Tony Gwynn

HALL OF FAME outfielder Tony Gwynn underwent surgery yesterday to remove a new cancerous tumor inside his right cheek. Gwynn, now San Diego State's baseball coach, had previously had a malignant growth removed from the same spot in August 2010. Gwynn's wife, Alicia, told ESPN that doctors do not believe the cancer has spread outside of Gwynn's salivary gland. But she said she expected to know more after the surgery at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego.

And now, Week in Review presents yet another astonishing feat that you probably have heard absolutely nothing about: Meet The Man Who Never Misses. He is the Padres' amazing Tony Gwynn. And on Sunday, he committed a crime that he apparently thinks could get him 20 years to life in Holmesburg. He struck out. The reason this should have been big news is that from last Sept. 6 through Sunday, Tony Gwynn had gone to the plate 270 times. He had struck out in exactly five of those trips.

Challenger Leslie Stewart of Trinidad knocked down champion Marvin Johnson twice in the first round and kept up the beating to win the World Boxing Association light-heavyweight title yesterday. The scheduled 15-round fight, at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, was stopped after the eighth round. Stewart, 26, a Port-of-Spain native, used a quicker and more powerful right to beat the 33-year-old Johnson. Johnson, a native of Indianapolis, was making his third title defense and was fighting Stewart for the second time.

Anthony Gwynn I and Anthony Gwynn II walk the three blocks from the San Diego Padres' hotel to Busch Stadium together, Tony (the big Gwynn) trying to avoid autograph seekers while Anthony (the little Gwynn) bounces alongside happily in a pink T-shirt and pink shorts, a baseball glove in his hand. "Anthony," Tony asks, stopping suddenly to look at his 8-year-old son. "What do I do tonight to get a hit off this guy, (Ken) Hill?" "Same as you always do," Anthony says matter of factly, obviously aware that his father leads all of baseball with a .366 average and never has finished a full major league season below .309.

Tony Gwynn had just finished spraying line drives all over Qualcomm Stadium yesterday afternoon when a handful of reporters approached him and asked if he had a couple of minutes to chat. Gwynn mopped sweat off his round face and sighed. "Off days stink," he said. "All you do is yak, yak, yak. I just want to go out and play. " A half hour later, Gwynn was still talking. And talking. That's how much fun the greatest of all San Diego Padres is having being back in the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1984, his first full season the majors.

A record crowd that could surge to 60,000 is expected as two of the game's greats, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, are inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., today. Ripken, who played his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles, is the all-time Iron Man. The former American League rookie of the year and MVP started 2,632 consecutive games from 1982 to 1998. Gwynn, called "Mr. Padre" after playing his entire career with San Diego, was one of the best hitters ever, an eight-time National League batting champ who always played with a smile.

The Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, who used to torment the Phillies back when there was still a baseball team in Montreal, reached the 2,000-hit plateau last week. He did it in 6,171 at-bats, the fourth-fewest by players who entered the majors in 1950 or later. The top three: Wade Boggs 5,832; Rod Carew 5,965; Tony Gwynn 6,094. Boggs, Carew and Gwynn combined for 20 batting titles. Guerrero has never won one, but he has hit at least .300 in each of his 11 full seasons. Carew (13 times)

No one will ever know now. We'll never know how the 1994 baseball season would have turned out if it had ended on Oct. 2 instead of Aug. 11. But suppose the strike had never happened. Suppose the season had gone on exactly the way it was supposed to. Would Matt Williams have hit 62 home runs? Would Tony Gwynn have hit .400? Would the Phillies have won 40 games in a row and made the playoffs? The computer mavens at Stats Inc., the highly respected baseball statistical service in Skokie, Ill., wanted to find out. So they played out the final 52 days of the season on their computers.

TONY GWYNN WAS already talking after five doctors spent 14 hours removing a malignant tumor from inside the Hall of Famer's right cheek on Tuesday according to ESPN.com. Gwynn's wife, Alicia, said the doctors performed a complex nerve-graft procedure, removing Gwynn's facial nerve and replacing it with a nerve from Gwynn's shoulder. Alicia Gwynn said her husband came out of surgery at 1 a.m. PT yesterday, and that doctors told her they had entirely removed the cancerous growth from his parotid gland.

They could have been this generation's Pete Rose and Ray Fosse. There was Tony Gwynn late Tuesday night, steaming around third base, heading for the plate to try to score the winning run for the National League in the All-Star Game. And there was Ivan Rodriguez, cleats straddling the plate, waiting for the relay throw - and waiting for Tony Gwynn. These are the kind of moments that all-star memories are made of. And for Tony Gwynn, this all-star memory is not going to go away, just the way Rose's memory of running over Fosse at the plate in the 1970 All-Star Game never goes away.

TONY GWYNN WAS already talking after five doctors spent 14 hours removing a malignant tumor from inside the Hall of Famer's right cheek on Tuesday according to ESPN.com. Gwynn's wife, Alicia, said the doctors performed a complex nerve-graft procedure, removing Gwynn's facial nerve and replacing it with a nerve from Gwynn's shoulder. Alicia Gwynn said her husband came out of surgery at 1 a.m. PT yesterday, and that doctors told her they had entirely removed the cancerous growth from his parotid gland.

HALL OF FAME outfielder Tony Gwynn underwent surgery yesterday to remove a new cancerous tumor inside his right cheek. Gwynn, now San Diego State's baseball coach, had previously had a malignant growth removed from the same spot in August 2010. Gwynn's wife, Alicia, told ESPN that doctors do not believe the cancer has spread outside of Gwynn's salivary gland. But she said she expected to know more after the surgery at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego.

A feel-good call When Tony Gwynn Jr. picked up the phone on Wednesday and learned he was coming home to play for the San Diego Padres, his Hall of Fame father was on the other end. Tony Gwynn spent his entire 20-year Hall of Fame career with San Diego. "Dad's thrilled," said the senior Gwynn, who coaches baseball at San Diego State. "This is like a bolt out of the sky. You just didn't expect that. I'm thrilled, just happy he's going to get an opportunity, and I think he feels the same way. " The younger Gwynn, an outfielder, was obtained for outfielder Jody Gerut.

The Angels' Vladimir Guerrero, who used to torment the Phillies back when there was still a baseball team in Montreal, reached the 2,000-hit plateau last week. He did it in 6,171 at-bats, the fourth-fewest by players who entered the majors in 1950 or later. The top three: Wade Boggs 5,832; Rod Carew 5,965; Tony Gwynn 6,094. Boggs, Carew and Gwynn combined for 20 batting titles. Guerrero has never won one, but he has hit at least .300 in each of his 11 full seasons. Carew (13 times)

A record crowd that could surge to 60,000 is expected as two of the game's greats, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, are inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., today. Ripken, who played his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles, is the all-time Iron Man. The former American League rookie of the year and MVP started 2,632 consecutive games from 1982 to 1998. Gwynn, called "Mr. Padre" after playing his entire career with San Diego, was one of the best hitters ever, an eight-time National League batting champ who always played with a smile.

Tony Gwynn asked Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins a simple question this off-season: What kind of hitter are you? "I asked him that question because he hit some home runs last year," said Gwynn, the former San Diego Padres star and current head baseball coach at San Diego State, who worked with Rollins in the off-season. "When you get a chance to jog around the bases, it's kind of nice," Gwynn said. "But he's a line-drive hitter rather than a guy who's going to hit the ball out of the park.

If amphetamine use was "rampant" on the San Diego Padres as Tony Gwynn claims, manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Kevin Towers never saw any evidence of it. "If we knew there was a problem, we would have taken care of it," Towers said yesterday. "It's not something Bruce or I or the organization turned our head on. " In an article published in yesterday's editions of The New York Times, Gwynn said amphetamines are an even bigger problem than steroids. The former All-Star estimated that 50 percent of position players use amphetamines, and said use is growing.

Opening night was a frustrating for coach Tony Gwynn. San Diego State fell to Arizona State, 7-5, last night after blowing leads of 4-0 and 5-1. In Gwynn's debut as coach of his alma mater, San Diego State seemed headed to its first victory over a nationally ranked team in 3 years, but the Sun Devils scored seven runs in the final three innings. "We played really well. We did a lot of things good. We made some plays," Gwynn said. "But when it came crunch time, we didn't make a play.

Rickey Henderson made sure he didn't go into the winter still waiting for his 3,000th hit. He became the 25th member of the 3,000-hit club with a bloop double yesterday, doing it in his first at-bat in the last game of the season. "It's a great feeling, a feeling that you can't really describe," said Henderson, the San Diego Padres' flamboyant, 42-year-old leadoff hitter who is baseball's runs, steals and walks leader. "I thought I would never get there because I walk so much.