When you think of the name Tony Gwynn in San Diego, the legacy of the late Padres great always comes to mind. For sports fans in town, the Gwynn name continues to be front and center as Tony Gwynn Jr., the son of the Baseball Hall of Famer, is the co-host of Gwynn and Chris with Chris Ello weekdays from 2pm to 6pm on Audacy-owned 97.3 The Fan.
While there will always be the name connection to his father, Gwynn is carving out his own following in town.
“There’s no doubt that my father’s legacy certainly helped extend the listen,” said Gwynn. “It gave me a chance to kind of find my way, but I think now I’ve been able to carve out my own name. My dad’s legacy is pretty large, and I understand that. It can take some time before I fully am able to surpass being Tony Gwynn’s son, but I think I’ve done a relatively good job to this point and I’m happy where I am right now.”
As Gwynn continues to evolve as a sports radio host, he does so with the challenge of hosting in a market that has just one major professional sports team in the San Diego Padres. But that doesn’t stop Gwynn and Ello from providing the listeners with great content each day as they cover the topics that the fans in San Diego are interested in.
Even without the Chargers, the listeners have come around to talking about football as well as other sports that create topics of interest.
“When the Chargers initially left, it took a while…and I think to this day people are still raw about it,” said Gwynn. “I think, over time, people have softened in terms of shutting football out as a whole and have kind of opened up to it. They still hate the Chargers, and they’re very upset with that organization, but they enjoy talking football. Especially with the emergence of sports betting and fantasy football, everybody is dialed into it.”
Gwynn followed in his father’s footsteps as a professional baseball player and played for the Padres, Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies during a 13-year career that concluded in 2014. In 2016, he turned to broadcasting joining the Dodgers broadcast team as co-host of the post-game show on KLAC radio. He would eventually join the Padres broadcast booth as a TV and radio analyst before teaming with Ello during afternoon drive on The Fan in April of 2018.
Gwynn has grown a lot as a talk show host and continues to learn the business.
“I didn’t ever imagine being in front of a mic until I was an adult,” said Gwynn. “I think I’ve come a long way. I’m much more comfortable behind the mic. When Chris is gone, I have no problem holding down the show by myself. I’ve got a good team. Chris Ello has been a veteran in this game for a long time, so I pick his brain. I’m never too good to keep learning so I try to keep that in mind, especially for a craft that I’m really just starting.”
When it comes to growing as a sports radio host, Gwynn has learned a lot from Program Director Adam Klug. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing between the two, but at the end of the day, Gwynn realized that Klug wants him to be the best he can be…even if it means disagreeing on some things.
“We have butted heads at a lot of different points,” said Gwynn. “As a former athlete, I get into a routine and I want to stay in that routine but hosting a sports talk show, you can’t get stale and sometimes getting out of your comfort zone allows you to see other avenues. I think Adam has been very helpful from that standpoint. We still butt heads from time to time but he’s trying to help me get better and I respect that a lot.”
The sports radio landscape has certainly changed in San Diego. “The Mightier 1090” was replaced by Catholic Church programming last month while San Diego Sports 760 has undergone a number of changes. It’s opened the door for Gwynn and everyone else at The Fan to grow and be successful.
“Sports talk here has been fickle since the glory days,” said Gwynn. “It is a challenge to reach the listeners the way you need to. It’s really hard to predict how it’s going to be in another ten years but right now, we’ve done a hell of a job expanding our station to a place where, especially in San Diego, people listen.”
Tony Gwynn Jr. is making a name for himself in San Diego. His last name is royalty in town, but now he’s carving out his own legacy.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
