The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
Before he became an icon in San Diego, and long before anyone called him “Mr. Padre”, Tony Gwynn was a Long Beach Poly Jackrabbit. And as anyone who’s passed through the halls of 1600 Atlantic will tell you, that’s not a temporary designation.
The Gwynn family, along with school administrators and the current Long Beach Poly baseball team, assembled for a special ceremony last Thursday evening, as the school unveiled a mural dedicated to the life and career of Tony Gwynn (Class of 1977).
The mural celebrates his journey from Long Beach Poly to San Diego State, then his 20-year Major League Baseball career with the San Diego Padres, culminating in his Hall of Fame induction in 2007. Gwynn is one of the most decorated athletes in Poly history and an inner circle Hall of Famer, widely regarded as one of the best hitters to ever pick up a baseball bat.
Gwynn’s mural is located near Burcham Field, along the walkway to where the Poly baseball field used to be–the aptly-named Gwynn Family Field. It’s the latest in a series of murals honoring Long Beach Poly legends, following tennis star and civil rights icon Billie Jean King. The mural for Gwynn was also painted by artist Mike Sullivan.
Tony’s wife, Alicia Gwynn, spoke about their deep connection to Long Beach, even though the Gwynn name has grown synonymous with San Diego. Tony played his entire MLB career with the Padres, and returned to his alma mater as head coach for his Aztecs from 2003 until his passing in 2014.
“It’s nice to be home,” Alicia said in her address to the crowd. “You know, there are so many people, because we’ve been in San Diego so long, they think we’re natives of San Diego. And I always have to let people know, ‘No, I’m from the LBC! I went to Long Beach Poly, home of scholars and champions. And to Mike and to everybody that took the time to do this mural and make this program as nice as this, thank you so much on behalf of my family … We are so appreciative.”
Current Poly principal Alejandro Vega emphasized the importance of that school pride and how it can impact the current student population.
“It’s the type of pride we want to continue, because it’s already here,” Vega said. “We get more than 3,000 students passing by this mural every single day, so as they see that, it’s just a reminder of who he is. And I think one of the things we need to do better at our school is teaching our students about who these legends are. So I can see us doing that and embedding that every single year, so we learn about them, who they are, and what they did for their communities.”
Also on hand for the unveiling was Tony’s younger brother, Chris Gwynn, who had a 10-year MLB career spent primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He recalled his time spent playing Pop Warner football as a Junior Jackrabbitt, and it brought back a flood of memories from his childhood in Long Beach.
The Gwynns may have made their name on the baseball diamond, but they were accomplished athletes in other sports as well. In fact, Tony didn’t even play baseball during his freshman year at San Diego State, instead focusing on basketball. To this day, he remains the career assists leader for the Aztecs on the hardwood, but his decision to return to the baseball diamond was a smart one.
“My mom told him he’s going to need baseball at some point, so he said ‘Okay, I’ll keep playing,’” Chris recalled. “Fast forward 15 or 20 years, he got hit number 2,000 and hit 3,000 on August 6, which is my mom’s birthday. You can’t make that up, right?”
Chris remembered how the family ended up in Long Beach, when their father, Charles, heard about a great high school down that way. The Gwynns originally lived in Los Angeles up near USC, but in the late ‘60s moved down to West Long Beach and into the Poly area. Chris was only two or three years old at the time, but looks back on it as “the best move ever.”
All three of the Gwynn boys–Charles, Jr., Tony, and Chris–played Little League baseball in Long Beach under former Jackrabbit head coach Joe Perruccio. Then during their time at Poly, they got to play basketball for the legendary Ron Palmer. Chris says the relationships formed with those coaches and the lessons learned over their formative years were instrumental in their success.
“Poly is special,” Chris stated. “Poly was so established, academically, athletically; It’s just such a special place, and people from all over the world know where this place is … (We were) kids from the Westside who came over here on the bus and got a lot of stuff done. Learned competition, learned being accountable, you name it, we learned everything here, and it’s like family.”
