud to know coach Gwynn and his family are a part of my life."

As a tribute to their relic of a former coach, the San Diego State Aztecs held a pregame ceremony to retire his No. 19 jersey. And just like he did at Petco Park in front of 20,000 of Gwynn's biggest fans back in June, famed Padres and Aztecs broadcaster Ted Leitner took center stage at Tony Gwynn Stadium to do what he does best: talk about No. 19.

Once all of the laugh- and tear-inducing anecdotes were no longer reverberating throughout the stadium, Leitner only saw it fitting to leave the Aztec and Padre faithful with a call they were all only too familiar with after 20 seasons of taking the batter's box.

"And now batting for your San Diego Padres, wearing No. 19, right fielder Tony Gwynn," Leitner announced.

But while most of the fans in attendance were primed to never see a No. 19 Aztec jersey take the field ever again, they were pleasantly mistaken. Long known for wearing No. 16, senior first-baseman Ryan Muno was voted on by his teammates to don his late coach's number for the opening series against Valparaiso University.

"Ryan embodies what coach Gwynn is all about," Martinez said. "His ideals, his values, doing things the right way. (He's) a great citizen. (He's) a man of integrity and honesty. Those are all things that Tony really demanded from all of us."

San Diego State first-baseman Ryan Muno wears his late coach's jersey number against Valparaiso University Friday, Feb. 13

After nine innings of play, the Aztecs came full circle and found themselves singing their victory fight song in front of their dugout. Not only had they honored their longtime head coach, they won the game, too. Still, Martinez doesn't think Gwynn would've been delighted with the team's performance.

"Coach Gwynn will take a win, but he doesn't like winning that way," Martinez said with a smile. "It is kind of like a coach Gwynn victory because we would've been covering a lot of stuff after this one. Ultimately I'm very proud of all of our players and our coaching staff. Everyone did a great job."

On Saturday, Martinez and SDSU will reveal their Aztecs vs. Cancer campaign. Several players will shave their heads on the field in support of the movement.

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