U.S.

Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn Dies at 54

Former San Diego Padres right fielder Tony Gwynn died of cancer on Monday morning at the age of 54.

By Ben Cosman
This article is from the archive of our partner .

Former San Diego Padres right fielder Tony Gwynn died of cancer on Monday morning at the age of 54.

Gwynn, who played all 20 of his Major League seasons with the Padres and was the head coach of San Diego State's baseball team before his death, had been undergoing treatments for cancer. In March of this year, he took leave from San Diego State and told the San Diego Union-Tribune that "I have no comment, other than to say I’m doing good. That’s all I can say ... But nobody believes me because there hasn’t been any information out there. But, trust me, I’m doing good."

In August 2010 and February 2012, Gwynn underwent surgery for cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times, and attributed his cancer to chewing tobacco.

Gwynn was a 15-time MLB All-Star, won eight batting titles, and finished with a career-average .338, one of the highest of the modern era.

Gwynn made his major league debut July 19, 1982. His 3,141 hits place him 19th of all time, and Gwynn had his number retired by the Padres in 2004. Here's video of Gwynn recording his 3,000th hit:

He is survived by two children, daughter Anisha Nicole and son Tony Jr., who is currently an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.