quarter. Down one with a minute remaining in the third, Lowry

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. Tommy Joseph Jersey . Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit. Jim Bunning Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. http://www.philliesrookiestore.com/Phillies-Lenny-Dykstra-Kids-Jersey/ . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. Rhys Hoskins Jersey . Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford each scored 19 points, Bass added 15 points and had a game-saving block in the closing seconds Saturday, and the Celtics held on for a 103-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mike Schmidt Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego.PHILADELPHIA - Five minutes after Kyle Lowry recorded his fourth career triple-double, and second as a member of the Raptors, he was back in the locker room glued to his phone, streaming the Knicks game. At the time, Carmelo Anthony was at the tail end of a career and Knicks franchise-record setting performance in New York. Melo had 60 points and counting, as Lowry watched in amazement. "They just took him out," he told an enquiring DeMar DeRozan, putting down his phone to speak with the media following his own remarkable showing. No, Lowry didnt score 62 points - Anthonys final point total - but he too was coming off a game hell remember for the rest of his professional career, and beyond. "Its always special to play here," said the Philadelphia-native, who put up 18 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in front of over 50 friends and family members in Torontos 104-95 victory over the 76ers. And his triple-double? "As long as its with a win, its a great feat." The win didnt come easy. Toronto got off to a quick start before coughing up an early 13-point lead to the last place 76ers. The Raptors trailed by one at the break and exchanged buckets with a tenacious Philadelphia team during the third quarter. Down one with a minute remaining in the third, Lowry drained a short jumper to give his team the lead, adding a step-back 18-footer prior to the buzzer. Half of section 123 - five or six rows of Lowry supporters - was on their feet as the quarter came to an end. The Raptors never relinquished their lead from there. "Always, coming here and winning the game is most important," said the Raptors point guard. "Even if I play terrible, if we win the game and I give my family something to cheer for Im happy." How big was his own personal cheering section? "50-something [people], a small amount," he said with a smirk. Following Friday morning shoot around, Lowry - having spent the previous night back at home - spoke about staying professional and blocking out the natural distraction of being in a familiar setting. He got his ticket requests in Thursday evening and by 5:00, two hours before tip-off, he insisted his phone would be turned off. "Its always special to be able to haave them sit behind you and cheer for you and cheer for the team," he said.dddddddddddd "Its definitely different but Im still a professional, Ive got to do my job, Ive got to help my team win." 48 hours earlier, Lowry missed all 10 of his field goal attempts as he batted the flu, running back-and-forth from the restroom in Wednesdays victory over Dallas. DeRozan picked up the slack for his ailing comrade, scoring a career-best 40 points. Theyve become something of a tag team. On Friday, with Lowry back to full health after some home cooking, both guards were tremendous. "Thats what he do, man," said DeRozan, who had 34 points of his own, including 16 in the fourth and 13 from the free throw line. "He puts us all in great positions to score. He rebounds, he pushes the ball, he does it all when hes out there on the court. You cant ask for another point guard like that who can do all those things." Lowry and DeRozan, are both awaiting their All-Star fate. The leagues coaches will vote in the reserves - they have until the weekend to submit their ballots - and Torontos backcourt duo is making one final, eye catching push. "Hes an All-Star," DeRozan said of Lowry. "Hes an All-Star," Lowry said of DeRozan. "Theyre both All-Stars," said Amir Johnson. Theyll find out on Thursday, but for now theyre both relieved to be winning once again. After dropping three of four last week the Raptors have been victorious in two straight ahead of a daunting matchup with the Clippers in the second night of a back-to-back Saturday and a crucial showdown with the suddenly red-hot, division rival Nets Monday. "I dont think we ever lost it," DeRozan said with confidence. "We understand we cant win every game. There are going to be games we wish we should have win but it might just not be our night. We understand that. We just have to stay positive when we lose a game, understand we have to learn from our mistakes and keep going." Meanwhile, DeRozan - making his All-Star bid - has scored 74 points in two games, shooting 11-for-16 in the fourth quarter during that stretch. Not bad right? "Melo had 62 [tonight]," he said. "I really didnt do too much." 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