Players’ Weekend bats connect Gwynn, current Padres
AJ Cassavell
SAN DIEGO — Every chance they get, current Padres players do their best to honor Tony Gwynn. They wear Tony Gwynn shirts during warm-ups, and their clubhouse is adorned with Tony Gwynn quotes.
Naturally, then, they’re celebrating Players’ Weekend by swinging Tony Gwynn bats.
“It’s an honor for us,” left fielder Jurickson Profar said, “to get to honor a legend of the San Diego Padres and baseball in general. It’s pretty cool.”
Ahead of Players’ Weekend, the handful of Padres who swing Victus bats were each given a uniquely designed bat honoring Gwynn, the beloved Hall of Fame right fielder. That group included Profar, Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth and, of course, Luis Arraez.
That group took to swinging those bats during batting practice at Coors Field over the weekend.
“It means a lot,” said Arraez, who has been hailed as the current game’s closest comparison to Gwynn. “It’s the Tony Gwynn name on there, and I’m glad I get to use it.”
The special bats won’t necessarily see game action. Cronenworth says he’s planning to frame his bat and has a spot picked out on the wall for it. Thus, no need to risk a broken bat. Plus, Cronenworth is swinging game bats for a couple charities close to him — the C4 foundation and the Navy SEAL foundation.
Profar says he’s back to his usual bats after using his customized Curacao bat on Friday night.
Tony Gwynn Jr., currently the Padres’ radio analyst, can understand that. Who else would understand the relationship between a hitter and his bat better than a Gwynn?
“It’s pretty cool, man,” Gwynn Jr. said of seeing his father being honored. “I get it, though, if they don’t [want to use them]. Bats are a funny thing, man. I would’ve had to have been convinced. … But I think all of [the Players’ Weekend bats] are sweet. Who would’ve thought that you’d be able to do so many unique things with a baseball bat? I like the design of all of them, but the Gwynn one specifically is unique.”
The bat has a gold handle and a brown barrel. (What else?) One side features “GWYNN” in bold lettering with a silhouette of Gwynn tipping his helmet. The other side features his signature and No. 19, with the quote “play hard & have fun.”
“He’s everything for the San Diego Padres,” Profar said. “Everywhere you go in the San Diego community, everyone is speaking about Tony Gwynn. He’s more than a legend.”
