Not everyone on love vote
Media, fans adored Gwynn, Ripken, but teammates had issues with two stars
As San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds continues his pursuit of Henry Aaron's all-time home-run record of 755 on one side of the country, baseball's old guard will gather this weekend in Cooperstown, N.Y., to honor the Class of 2007, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.
''It's basically good vs. evil,'' Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer told the Washington Post.
''Here you have two guys who played the game the right way, who were marvelous people on and off the field, and another -- nothing against Barry -- who wasn't.''
Good vs. evil?
Gwynn and Ripken are being billed as two beloved players who survived the toddler years and well beyond of the Steroid Era. This might be the Hall's last class not to be tainted by the steroid stain.
There's no argument the likable Gwynn and Ripken were adored by their fans in San Diego and Baltimore. It would be difficult to find two classier players who did a better job representing the game -- showing the proper respect for baseball that Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg so eloquently discussed during his induction speech in 2005.
But the way Gwynn and Ripken were perceived in their respective clubhouses seems to have been forgotten with the passing of time.
The thinking was the star shortstop would have been fresher down the stretch had he taken an occasional day off instead of pursuing a personal goal.
Right or wrong, Ripken wasn't universally embraced by teammates as he played in 2,632 consecutive games from 1982 to 1998.
Still, his situation never grew as dark as Gwynn's.
Ripped for being overweight through most of his career, Gwynn was often the target of teammates' snipes for caring too much about his hits.
Really.
It seems silly now -- after eight National League batting titles, 3,141 hits and a career .338 batting average -- but that's what jealousy can do to a clubhouse.
Gwynn's darkest season no doubt was 1990. It was a tumultuous time for the Padres, a team I covered for a suburban San Diego paper. The 1990 Padres underwent a change in owners, a change in general managers and a change in managers -- all at different points during the regular season. Roseanne Barr embarrassed the franchise by goofing off through the national anthem -- in a conservative military town -- between games of a doubleheader against Lou Piniella's Cincinnati Reds.
And none of that was even the turbulent part.
There was a May team meeting in New York, and veterans Jack Clark, Garry Templeton and Mike Pagliarulo teed off on Gwynn. Pagliarulo complained about one player ''who only cared about his hits.'' Gwynn instantly knew Pagliarulo was talking about him. What hurt the most was that not one player stood up and defended the man known as Mr. Padre -- especially Joe Carter, a veteran whom Gwynn had considered his best friend.
Gwynn conducted a radio show for the Padres' flagship station in the same corner of the Padres' dugout before each game.
One day, he walked to his spot and found a Starting Lineup Tony Gwynn figurine with its arms and legs sliced off, suspended by a rusty chain around its neck swinging above his seat.
''I was shocked,'' Gwynn said at the time. ''It fits in with the way this season has gone.''
Gwynn was in a fit of rage, but not one of his teammates discussed the incident with him.
''It's not the kind of thing you talk about,'' he said that day.
''I've never seen that before. Somebody thought it was funny, I guess. I didn't think it was funny. But there are 24 other guys on this team who like to get a laugh. It's OK, it's just one byproduct of this season.''
Later that month, I called Gwynn at his suburban San Diego home on a Monday night.
His season was over because of a broken right index finger. The Padres were playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles and Gwynn was watching on TV, though he planned to do some serious channel surfing.
''Why agonize watching those guys [the Padres] when I can watch the Chiefs and Broncos?'' Gwynn said.
But Gwynn planned to rejoin his teammates when they returned to San Diego at the end of that week, right?
''Hell, no,'' he barked into the phone. ''I ain't going there and hanging around those ass-----. I'm through with them.''
Gwynn's comments finally hit home.
The Padres called a team meeting in Los Angeles. Some players were embarrassed. None, however, stood up for Gwynn.
All that will be forgotten Sunday, when he stands on a stage and talks about all of the good times in San Diego, where the Padres' new ballpark sits on 19 Tony Gwynn Way.
Good vs. evil?
Only time will tell for Bonds and the other future Hall of Famers.
* When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
* TV: ESPN Classic.
* Where: Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown, N.Y.
* Class of 2007: Players Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres and Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles; Spink Award winner Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; and Frick Award winner Denny Matthews, Kansas City Royals broadcaster.
Ripken Gwynn
Teams played for 1 1
Seasons played 21 20
Round drafted 2nd 3rd
Overall selection 48 58
Hall voting pct. 98.53 97.61
Votes shy 8 13 of unanimous (of 545 total)
Year of eligibility 1st 1st
Games 3,001 2,440
Consecutive games 2,632 134
Batting average .276 .338
Hits 3,184 3,141
Home runs 431 135
RBI 1,695 1,138
Runs 1,647 1,383
Stolen bases 36 319
Strikeouts 1,305 434
Season-high avg. .323 .394
Season-high HRs 34 17
Season-high RBI 114 119
All-Star Games 19 15
Batting titles 0 8
League MVPs 2 0
Gold Gloves 2 5
Silver Sluggers 8 7
World Series played 1 2
Retired number 8 19
Source: AP
