Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn has died of cancer at 54 in the San Diego suburb of Poway, his agent tells the AP. The outfielder's sweet left-handed swing and undying loyalty to the San Diego Padres made him one of San Diego's best-loved athletes—he was nicknamed "Mr. Padre" during his 20-year major league career. "My baseball card looks awesome because it has San Diego all the way down," Gwynn once remarked, according to Baseball Almanac. He had been on a medical leave from his job as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater, since late March.
Gwynn had two operations for cancer in his right cheek between August 2010 and February 2012. The second surgery was complicated, with surgeons removing a facial nerve because it was intertwined with a tumor inside his right cheek. They grafted a nerve from Gwynn's neck to help him eventually regain facial movement. During his career Gwynn won seven Silver Slugger awards, to go along with five Gold Gloves, while racking up 3,141 hits. (More Tony Gwynn stories.)
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