Ex-sportscaster Michael Gwynn, at McCoy Stadium, is the vice president of sales and marketing for the PawSox.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PAWTUCKET — If receiving personal recognition was important to Michael Gwynn, he would be one unhappy man when he went to work every day.

For 16 years now, Gwynn has been one of the most visible people at McCoy Stadium during Pawtucket Red Sox games. He is everywhere, from welcoming visitors, to helping organize the special cookouts so often held at games, to taking part in pregame ceremonies, to responding to special requests from fans. Gwynn even is in charge of turning out the lights on the scoreboard every night.

As he walks through the facility wearing his trademark wide-brimmed beach hat, he often is stopped, although not for the expected reason.

People like to tell him they remember him from his days as a television sportscaster. Gwynn is one of the few people to have worked for all three television stations in the Providence market, full-time at Channel 12 and part-time at Channels 10 and 6.

“Maybe even more people stop me and tell me I look like Richard Dreyfuss,” Gwynn said with a smile.

What most fans do not realize is that Gwynn is one of those most responsible for making McCoy such a fun place to watch a game.

Owner Ben Mondor, president Mike Tamburro and general manager Lou Schwechheimer are the ones credited — deservedly so — with molding the hugely successful franchise.

Gwynn usually remains in the background, which is fine with him.

“I don’t mind at all,” Gwynn said as he took a break from preparations for a game. “We have a team on the field, and we also have a team off the field. Ben and Mike always talk about how we all have to work together to give the fans who come here the best possible experience. That’s what we try to do.”

Gwynn is the vice president of sales and marketing, a title that barely begins to describe his role.

“We’re blessed to have some great folks with us. Bill Wanless, Mick Tedesco, Matt White,” Schwechheimer said. “Michael Gwynn is one, too. He doesn’t get a lot of public credit. He doesn’t seek the limelight, but this is a guy who is the heart and soul of the day of a game at McCoy. He really is.

“In reality, he’s the go-to here,” Schwechheimer went on. “When you talk about his responsibilities, in terms of the operation and developing bridges to the community, he is the guy everybody looks to, everybody loves universally. No matter whom you talk to in the community, when you say the name Michael Gwynn, there’s a warm smile.

“When you look up people person in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Gwynny,” Schwechheimer concluded. “He’s a real quality guy.”

As would be expected from the marketing person, Gwynn is the conduit between the PawSox and the business community.

“Over the year, we’ll deal with about 300 businesses,” Gwynn said. “Our goal is to give them what they paid for. We want to make sure they enjoy being with us. We want every one of them to say at the end of the year, `You know what? That was the best program we were involved in this year.’ ”

The PawSox do not deal with business partners the way many others do in this day and age.

“With the PawSox, a handshake means everything,” Schwechheimer said. “We’re not big believers in 20-page contracts with duplicates sent to the lawyer. We believe that you build trust with a handshake and a handshake means everything. Michael Gwynn embodies that.”

As part of that style, everyone on the off-field team contributes. In Gwynn’s case, that means being involved before, during and after games. That is significant since Gwynn lives on Cape Cod. Gwynn, who has both an undergraduate and graduate degree from Babson, has been a Cape guy most of his life.

“He’s amazing,” Schwechheimer said. “There are days when he’s gotten up at 6 a.m. to take his daughter, one of his three children, to Harvard for diving lessons and to be there for her. Then he’ll come in here for a 10:30 meeting and work until midnight, then drive back to the Cape.”

When he has an early-morning appointment, Gwynn even has been known to sleep at the park so he can be on the job to deliver a player to a public appearance before 8 a.m. While he is almost always talkative, Gwynn gets a bit uncomfortable when asked about his hours and his duties.

“I never thought I’d be doing this. I went to school for accounting,” he pointed out. “But I wanted to do something that I would enjoy. I found out fast that sitting in an office was not for me.” Gwynn worked for The Boston Herald, as an ad salesman for a radio station and in television before landing with the PawSox. He has never looked back, never worried that most of his work, after he left television, was out of the spotlight.

“I like what I do,” he said.

pkenyon@projo.com