One of the ‘good guys’ in sports, “Mr. Padre” Tony Gwynn gone at age 54

One of the best hitters and one of the nicest people the sport of baseball has every produced, Tony Gwynn gone today at age 54….He played his entire career for the San Diego Padres(20 years) and he is gone due to cancer and he got the cancer from chewing tobacco for all of those years…Hate to see one lose their life over a chew of tobacco, but that seems to be the case here and it sure took away one true/pure baseball man. He could have left San Diego tons of times for more money and better teams, but he stayed true to his roots and remained a Padre all of those years…Tony Gwynn gone, but he sure made a difference, with well over 3,000 hits in his career and he nearly batted .400.(394) in a strike-shortened season……

More here on Tony Gwynn who closed out his baseball life, as the coach for San Diego State University and here we are with more on Tony from www.espn.com:
(Tony had a discerning voice, almost like a Avery Johnson-type voice…You could almost always tell when you were listening to Tony Gwynn)……

Tony Gwynn, who banged out 3,141 hits during a Hall of Fame career spanning 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres, has died of cancer at age 54, it was announced Monday.

The lefty-swinging Gwynn, nicknamed Mr. Padre, had a career .338 batting average, won eight National League batting titles and played in the franchise’s only two World Series.

He died early Monday morning at Pomerado Hospital in Poway, California, while surrounded by his family, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced.

CLICK HERE to read more on this man, Tony Gwynn, and his baseball career….