He was beloved by the baseball community, and his former assistant GM AJ Hinch reminded everyone why before Game 4 of the World Series last season when he displayed KT's name on a Stand Up 2 Cancer poster (courtesy of Dennis Lin and Tom Krasovic):
"He means a lot to me. He's meant a lot to the
people within the game for many, many years. He's done everything in the game.
I wanted to put someone on there that was a baseball person that has resonated
across the game at so many levels for so many years, and we just keep rooting
for KT to have a recovery."
Padres fans remember him as a gun-slinger. Not afraid to move anyone at any time. The dude would ship you off for a case of big league chew without blinking an eye. Every trade attempt wasn't a home run, but KT quickly brought excitement to San Diego early on in his tenure with the Padres.
The '98 Architect
Towers was promoted from scouting director to GM in 1995 as a 33 year old. I repeat, a thirty-three-year-old. He got moving quickly bringing in 1B Wally Joyner in December of 1995. Within the next year he had brought in SS Chris Gomez, LF Greg Vaughn, 2B Quilvio Veras, and SP Sterling Hitchcock. The Padres went on to win the NL West, reaching the postseason for the first time since 1984. The were swept by the Cardinals in the NLDS, but the foundation was put in place.
After a step back in 1997, Towers went out and got SP Kevin Brown from the Marlins before the '98 season. The Padres went on to have the best season in history with a 98-64 record. All six players mentioned above were an integral part of the team that reached the World Series for the second time in franchise history. Unfortunately, the Padres ran into the best team ever assembled and got swept by the 114 win New York Yankees.
KT Kept Grinding
The Padres never returned to the same success as the special 1998 team, but KT still made incredible moves helping shape the future Friars. Phil Nevin was brought in before the '99 season, and Ryan Klesko was added after.
Wasn't all peaches, in 2003 he made perhaps the worst trade of his career sending Jason Bay and Oliver Perez to the Pirates for Granite Hills High alum Brian Giles. Shooters gotta shoot. He wasn't phased, he dusted his shoulders off and got the steal of his career three years later bringing in Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young for Adam Eaton and Aki Otsuka in 2006. Later in the year he acquired RP Mike Adams for Brian Sikorsi (who?).
In all, Kevin Towers was the GM of the Padres from 1995-2009 before taking the same position for the Dbacks from 2010-2014.
It will be sad to see KT's absence at Cooperstown this summer when Trevor Hoffman is inducted into the HOF -- which will also be the twenty year reunion of the best team in Padres history, a team that was constructed by perhaps the best GM in Padres history. R.I.P KT, you will be missed.
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