SAN DIEGO -- There were two certainties about Tony Gwynn: He could hit a baseball like few other major leaguers, and he was going to laugh. Gwynn was a craftsman at the plate, whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of baseballs greatest hitters. The Hall of Famer died Monday of oral cancer, a disease he attributed to years of chewing tobacco. He was 54. Any knowledgeable fan can recite Gwynns key stats. He had 3,141 hits -- 18th on the all-time list -- a career .338 average and won eight batting titles to tie Honus Wagners NL record. There was far more to the man. In a rarity in pro sports, Gwynn played his whole career with the Padres, choosing to stay in the city where he was a two-sport college star rather than leaving for bigger paychecks elsewhere. He was loyal, generous and approachable. He smiled a lot. It didnt take much to get him to laugh his hearty laugh. Gwynn loved San Diego. San Diego loved "Mr. Padre" right back. His death left even casual fans grieving. "Our city is a little darker today without him, but immeasurably better because of him," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in a statement. Five things to remember about Gwynn: HIS CRAFT: After spending parts of just two seasons in the minors, he made his big league debut on July 19, 1982. Gwynn had two hits that night. After Gwynn doubled, career hits leader Pete Rose, who been trailing the play, said to him: "Hey, kid, what are you trying to do, catch me in one night?" On Monday, Rose recalled Gwynns work ethic and his pioneering use of video to study his at-bats after every game. "Every day you went to the ballpark in San Diego and we used to go 2:30 or 3 oclock, Tony would be out there hitting, religiously, every day," Rose said. "Fifty-four years old is way too young." THE LAUGH: Former Padres teammate Tim Flannery recalls Gwynn as "always laughing, always talking, always happy." It didnt take much for Gwynn to cackle or break into a horse laugh. "He had a work ethic unlike anybody else, and had a childlike demeanour of playing the game just because he loved it so much," said Flannery, third base coach for the San Francisco Giants. THE 5.5 HOLE: Gwynn loved to hit the other way, through the hole between third base and shortstop. "All I keep thinking of when I think of Tony Gwynn is that line drive base hit to left field, or the one-hopper in the hole at shortstop to left field," Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said. "He hit the ball wherever it was pitched, and he was just a genius with the bat, without a doubt." SAN DIEGO STATE: Gwynn had been on a medical leave since late March from his job as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater. He called it his dream job, one he began right after retiring from the Padres following the 2001 season. He coached his son, Tony Jr., whos with the Philadelphia Phillies. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gwynn played point guard for the SDSU basketball team -- he still holds the game, season and career record for assists -- and in the outfield on the baseball team. He was drafted by both the Padres (third round) and San Diego Clippers (10th round) on the same day in 1981. As much as he loved basketball, baseball was his future. Texas Augie Garrido, the winningest college baseball coach, said at the College World Series on Monday that he tried to recruit Gwynn when he was coaching at Cal State Fullerton, but told him he wouldnt be able to play baseball and basketball. Because baseball would be well underway by the time basketball ended, "Youd have to be one hell of a baseball player to be break into the lineup," Garrido recalled telling Gwynn. "He decided to go to San Diego State. After he won his seventh batting title at Dodger Stadium on the last day of the season, he broke that story to the LA Times. He didnt leave out one bit of information about how stupid I was. Thats why my recruiting genius is limited," said Garrido, who added he and Gwynn had a good relationship. TERRIFIC TONY: Gwynn struck out only 434 times in 9,288 career at-bats. He played in San Diegos only two World Series -- batting a combined .371 -- and was a 15-time All-Star. He had a home run in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series off fellow San Diegan David Wells and scored the winning run in the 1994 All-Star Game despite a bum knee. Gwynn never hit below .309 in a full season. He spread his batting titles from 1984, when he batted .351, to 1997, when he hit .372. Gwynn was hitting .394 when a players strike ended the 1994 season, denying him a shot at becoming the first player to hit .400 since San Diego native Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Vapormax Fausse Pas Cher . On July 27 cyclings best-known race will host "La Course by Le Tour de France" -- a one-day womens competition staged hours before Tour riders race on the same circuit to finish the three-week event on Paris Champs-Elysees. Vapormax Plus Homme Solde . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year. http://www.vapormaxpascher.be/air-max-va...2-pas-cher.html. 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. Air Vapormax 97 Soldes . Or maybe he already did. Clark hit his first homer, Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 Wednesday night. Vapormax Off White Pas Cher .Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been neck and neck all season, with 17 points separating the rivals and double points on offer for the race.Tensions between them have spilled over during the campaign and the pairs fragile relationship was evident during Thursdays pre-race news conference, when Rosberg goaded Hamilton by advising him to race cleanly. SEOUL, South Korea -- Arsenal striker Park Chu-young is going to his third World Cup for South Korea despite concerns about his lack of game time in the Premier League. Hong Myung-bo picked Park among nine Europe-based players in the 23-man South Korea squad he announced Thursday. The South Korea coach unveiled a youthful and predictable squad -- with just one player, Kwak Tae-hwi, older than 30. The selection of Park has been a point of serious national debate in recent, weeks simply because the 28 year-old forward has played so little for Arsenal since his move to London in August 2011. A fine goal in his first national team appearance in a year against Greece in March helped him make the cut. "Among Korean forwards, I couldnt find another attacker to replace Park," Hong said. "I have thought long and hard about this selection and decided on the final list just last night." Other English Premier League players Ki Sung-yeung and Kim Bo-kyong were also selected. Park is likely to be the lone striker in Brazil with German-based Son Heung-min expected to appear on the left side of midfield. There are five survivors from the squad that reached the second round in South Africa 2010, a second ever appearance in the knockout stage in South Koreas eight World Cup appearances to date. Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryung, Ki, Kim, Park and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Lee Chung-yong are hoping to at least repeat that feat in June. South Koreas best-ever World Cup performance was in 2002, when it cost-hosted the tournament with Japan and reached the semifinals under with Hong as captain. The 45-year-old Hong also coached South Koreas Under-23 team, containing many of the players in his current squad, to the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics "Brazil is going to be the biggest challenge," said Hong, who took over as coach last July after Choi Kang-hee guided the team through an unimpressive qualification campaign. "But we go as one team to give the best performance that we can. We have a team with a lot of international experiennce and we have the players who can show what they can do at the highest level.dddddddddddd" Hong admitted that the position that gave him most problems was at left-back. Park Joo-ho of FC Mainz in Germany returned to South Korea early to try and recover from injury but ran out of time and has been replaced by QPRs Yun Suk-young. As Hong promised, there were few surprises in the squad. Pohang Steelers attacking midfielder Lee Myung-joo, perhaps the standout player of the 2014 K-League season, has been overlooked. Of the 20 outfield players in the squad, just three play in the domestic league. Hong said "Lee has been excellent for Pohang this season," but explained that he wanted more cover for defensive midfielders and took Park Jung-woo and Han Kook-young. The captain will be announced after the squad has gathered. After a training camp in Paju, the South Korea squad plays a friendly against Tunisia at home on May 28 before travelling to Miami for a pre-World Cup training camp that includes a warm-up game with Ghana on June 10. South Korea starts its Group H campaign against Russia on June 17 before taking on Algeria and Belgium. ------ Squad: Goalkeepers: Jung Sung-ryeong (Suwon Bluewings), Kim Seung-gyu (Ulsan Horang-i), Lee Bom-young (Busan IPark) Defenders: Kim Jin-soo (Albirex Niigata, Japan), Yun Suk-young (QPR, England), Kim Young-kwon (Guangzhou Evergrande, China), Hwang Seok-ho (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan), Hong Jeong-ho (Augsburg, Germany), Kwak Tae-hwi (Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia), Lee Yong (Ulsan Horang-i), Kim Chang-soo (Kashiwa Reysol, Japan). Midfielders: Ki Seung-yeung (Sunderland, England), Ha Dae-sung (Beijing Guoan, China), Han Kook-young (Kashiwa Reysol, Japan), Park Jung-woo (Guangzhou R&F, China), Son Heung-min (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Kim Bo-kyoung (Cardiff City, Wales), Lee Chung-yong (Bolton Wanderers, England), Ji Dong-won (Augusburg, Germany). Forwards: Koo Ja-cheol (Mainz, Germany), Lee Keun-ho (Sangju Sangmu), Park Chu-young (Arsenal, England), Kim Shin-wook (Ulsan Horang-i). 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