Got his first major league hit yesterday, a double, 24 years to the day after the old man got his first hit, also a double.
Another Tony Gwynn: Milwaukee's Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a pinch-double in the ninth inning off Wilson for his first big-league hit. Gwynn is 3,140 hits from his father, who's expected to be in the 2007 Hall of Fame class.
Exactly 24 years earlier, on July 19, 1982, the other Tony Gwynn got his first big-league hit, also a double. It was off Sid Monge of the Phillies.
"It didn't dawn on me until I got in the dugout that my father got his first hit 24 years ago today," said Gwynn, who was told about the anniversary before the game. "I knew about it, but I totally forgot about it over nine innings. I knew I hit it good, and I knew no one was going to catch it. I just wanted to get to second base without messing it up somehow."
Both Gwynns played at San Diego State. By the time Tony Jr. was there, the coach was his dad and the field was Tony Gwynn Stadium.
As he left the clubhouse, the younger Gwynn was planning to phone the elder Gwynn. Asked if the old man would be proud, the kid said, "He was proud when I grounded out in my first at-bat."
