Early Life
Gwynn was born in Los Angeles, California to Charles and Vandella Gwynn. He grew up in Long Beach, California with older brother Charles, who became a teacher, and younger brother Chris, who also became an MLB player. Gwynn's father worked from 7:30 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., and he also coached Pop Warner football and Little League Baseball; his mother worked from 5:30 P.M. until 3:00 A.M. His parents instilled in him the value of being prepared. He filled his time playing mostly basketball, which was his favorite sport. Gwynn went to Los Angeles Dodgers games and watched his hero, Willie Davis. Davis was a Dodgers outfielder who had twice as many stolen bases as home runs (398 SB, 182 HR) in his career. Gwynn admired Davis for being black, left-handed, and "aggressive but under control"; he admired Davis' work habits. Later, he would check the box scores inthe newspaper every morning to follow high average hitters Pete Rose, George Brett, and Rod Carew. Gwynn attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School before arriving at SDSU in 1977 as a highly recruited basketball point guard.
He did not play baseball his first year in order to concentrate on basketball. He joined the Aztecs baseball team in 1979 when then-freshman shortstop Bobby Meacham, who knew Gwynn from his high school days, convinced SDSU baseball coach Jim Dietz to give Gwynn a chance to compete. Dietz was looking for replacements for two outfielders who were injured riding bicycles after being struck by an automobile. Gwynn became a two-sport star, playing three seasons of baseball and four of basketball. In baseball, he was primarily a left fielder and designated hitter at San Diego State. Gwynn hit .301 his first season but said he "stunk defensively." He was a two-time All-American outfielder his final two seasons after leading the team in hitting. In 1980, Gwynn hit .423 with six home runs and 29 runs batted in (RBIs) and was named third-team All-American by Baseball News. The next season, he was a first-team All-American after batting .416 with 11 home runs and 62 RBIs. He was also named a first-team all-WAC outfielder.
Playing basketball, Gwynn set the Aztecs basketball record for assists in a game, season, and career. Gwynn was well known for his excellent court vision and playmaking abilities. He was twice named to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) basketball all-conference Second Team, and he averaged 8.8 points per game his senior year. Playing point guard developed his baseball skills, as the dribbling strengthened his wrists—avoiding what he called "slow bat syndrome"—and his quickness improved his base running. He could dunk a basketball, and he was able to run 60 yards (55 m) in 6.7 seconds; he had a quick first step in either sport.
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