Tony Gwynn returned to the diamond Friday after retiring from Major League Baseball in 2001.
He didn't come back with a bat in his hands though, he returned with a lineup card.
"As a coach I just write the lineup card out," Gwynn said. "Coaching is easy, especially now that we're getting into playing games, that part of it is the most fun."
The eight-time batting champion and soon to be Hall of Fame inductee took over the head coaching duties for the San Diego State Aztecs after the completion of last season. Now he has a different approach when he comes through the tunnel and into the dugout.
"As a player you can control your own fate, you can make things happen with what you can do physically," he said. "(Coaching) is easy for me because I don't have to go out there and face any of these guys. I don't have to make any plays."
Although his team lost all three games over the weekend against the No. 8 Sun Devils, Gwynn's troops, showed in two of the games they have the potential to hang with some of the top teams in the country.
Friday night, Gwynn and the Aztecs led for seven innings thanks in part to a stellar pitching performance from junior ace Mike Moat. He allowed just three hits and no earned runs in five innings of work.
"He put us in position to get to the bullpen and win it; that was his job," Gwynn said.
Unfortunately for the Aztecs, the bullpen could not hold the lead in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-5 loss.
"I still thought we played pretty well for our first game," said Gwynn, who also admitted to having the "pre-game jitters" before the start of Friday's contest.
"You're not going to be successful in this game being scared of anybody," Gwynn said about having to face a team like ASU to start the season. "It doesn't do any good ducking them because if you're going to win the College World Series, sooner or later you're going to have to play this type of club."
Even ASU head coach Pat Murphy was impressed with the way San Diego State played.
"San Diego State is not as good as they will be down the road," Murphy said. "I think they're going to have a very good club."
In addition to Tony's head coaching debut, it was an extra special weekend as son Anthony, a junior, roamed center field for the Aztecs. Spending day-after-day with him on the field, Tony had nothing but praise to say about his son's abilities.
"For a little guy, he's a pretty good player," Tony said. "And as a parent, I'm proud as heck of him. I think the college experience for him is exactly what he needed. Going into his junior year, he's proved to some people that he can play and do some things; he has baseball smarts."
As far as Tony is concerned, he's just glad to be coaching at the college level because it's something he wants to do at this point in his life. He's rejected offers to coach in the majors, explaining how parents would not listen to him while he played, so it probably wouldn't be any different as a coach. Additionally, coaching the Aztecs keeps him in San Diego at his alma mater.
°?For me, the best part of it is I still have an 'SD' on my hat, and I'm still working in San Diego and still living in the same house," said Gwynn, who played for the Aztecs from 1979-81 and then served 20 years as an outfielder for the San Diego Padres. "It's a challenge. Throughout my career there were challenges, this is another one."
Some of the more difficult challenges he'll have to face as a head coach include the hoards of media at every ballpark he visits, and dealing with them second guessing his decisions, something he's already contemplated.
"That comes with the territory," he said. "They're going to second guess my starting lineup tonight, [or] our uniforms. No matter what you do you're going to have to deal with that."
Still, Gwynn is happy to be in San Diego and glad the season is finally underway.
"At this point I don't think it would matter if we were playing the Dodgers today," he said on Friday. "We're just happy we get an to play somebody."
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
