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. Authentic Hayden Hurst Jersey . 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. Authentic Jaleel Scott Jersey . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. Authentic Anthony Averett Jersey . Smith, an eighth overall pick, had two goals in only 276 minutes of playing time over 16 appearances last season. The left side midfielder played only 43 minutes in three games this season. http://www.cheapravensjerseysauthentic.com/ .I get texts: Do you know Drake? Have you met Drake? He sits there every night, he hears me cuss out the referees every night, Casey said, laughing.It was a where were you when moment. A day when Brazilian football crumbled. A day when they were embarrassed on the largest stage of all, in front of 200 million of their closest friends. The writing was on the wall very early. It was a ridiculously open game from kick off. In the 4th minute, Miroslav Klose picked up the ball and Thomas Muller was all alone on the right side. Klose didnt make the pass and the Bayern man was fuming. Two more chances followed, both via Muller open on the right, but Germany were still better even at 0-0. Then it came. Fittingly, from a set piece. It will be forgotten about by many – four goals scored in six minutes will do that to you – but when Muller volleyed home a Toni Kroos corner it changed the mindset of both teams. Here was this Germany team, ready to finally get over a significant hurdle, not wanting to wait a long time to insert their dominance. On the other side stood a Brazilian team high on energy, but clearly fragile. A team, and a nation, that had drowned themselves in self pity for four days. Fifteen minutes before Muller opened the scoring, the host nation had sung their heart out for the national anthem holding up the jersey of Neymar as if he was inside an intensive care unit. Germany, the kings of mental toughness, will have seen that as a weakness even before a ball was kicked. In the buildup to the match, observers had wondered if Brazil had crossed the narrow line between a rallying, motivational tool and having a complete, utter obsession with it. When Germany opened the scoring, we got our answer. Following the winning goal against France, via Mats Hummels from a Toni Kroos corner, Joachim Low spoke about how he had learned to rely more on set play moves. Bastian Schweinsteiger had spoke about Bayern Munichs Pep Guardiolas obsession with them. Germany, after all, should know more than most about them. 2010 World Cup semifinal, Durban, South Africa as told by Xavi: "At half-time, Puyol said we had taken three or four corners already and said if you put it near the penalty spot, then we could cause problems." In the 73rd minute at Durban that day, Xavi produced another stunning assist in a major game, and Puyol did exactly what he said. 1-0 Spain. Another victory won by their brilliance on and off the pitch. 2012 Champions League final, Munich. Bayern Munich leading 1-0 against Chelsea. Then Didier Drogba scores on Chelseas first corner of the entire game before winning on penalties. The image of Schweinsteiger shaking on the penalty spot less than an hour later was a very disturbing image for German football. It was an image of a loser. Germany knew Schweinsteiger, and the rest of the golden generation the last decade has produced, were better than that. A year later at Wembley, many of thee core group of Lows team became winners; winners that arrived in Brazil knowing they had to put it together on the national stage. Wholesale Baltimore Ravens Jerseys. A game against hosts Brazil in the World Cup, with or without their best players, certainly wouldnt have overawed this group. The dominance started from the delivery of Kroos. David Luiz lost Muller and the Bayern man knew exactly where his teammate would put the corner. Brazil were behind. It was a scenario that would seriously test a team playing with heavy hearts for their striker, who will likely be playing for Barcelona in two months. David Luiz was at it again soon after. And so was Kroos. Fernandinho guessed incorrectly on a run to get the ball, Kroos found Muller whose brilliant move with Miroslav Klose left Luiz standing still. Incredibly, he stood and watched his marker make it 2-0 and break Ronaldos record. What happened next was absolutely disgraceful for the hosts. Yes, Germany were ruthless, inspired by the magnificent duo of Kroos and Sami Khedira, but Brazils display was pathetic. Three goals in 179 seconds stunned the world. 4-0. Then 5-0 after less than 30 minutes. Brazil were done. They are forced to play another match at this World Cup but they will be best served to start as many players as they can who didnt suffer this footballing massacre. In truth, it will be hard for their professional careers to ever get over this. In the end, the game showed us what frauds they were at this tournament. Average against Croatia, they needed a terrible refereeing decision to get them a victory on the tournaments first day. Against Mexico, they were not much better and the moment Cameroon raised concerns over Dani Alves, Marcelo and David Luiz (three-quarters of the back four!), it was clear they needed to be much better to win the World Cup. Chile and Colombia ran them close but they never came up across a team that had as much quality and big game experience as this German team. It is one thing to be beaten by a much stronger, talented team, it is quite another to crumble and play with pity. Throughout the demolition, Brazil never once showed an emotion as strong as they did while holding up Neymars shirt. Not even in anger. As for Germany, it is a victory that will make them all-time greats, providing they complete the job on Sunday. We have been waiting for true greatness to step up at this World Cup. The Brazilian collapse will hit the headlines today but if Germany lifts the trophy inside the Maracana on Sunday, they will go down as a very special team indeed: a team that made history by completing the biggest victory in World Cup semi final history. Brazil should be remembered for being pathetic but to win a semifinal 7-1 is an incredible achievement. We should not forget just how good Germany played. Cheap Heat Jerseys Cheap Bucks Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys Cheap Raptors Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Wizards Jerseys ' ' '