SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have confirmed on Twitter that Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn has died.
“We are terribly sad to say goodbye to our teammate, our friend and a legend, Tony Gwynn. Rest in peace, Mr. Padre,” read the tweet.
The former outfielder died Monday at age 54 at Pomerado Hospital in Poway, California, according to a release from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Gwynn had cancer, the release said.
Gwynn was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, amassing a total of 3,141 hits in 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres from 1982-2001, according to the Hall of Fame. He won eight National League batting championships.
He was a key member, the release said, of the 1984 and 1998 San Diego Padres National League Championship teams.
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called Gwynn the “greatest Padre ever” in a statement Monday.
Gwynn was “one of the most accomplished hitters that our game has ever known, whose all-around excellence on the field was surpassed by his exuberant personality and genial disposition in life,” Selig said. “Tony was synonymous with San Diego Padres baseball, and with his .338 career batting average and eight batting titles, he led his beloved ball club to its greatest heights, including two National League pennants.”
Gwynn “loved our game,” Selig said. He loved the city of San Diego and San Diego State University where he coached for a time, the commissioner said.
