San Diegans mourned the loss of baseball great and "Mr. Padre" Tony Gwynn who died Monday after a long battle with cancer.
The memorial was growing by the minute at the Tony Gwynn statue inside Petco Park near downtown San Diego.
A pretty steady crowd grew bigger, filled with fans - some very emotional.
"We're crushed", said Summer Serrano who met the baseball legend when she was just 16. "I'm so honored and proud to be able to call Tony my friend."
The word came early in the morning via Twitter with this post from Major League Baseball: "We mourn the passing of Hall of Famer and @Padres icon Tony Gwynn, who died today at the age of 54."
The official San Diego Padres account soon followed: "We are terribly sad to say goodbye to our teammate, our friend and a legend, Tony Gwynn. Rest in peace, Mr. Padre."
As Gwynn said himself in his acceptance speech when entering the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, "I played for one team, I played in one town."
And so many San Diegans thank him for that.
NBC 7 sports producer and photojournalist Dave Smith - whose own professional career paralleled Gwynn's - said so many San Diegans hold a special place for Tony in their hearts because he embraced the city and stayed when he could have followed the money and played elsewhere.
"Probably one of the most fun and remarkable things about him when you did have a chance to be around him, he loved to sit and tell stories,” Smith said recalling the many times he was able to chat with the baseball legend.
“He had a laugh - just one of the most infectious laughs you can imagine.”
A Baseball Legend
Gwynn led the National League in batting eight times in his 20-year career, all with the Padres. He led the team to their only two World Series appearances in 1984 and 1998.
He was named to 15 All-Star teams, winning seven Silver Slugger Awards as the best hitter at his position and five Gold Glove Awards as the best fielder at his position.
He was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. His No. 19 was retired by the Padres in 2004.
Gwynn played 2,440 games and compiled a .338 career batting average, good for 18th best in baseball history.
In 2003, Gwynn was hired as the head baseball coach at San Diego State University, returning to the university where he had excelled as a student in both basketball and baseball.
In March, he took a leave of absence from the team. They went on to win the Mountain West Conference championship this season with a bobblehead of their coach sitting in the dugout for inspiration.
“Mr. Padre. Mr.Aztec. Two-sport athlete here at SDSU. He very well could be Mr. San Diego,” said Bob Moosbrugger, SDSU Associate Athletic Director for Development.
“There is going to be a lot of memories coming out in the next few weeks about Tony. He meant so much to this community. Not just to SDSU but to the community as a whole,” he said.
Battling Cancer
The Hall of Fame outfielder battled cancer of the salivary gland for years.
He was in pro baseball at a time when many players chewed tobacco and little was known about the effects. Gwynn would later talk about the habit, admitting to reporters that he often tried to quit chewing since he had first started in high school.
He said that he thought it was a bad example for kids and encouraged others not to do it.
He had growths operated on in 1997 and again 2000 but no cancer was discovered. Even after a previoussurgery in 2010 to remove a malignant tumor, there was little change in his appearance.
However, it was the most recent surgery in February 2012 that noticeably changed his appearance and speech. During the operation, surgeons removed a tumor inside his right cheek and grafted a nerve from his shoulder to replace the nerve damaged by the tumor.
At the time he spoke openly about the prognosis with NBC 7.
Experts have linked the use of chewing tobacco and snuff to cancer in the cheek, gums, and lips.
Simply the Best
NBC 7 users are sharing their favorite memories of Gwynn on Facebook.
"You can't share a favorite moment about Tony because their are so many stories to tell . He gave so much to SD and was loyal beyond belief . The best pure hitter we will ever see," NBC 7 user Tracy Gilber posted.
Edward Hendrickson posted his reaction, "Stunned. Great baseball player and even better man. Mr. Padres will be missed."
Rene Kuenning-Bass had trouble explaining what the news meant. "I grew up watching Tony play at The Murph with my family. I lost my dad in an accident 17 years ago and since then everytime I watched Tony play it tied me to my dad and the memories I had with him."
Many consider Gwynn the great athlete in baseball.
“He’s the greatest athlete in the human race,” said NBC 7 Sports Director Jim Laslavic who added how Gwynn would laugh at criticism during his playing days.
“He could light up the stadium with a smile,” he said. “Just a terrific person, a wonderful guy.
Longtime San Diegan, NBC 7's Whitney Southwick, remembers Gwynn's smile.
"It lit up the room and made you and everyone else just feel better about life – everything," Southwick said. "And what he could do on the diamond – a natural hitter who worked so hard at being even better, at the plate and in the field. TG is priceless, a one-of-a-kind person who was so much more than a professional baseball player."
Baseball fan and civic leader George Mitrovich said no other news will matter in San Diego today.
"Life is unfair and often cruel," he adds. "Which is underscored by our town having lost this year our two most beloved sports figures ever – Jerry Coleman and now, Tony Gwynn.
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Photo Credit: MLB Photos via Getty Images