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Sad news from the baseball world this Tuesday morning, as former Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers has passed away. Towers, 56, had been a member of the Cincinnati Reds’ front office for the past few years, serving as Special Assistant to the GM while also in charge of player personnel in the Pro Scouting department.
Towers had been fighting an incredibly aggressive form of cancer. While we at Red Reporter offer wholehearted condolences to Towers’ family and friends, I thought it pertinent to highlight how much of a positive impact he had on the baseball world, something that became incredibly obvious as his peers and those that covered him took to social media to chronicle his life.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers GM Dan Evans recalled a classic Towers interaction from their time running NL West franchises.
My favorite Kevin Towers experience: during a particularly ugly Padres/Dodgers game at Jack Murphy when we were GM of the participants, he called between innings & said "wow, what were we thinking, Danny?" That was KT. Unbridled. You suck, cancer.
— Dan Evans (@DanEvans108) January 30, 2018
Padres TV analyst Mark Grant reflected on the former San Diego GM.
My heart is aching big time. We lost a great man today, and if you knew Kevin Towers, yours is as well. KT undoubtedly was one of the best men in all of baseball. If you knew him, you loved him. He treated everyone the same. He had a huge heart. You’ll be sorely missed. RIP KT
— Mark Grant (@Mudcat55) January 30, 2018
The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans remarked on another tidbit from Towers’ time in baseball that sums up the fun he brought to the game.
I don't know why it amused me that Kevin Towers' email was KTgunslinger@whateveritwas.com. But it did. That was KT
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) January 30, 2018
The fun, the joy - sentiments Jayson Stark will always associate with Towers.
Last time I saw the late, great Kevin Towers, he was hanging out in the stands at Petco, having a beverage & laughing with friends. I'm going to hang onto that memory of one of the funniest, sharpest, most beloved people I've ever known in baseball. A loss for the sport & planet!
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) January 30, 2018
Former Padres beat writer Bill Center echoed those assessments of Towers in celebrating his life.
Kevin Towers was superstitious with a great sense of humor about it. Never watched Hoffman save a game. Always headed to elevator and clubhouse when Hoffman entered. Had this habit of running right hand down his face when nervous. Smart, funny, loyal -- Kevin Towers was a giant.
— Bill Center (@PadresCentral) January 30, 2018
So, too, did ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.
This is devastating. Kevin Towers was beloved throughout baseball for a reason. Honest, genuine, funny. It was always a joy to cross his path. Rest in peace, KT. https://t.co/hkmrBeSvnd
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) January 30, 2018
Yahoo’s Tim Brown penned an excellent piece about Towers, his impact on the game, and his fight through the cancer that ultimately claimed him, and it’s a piece I’d hope all of you take the time to read.
The Cincinnati Reds, too, offered their condolences.
The Reds join the entire baseball family in mourning Kevin Towers’ passing. He built his reputation as a smart baseball executive but earned his legacy by the way he loved, and was loved by, everyone in the game.
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) January 30, 2018
By all accounts, Towers was the kind of person that brought exactly the kind of life to baseball that the game has always, always needed. For as big of a business as it has become, it is and always has been a game, and it seems Towers never lost track of that fact despite climbing to the highest string-pulling roles within it. Baseball, it’s now obvious, has lost one of the biggest cogs of the last era, and far too soon at that.
Rest in peace, KT.