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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. San Francisco Giants Shirts . 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. Fake Giants Jerseys . - The Green Bay Packers got back to work on Friday without star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Stitched Giants Jerseys . The Thornhill, Ont., native, who is ranked 11th in the world, said hed hoped he would be ready when Canada begins its World Group first-round tie against Japan in Tokyo on Friday. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen, NFL Editor Ben Fisher, and Isaac Owusu discuss three hot fantasy football topics.DETROIT -- For the Detroit Tigers, a walk-off grand slam happens like clockwork. Once every 10 years, its time to hit another one. On the day the franchise honoured the 30th anniversary of the 1984 World Series team, Rajai Davis hit his third career grand slam with one out in the ninth, giving the Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Oakland As. "I cant even remember the last time I did that," said Davis, who had never hit a walk-off homer of any kind in the major leagues. "It must have been in my dreams, while I was sleeping." It was Detroits first game-ending grand slam in almost exactly a decade. Carlos Pena hit one against Arizona on June 27, 2004. Coincidentally, that was the weekend the Tigers honoured the 1984 teams 20th anniversary. The last one before Penas was also 10 years earlier, as Lou Whitaker, a member of the 1984 champs, hit one against Cleveland on June 21, 1994. Oakland closer Sean Doolittle (2-2) was given a three-run lead to work with in the ninth, but managed only one out. Nick Castellanos and Alex Avila started the inning with singles. Eugenio Suarez struck out, but Doolittle walked Austin Jackson -- just the second walk he has issued this season. Jackson fouled off three straight 2-2 pitches before taking a pair of fastballs inside. "That was a hell of a battle," Doolittle said. "You could really see him shorten up his swing with two strikes, and he did a real good job." Doolittle then missed with a curveball and hung another one over the middle of the plate. "I just hung ... it," he said. "I threw some good pitches, but I threw some bad ones, and the last one cost us the game." Davis didnt miss it, hitting the ball out down the left-field line. "That was amazing," he said. "Austin had a great at-bat, and then I got a pitch that was middle or middle-in. It didnt do much. I wasnt sure if I got enough -- I was just hoping the wind would blow it out." Oakland broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth, helped by a defensive mistake. Yoenis Cespedes led off with a routine grounder to shortstop, but Suarezs throw sailed well over Miguel Cabreras head at first. Brandon Moss followed wiith an RBI into the left-centre field gap, and Sanchez walked Donaldson. San Francisco Giants Gear. Joba Chamberlain came in and allowed a single to Stephen Vogt, loading the bases. Jed Lowrie made it 4-1 with a two-run single to left, but Phil Coke replaced Chamberlain and got out of the inning. Nick Castellanos grabbed Alberto Callaspos grounder, stepped on third and threw to Ian Kinsler at second for a double play. Kinsler relayed the ball to first, hoping for a 5-4-3 triple play, but Callaspo beat the throw. Detroits rally took Anibal Sanchez off the hook; he now hasnt lost in his last 10 starts. Blaine Hardy (1-0) picked up his first career victory with a scoreless top of the ninth. Sanchez, who struck out his 1,000th career batter in the fourth, lost his shutout in the sixth on Lowries RBI single. Cabrera tied the game in the bottom of the inning, sending a 2-2 changeup into the Oakland bullpen beyond the left-centre field fence. Scott Kazmir left in the sixth, one pitch after appearing to grab at his hip. Dan Otero replaced him and kept the game tied through seven innings. "My calf just cramped up," Kazmir said. "I was OK until I tried to push off." NOTES: Alan Trammell, the 1984 World Series MVP, spoke on behalf of his team before the game. At that point, he was the only Tigers player since World War II to hit a game-ending grand slam with Detroit trailing by three runs. Davis, who stopped warming up to watch Trammells speech, became the second just over three hours later. ... Trammell and Whitaker received the two biggest ovations, and at the end of the ceremony, Whitaker took the mound with Trammell behind the plate. After a dramatic pause, both jogged to their familiar positions on either side of second base. Whitaker flipped to Trammell, who tagged second and threw to Dave Bergman at first for a ceremonial double play. ... Tigers DH Victor Martinez was a late scratch because of a sore side, and was replaced by J.D. Martinez. ... The Athletics have allowed three game-ending grand slams since World War II, with two coming against Detroit. In 1983, Lance Parrish hit one off Jeff Jones, who is now Detroits pitching coach. ' ' '