South Bay Surf Baseball recently held two hitting clinics but it was a toss up as to who got the most out of the sessions – the young players in attendance or the fathers who brought them.
Eight-time batting champion Tony Gwynn, considered among the best hitters in the history of baseball, offered valuable tips to local youth players at Torrance American Boy’s Baseball (T.A.B.B.) in an afternoon session and at Redondo Union High School in the evening.
While most of the players are more familiar with the Hall-of-Famer’s son, Tony Gwynn, Jr. who is a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the elder Gwynn provided insight into the game while demonstrating basic techniques of the skill that helped him become a 15-time All-Star in his 20-year career with the San Diego Padres – hitting a baseball.
Becoming a successful hitter in the game of baseball is arguably the toughest thing to do in any sport. Swinging a round, moving object while trying to connect squarely with another round, moving object is no easy task. Baseball is the only sport where a player can fail 70% of the time yet have all-star credentials.
Known for hitting the pitch between the third baseman and shortstop – or the “5.5 hole” – Gwynn, who struck out only 434 times in 9,288 career at-bats, stresses his 3,141 hits and .338 career batting average did not come easy. Yet his most important tip to the players did not involve their batting stance or swing.
“In the game of baseball, you’ve got to work hard,” Gwynn said. “Whether you’re good or not and you want the opportunity to play at the next level, this is a game you have to work on. In this video-game age, a lot of kids think they can get better by playing video games but you have to get out and actually play the game. That’s how you get better. Whether it’s in a league playing games or just going out to the park and hitting balls, you have to work on it.”
Gwynn is on a fundraising circuit for the San Diego State Baseball Program where he is head coach of the Aztecs.
“Hearing Tony Gwynn speak was a real treat,” Shane Schumaker, Director of South Bay Surf Baseball, commented. “He’s such a humble and personable guy. The clinics raised $7,700 for baseball scholarships to SDSU and the local kids that came out got to hear one of the greats of the game. It was a win-win situation for all involved.”
Aided by SDSU assistant coaches Benny Bonilla, Mark Martinez, Eric Valenzuela along with Tim Blume, Rick Wenzel, Schumaker and his father Fred representing South Bay Surf Baseball, Gwynn rotated players through four hitting stations after an instructional talk that included a question-and-answer period. Gwynn’s positive attitude and infectious laugh throughout the sessions put smiles on players’ faces, but none as large as when Gwynn posed for photos and signed autographs at the end of the clinics.
“It was great to learn about hitting from Tony Gwynn,” said 13-year-old Graham Lipps, of Manhattan Beach. “He taught me how to keep my body balanced and head centered. He also showed us where to focus when the pitcher is going through his windup.”
Gwynn will be forever remembered as a hitter, but the San Diego State product also earned five Gold Gloves and stole 319 bases in his career, including a National League record-tying performance of five steals in one game.
It was his all-around skill set that led him back to his alma mater to become a coach at the collegiate level. Gwynn is entering his 10th season as skipper of the Aztecs.
“To me, I was a teacher and that’s what I wanted to do,” Gwynn explained. “Sure, I could have been a hitting coach at the professional league level with the Padres or whoever, but I wanted more than that. When people hear my name, what they usually talk about is me with a bat in my hand. They don’t talk about the other stuff like base running, learning how to throw, being a Gold Glove defender… they talk about hitting. It’s funny because that’s what I’m here today to talk about but there’s more to the game than that.”
Gwynn is not counting out the possibility of returning the major league ranks.
“They’re not going to let you go from being a player to a manager,” Gwynn said. “You have to practice your craft and I felt college would be the best place to do that. There are so many things about the college game that the average fan has no idea about, like recruiting. I made my mistakes early but you live and learn. Learning from your mistakes makes you better.”
South Bay Surf Baseball has been asked to help coach and promote The Pete Rose Baseball Camp this summer. The four-day camp will be held at Manhattan Beach Marine Fields Aug. 8-11. Rose, baseball’s major league baseball’s all-time hits leader, will personally be coaching at the camp each day.
The South Bay Surf is also in the process of filling their travel baseball teams and will be hosting tryouts for players ages 7-15 on Sunday, July 10 from 4-7 p.m. For information on both events, visit www.southbaysurfbaseball.com.
