MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 9, 2001

Tony Gwynn

Cal Ripken, Jr.

CAL RIPKEN: I just want to thank you very much. It seems it hit me a little bit sitting here when you were speaking, you had a chance to reflect over your career, and especially with the video, it was a little bit of a sad moment, that I kind of got from you. I see it totally the opposite. I look back on my career and I see it as a celebration, a celebration of baseball. Someone I've been very, very lucky to have played all these years. My mission and my job after baseball is going to continue to try to influence kids, and kids in baseball at the grass roots level, and we will certainly take this money and make the best use of it and try to pass on the passion of the game, the philosophy and the teaching that my dad taught me, and just use the platform in which baseball provided to influence the kids at the grass roots level, because they are the Big Leaguers of tomorrow. Those are my plans, and I thank you very much.

TONY GWYNN: I, too, would like to thank Major League Baseball for this donation. We do -- my wife and I, we do different things in San Diego County, and as much as I would like this to go to baseball, there are other things that we feel like we can make a bigger impact with. So we'll find something, but much like Cal, that's my passion. I've played this game 20 years, and I don't want to be sad that my career is coming to an end because I've had a great time. I've done exactly what I wanted to do, where I wanted to do it. One day, I'll be able to look back on what I've accomplished and feel really good about it. But I have other things in my mind that I would like to do. Coaching is one of them. That's where I think fit in best right now, is probably at the college level, possibly the high school level. But I'm looking at the San Diego State job. That's the job I'm looking at, yes. It's a shameless plug on national TV but I'm going to take advantage of it. That's what I want to do. I want to be able to pass down the things that I've learned in this game to kids and hopefully make a difference in their lives, too. My wife and I would like to thank, once again, Major League Baseball for this check, this generous donation, and I think we will be able to do some real good with it.

TONY GWYNN: For me, it's just, I'd like people to think of me as a guy who played the game the way it is supposed to be played, pure and simple. I think people will remember me for swinging the bat. I think that's obvious. But I try to go about it the right way. I tried to prepare for it every day. I didn't take advantage of it. I really cherished the fact that I was a Big Leaguer, and I got to put the big league uniform on. But as far as I was concerned, I tried to did it the right way and I hope they remember that. I really hope they do. But somehow, I think those eight batting titles will be flying back in my face and hitting .300 for whatever number of years. That's part of it. That's what happens in the game.

CAL RIPKEN: I would like to think of the terminology in baseball, when someone is referred to as a gamer, someone who will go to the ballpark, no matter how difficult the challenges are, lay it on the line and put the effort to try to win that particular game. I think the streak, which I will probably forever be tied to, got the most attention for that, is an extension of that approach. All it simply is, you come to the ballpark. This is where my dad taught me as a professional baseball player, you come to the ballpark ready to play. That manager thinks you are one of those nine guys that can help you win, you go in the lineup. When you do that consistently, your teammates have a chance to rely on you. We all rely on each other, and so I think if somebody would remember me as willing to take on the challenges on a day-by-day basis, no matter how hard they work, and show up again tomorrow; I think that's how I would like to be remembered.

CAL RIPKEN: I think it's really neat to go back and really replay the evolution of the All-Star Games, at least the ones that I have been able to go to and had the good fortune to go to many of them. I started out as being the youngest guy probably when the team -- with many veteran players, and feeling scared and nervous, and then actually to see a transition of younger players come in and make their mark, and then now, I am probably the oldest in the locker room. You look around and see those guys that started out, realized how good they are, ask and just going to work. But that is a really cool evolution. I think when I was coming through, Jimmy Rice, he seemed to be the guy that was there all the time. He seemed to be very confident in the clubhouse in that kind of environment, laughing and joking around with everyone else. I always looked at him and thought he handled himself really well and made sure that he pulled some of us younger guys up a little bit and made us feel comfortable. I'm sure there was many, many other players, but Jimmy Rice comes to mind for me.

TONY GWYNN: Exactly like Cal said, it's kind of a cycle that you come through, for the first time, you don't believe you're there. You don't believe you belong in the same room, in my case in'84 with Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Ozzie Smith, Dale Murphy. I walked into the clubhouse in Candlestick and, "I don't belong here, there's no way I should be here." But the lessons you learn, Mike Schmidt pulled me aside and said, "Hey, kid, you're just another one of us." After time, you start to believe that, hey, you belong. You're in the same kind of class as other guys are. And then when you get to the point where we are now where you are the oldest guy in the clubhouse and guys are congratulating you on having a pretty good career, it's a different kind of feeling. I mean, I like this part of it a lot more that you know, being an older guy, than I did in the beginning being a younger guy, because I've got 16 years worth of All-Star wisdom to pass along to these younger guys. And to see a guy like Jimmy Rollins jumping around in the clubhouse, he's thrilled to death to be here. And compared to the way I was when I came here the first team, he's very confident and believes in himself. To me, that's the evolution that I've seen since I started in '84 and we are here in 2001; the players are a lot more confident. They have a lot more self-confidence in themselves and believe they can be successful out there. Sometimes it's a simple thing you can tell them that might get somebody over the hump. That what's fun for me. I'm not even going to play, but you see a Lance Berkman, a Jimmy Rollins, you see these guys who are having great years and they walk in their the first day, they can't believe they are there. Phil Nevin and Ryan Klesko, it's their first games and part of our job as veterans is to let them know they belong. There's a big thrill in that for me. I really enjoy that a lot.

CAL RIPKEN: Coincidence. Total coincidence. I had been thinking about it for some time, and I wasn't sure how I was going to make the announcement or when it was going to come out. It just was presented with the opportunity. I was caught up talking about young baseball, and it seemed to be the right time. I had pretty much made my decision a few days before that, maybe a day or two before that, but I was still kind of unsure and then the moment seemed to hit me and I seized it. No, I didn't plan the exact date and I didn't plan -- I didn't plan it. It was totally coincidental.

TONY GWYNN: I don't think it is going to be that difficult, because I think you are going to channel it -- what you channelled into baseball, you channel into something else. That same work ethic is what I know I will be preaching. That, to me, is why I am sitting here today, because I had to out-work everybody else. I had to work harder at it than everybody else. There's a thrill that you feel when you know certain things that you are doing are not good enough and you really have to work on it to get better at it, and when you do get better at it, you feel good about yourself because you know you've paid the price. You've worked hard to get to whatever point you are trying to get to. For me, leaving the game is going to be difficult, no question about it. I'm going to miss playing, the competition, my teammates, the fans. I'm going to miss everything about it. But I can channel that into something else, and that's why I think, in order to play as long as we've played, you have to believe in yourself. Whatever challenges are out there, you've got to channel into that new challenge. For me, I don't think it is going to be difficult at all.

TONY GWYNN: For me, we've watched Cal go out there every day, 162 games for 15, 16 years. In his mind, he's just going to work. He's just doing what he loves to do, and I think all of us who have played the game would have loved to be in the same situation that Cal was in. But, you know, it's more than just going to work. You've got to have some passion for what you do. So him playing in all these games tells me he loves what he does, takes a lot of pride in it, and he wants to be successful at it, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to go out and play the game and be successful at it. He doesn't want to get patted on the back for it, but we are going to. There's nobody else that has done what he's done. As much as we would all like to think we have left our mark on the game, Cal is the one guy that did it every day. You know, when you look in the stats, who played 162 games, Cal's name was there for 14, 15 years. I think I played 160. That's the most I have ever played in a season. It is amazing. It is amazing that he can go out and do what he's done, accomplish what he's accomplished. Like you said, people are going to remember him for his streak, but he's done so much more than that, too. My career, you know, I was injured, I was hurt, played 135 one year, 125 another year. It doesn't make me any less proud of what I've been able to accomplish, and I just know for me how difficult it was. And for Cal, I know it was difficult, but the way he went about his business it, would be hard for either of you to tell, because he loves what he does, and he is good at it. We are all going to sit here and pat him on the back here, the last two and a half months of this season, and he's going to hate is, I'm going to hate it, but that's part of the job. That's part of why we are sitting here today is I think people respect the fact that we've gone about our business, tried to go about it the right way.

TONY GWYNN: I can't.

CAL RIPKEN: Maybe. My immediate goal, I have my hands full, and I want to be at home. I want to break the hold that the baseball schedule has had on me for a while. I see my wife shaking her head as I am answering the question. She has plans for me. I was going to answer the work ethic question a little while ago. What am I going to did with all of my energy and time? It has been decided by these guys over here. Homework, running the house, carpooling, all of those things are at the top of the list. Daddy/daughter bull roasts, those are part of it, too. Manager, the one cool thing about it, I have a need to actually pass on the craft of baseball and I really like the idea of passing it on to kids, but I also have a side of me that you invest your life into something and you gain a certain expertise. I called my dad the encyclopedia of baseball. I look at myself as a student of the game and I watch and learn and invested my whole life in that and I have gained a certain amount of expertise. At some point you want to test your expertise at the highest level. I can't tell you what the highest level means at this moment. When we get the kids out of the house, off to college and they don't need you any more, I might have a need to test my expertise in some way. Did I answer it right, Kelly? Am I okay still? (Laughter.)

TONY GWYNN: Yeah, this is the way I wanted to be here. I didn't want to take a spot away from somebody on the National League side, because we've had so many players after eight years this year. I'm just thrilled to death to be here, I'm happy about being here. I don't have to take that ceremonial last at-bat in an All-Star Game. I've played 15; I've played in 13 All-Star Games and I've had plenty of at-bats and I've stunk up the joint. Just let these young guys go out and play. They have earned a right to be here. I came because Major League Baseball asked me to be here, and I am thrilled to death just to be here. I'm happy with that. So I don't have to have another at-bat. I'm pretty satisfied just sitting here.

TONY GWYNN: It would mean a lot. That is where I learned to play baseball. Jim Meeks who is still there coaching the Aztecs, I learned a lot about the game of baseball from him. But there is a process that you have to go through. I have already taken my one shameless plug, but I don't want to do it again. I'll apply for the job like everybody else in September. Hopefully you make it through the interview process and hopefully you get the job. But if I don't, I know that there are other things out there that I can do. He had asked about managing. Right now, I don't feel like I am prepared yet to manage, but I think down the road, that could be a possibility. But college right now is what I'm looking at. That seems like a big challenge for me and I think that I could really enjoy that.

CAL RIPKEN: I think there's moments in every All-Star Game that you can take away and think that was special. But then there are special moments on top of the special moments. For me, personally, my very first one at Old Comiskey in Chicago, just the excitement of being there for the first time, having the chance to come into the game, I was nervous like I have never been nervous before and I was excited like I have never been excited before. The second one was in '91, the All-Star Game at Toronto, I qualified for the home-run contest, and I was last to qualify, the lowest. I led off for the American League and I hit all of those home runs and ended up winning it. That was the year that everything seemed to go right for me, and then I had a chance to produce in the game and hit a three-run homer and I was the MVP of that game. That was a storybook year and storybook All-Star Game for me.

TONY GWYNN: That went right over my head. I was playing centerfield in that game. For me, as a player in 1994, Pittsburgh, scoring the winning run.

CAL RIPKEN: That was my throw. (Laughter.)

TONY GWYNN: Scoring the winning run, that's the only All-Star Game where I got a couple of hits, knocked in a couple of runs, scored the winning run. I had a chance to jump around at the end when I was safe at home plate. The other was in '99, standing out on the mound with Ted Williams when they introduced the All-Century team. For me, it was so electric that night, anybody who was there, Ted, bringing Ted out on the cart, flashbulbs going everywhere, being one of the fortunate four, both of us were there, when Ted asked Mark McGwire if he had ever smelled burnt wood when he fouled a ball off. Anybody who has talked to Ted, we laughed because he asked us all that same question, too. But when he threw out that first pitch, for me that night was electric. And I didn't even play. I was hurt, and I flew all the way to Boston because I wanted to see Fenway Park and stand on the mound with Ted Williams when he threw out the first pitch it. Doesn't get much better than that. For me, those two moments stand out more than anything.

TONY GWYNN: People have said that, but I think I'm too, I break it down too much. I don't think fans want to hear, you know -- I don't think they want to hear all of the stuff that I'm looking at. It's interesting. It's an interesting thought. I have thought about it. But right now, I kind of have my heart set on coaching. So, I will take those opportunities in between time, but while they are deciding -- that's kind of the direction that I really want to go. That is what I want to do, and when you decide to retire, I think you should feel comfortable with your decision. I am at that point where I feel comfortable with the decision that I have made. I know what direction I want to go. I just don't have that crystal ball. I just don't know. So, I will give it some thought. I will do a little bit of that, but I think I am going to try to focus on coaching.