San Diego State baseball coach Tony Gwynn has been diagnosed with parotid cancer. The Hall of Fame former San Diego Padre outfielder, 50, will begin radiation and chemotherapy treatments soon.
Gwynn recently told the San Diego Union-Tribune “I had surgery for a parotid tumor in 1997 and again three years ago and both those times there was no cancer, but this time they found a maligancy. They took out the lympy nodes and did all the tests and the results showed cancer in the parotid.”
The parotid gland is a salivary gland beneath the tongue. Doctors told him the cancer was detected early, and it is slow moving but “aggressive”.
A follow-up with doctors is scheduled for Monday.
Gwynn has been the head coach at San Diego State, his alma mater, since 2003. He led the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament in 2009. He does plan to continue there as head coach. The 20-year MLB veteran and 15-time All-Star was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007.