Tony Gwynn talks about his role in Thomas Tull's ownership bid for Padres

XX Sports Radio: Tony Gwynn Interview with Darren Smith (MP3)

• The frenzy around Gwynn joining Thomas Tull's prospective ownership group has been unbelievable.
• Gwynn sat down with Tull last Tuesday. "I was just really encouraged with the things he had to say and the things he wants to do. I was just really fired up." Gwynn told Tull that he's in. That's been the extent of it.
  
• Gwynn's roll at SDSU is not going to change.
• Gwynn was approached by another prospective owner but Gwynn won't reveal who it was. It wasn't a direction he wanted to go in.
  
• Tull called Gwynn's agent John Boggs and set up a meeting. The meeting was supposed to be secret but they "got busted" when word of the meeting hit Twitter.
• Gwynn hadn't met Tull before. "The one thing that comes across when you talk to him is he wants to win. This guy is as competitive as they come."
• Gwynn became interested in becoming an owner when the Moorad situation came to a head. Gwynn sat down with John Moores to see what his role could be.
• "I think this is the right decision for me."

• "I'm not going to leave my post here at San Diego State. Obviously unless I get fired. This is where I'm going to be. For a little bit."

• Gwynn just wants to let people know so that people don't have to speculate.
• Gwynn's not going to run the Padres. That's not going to be his role. "My role, I think, will be just letting people know that things are going to be a little different."

• "I'm a San Diego Padre, that's the biggest thing. I started with this organization and I finished with this organization. There hadn't been a whole lot of guys that have done that. You know you want to embrace your history but you also want to have these guys when they first start out to realize that it's really an awesome thing to put that Padres jersey on. For a long time I hadn't gotten that sense. Thomas talked about that and that was one of the things that got me fired up."

• Gwynn says Tull is young, creative and going to be perfect for the job.
• Gwynn doesn't know what comes next in the process. "I just know it would be great to be part of this."
• Gwynn laughs when asked if he'd bring Gwynn Jr. back to the organization. Tony says Anthony is happy in LA and in a really good situation.
• Gwynn hasn't talked to Moores at all recently.
• It's been frustrating to watch the last couple of years but the team is young and Gwynn doesn't think they're that far away.
• Gwynn's been having trouble getting energy levels back. He has a blood clot in his right leg.
• Gwynn says Stephen Strasburg had the worst home run trot he's seen.