T.G.

I spent most of my teenage years worshipping Tony Gwynn. For some reason I have always favored contact hitters like Gwynn and Rod Carew over the sluggers who dominate headlines. It's not like Gwynn was not popular, but a contact hitter on the sorry ass San Diego Padres is not going to get the attention he deserves, so I had to constantly preach the gospel of Tony.

Keep in mind most of this was pre-internet, and since I lived in Lemoore, six hours away from San Diego, most of my relationship with Tony took place in the Fresno Bee box scores. Seeing what Tony did the night before was the first thing I did upon waking. Pre-internet, this was completely normal for anybody, man, woman or kid, who had a favorite player. For Mark, it was Lou Whitaker. For Eric, Tony Armas. I actually ended up moving to San Diego in large part to watch Tony and the Padres on a regular basis. It wasn't the only reason, I'm not that bad, but it was the tie breaker. During all that time of Tony worship, anyone else who follows baseball, knew this day would eventually come, but it still feels like it's "my" special day.

So, congratulations on your nomination to the Hall Of Fame, TG!

Now I have to figure out a way to get to Cooperstown for the ceromony...