Stadium History
The stadium was originally named Smith Stadium in honor of Charlie Smith, the longtime San Diego State head baseball coach; the playing field is still called Smith Field. The stadium was extensively renovated and rebuilt in 1997 at a cost of $4 million dollars, funded mainly out of the pocket of John Moores, then owner of the San Diego Padres. The renovated stadium was named in honor of Tony Gwynn, a Hall of Fame superstar for the Padres. As an undergraduate Gwynn played both baseball and basketball for the SDSU Aztecs. He became SDSU's head baseball coach after he retired from the Padres.
Read more about this topic: Tony Gwynn Stadium
Famous quotes containing the words stadium and/or history:
“In their eyes I have seen
the pin men of madness in marathon trim
race round the track of the stadium pupil.”
—Patricia K. Page (b. 1916)
“There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)