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. MLB Jerseys Outlet .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. Cheap MLB Jerseys Nike 2020 . 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As the only competitor to try two quads, much less complete them, Kovtun ended the day nearly nine points ahead of Japans Tatsuki Machida, who opened with a clean quad but then stepped out of the triple toe loop that was the second jump in his combination.Skate Canada will send eight entries for a total of 12 skaters to the 2014 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria from March 10-16, 2014. Canada will have two entries in each category: mens, ladies, pair and ice dance. Nam Nguyen, 15, Toronto, Ont., leads the Canadian entries in mens. This will be his third time competing at this event, having placed 12th in 2013, and 13th in 2012. This season, Nguyen earned a fifth place finish at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in the senior category. Most recently, he placed 10th at the 2014 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. He is coached by Brian Orser at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Roman Sadovsky, 14, Vaughan, Ont., will be the second Canadian entry in the mens division. This season, Sadovsky placed 14th at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Riga, Latvia, and eighth in Minsk, Belarus. He also placed eighth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in the senior competition. He is coached by Tracey Wainman and Gregor Filipowski at the YSRA Winter Club. Alaine Chartrand, 17, Prescott, Ont., is the first of two Canadian entries in the ladies category. Chartrand placed eighth at this event last season. This season, the 2013 Canadian bronze medallist placed fifth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and most recently, seventh at the 2014 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Chartrand is coached by Michelle Leigh and Leonid Birinberg, and trains at the Nepean Skating Club. Larkyn Austman, 15, Coquitlam, B.C., will also represent Canada in the ladies division. Austman finished eighth at her first international assignment on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit in Estonia earlier this season. The 2013 Canadian junior champion also earned a 10th place finish at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, competing in the senior category. She is coached by Heather Austman and Eileen Murphy at the Connaught Skating Club in B.C. Tara Hancherow, 18, Tisdale, Sask., and Wesley Killing, 20, Woodstock, Ont., are one of two pairs repressenting Canada.dddddddddddd This season, Hancherow and Killing earned a fifth place finish in Slovakia and a sixth place finish in Estonia at their ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments. Hancherow and Killing also placed eighth at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in the junior category. They are coached by Annie Barabé and Maximin Coïa at CTC Contrecoeur in Quebec. Mary Orr, 17, Brantford, Ont., and Phelan Simpson, 18, Lunenburg, N.S., also represent Canada in the pair category. In their first season competing together, they earned a seventh place finish at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Latvia, and were junior bronze medallists at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. They are coached by Kristy Wirtz and Kris Wirtz at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club. Madeline Edwards, 17, Port Moody, B.C. and Zhao Kai Pang, 19, Burnaby, B.C., are one of two teams representing Canada in ice dance. Last season, they placed 12th at this event. This season, Edwards and Kai Pang won silver at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Mexico, and bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the Czech Republic. The 2013 Canadian junior champions also placed seventh at the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in the senior category. They are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe at the BC Centre of Excellence. Canadian junior champions Mackenzie Bent, 16, Uxbridge, Ont., and Garrett MacKeen, 19, Oshawa, Ont., will be the second entry in ice dance. Last year, Bent and MacKeen placed fifth at this event. This season, they won gold at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Latvia, and placed sixth in Slovakia. Bent and MacKeen train at Scarboro Ice Dance Elite with coaches Juris Razgulajevs and Carol Lane. Carolyn Allwright of Kitchener, Ont., and Cody Hay, of Edmonton, Alta. are the team leaders for this event. Dr. Erika Persson of Edmonton, Alta., and physiotherapist Paige Larson of North Vancouver, B.C., will be the medical staff onsite. The Canadian officials at the event are Janice Hunter of West Vancouver, B.C., Debbie Islam of Barrie, Ont., and Sally Rehorick of Vancouver, B.C. ' ' '