Gwynn’s draft day included baseball and basketball

“I’m happy to be drafted in both sports,” Gwynn told the Associated Press. “Baseball’s my sport, but I hate to give up basketball. I’m tempted to give it a try at the Clippers’ training camp.”

Gwynn hit .415 with 11 home runs and 62 RBI in 52 games for the Aztecs in 1981, capping a career where he hit .404 overall. On the basketball court, Gwynn was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference second-team pick and set school records for assists for a season and a career.

“I come out of basketball,” Gwynn told the Los Angeles Times, acknowledging that it was the sport he loved first. “But in both sports, I learned how to work hard, and I can tell it really paid off. It keeps paying off.”

But because of his 5-foot-11, 185-pound build, most scouts believed his future was on the diamond.

“He has the desire,” Padres general manager Jack McKeon told the L.A. Times, “and his best professional opportunity is in baseball. The Padres are his best chance.”

Even executives of the Clippers – who were in just their third season in San Diego after moving from Buffalo, and would move to Los Angeles after the 1983-84 season – felt that Gwynn’s best sport was baseball.

Gwynn hit .289 during his rookie year of 1982, spending hours each day working on other facets of the game that did not come as easy – such as fielding and running. By 1984, Gwynn was hitting an NL-best .351 with 33 steals while leading the Padres to the National League pennant.

In 1986, he won the first of five Gold Glove Awards for his play in right field.

“I’ve got to work on my throwing arm,” Gwynn said immediately after being drafted by the Padres. “Because I’ve always played basketball, I haven’t had time to strengthen it for baseball.”