Kevin Towers -- San Diego's longtime general manager, player and scout who passed away in January at age 56 -- has been elected to the Padres Hall of Fame. He will be posthumously inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in a special pregame ceremony on May 12 before the Padres host the Cardinals at Petco Park.
"Kevin was the perfect embodiment of what it means to be a Padre and his legacy will continue to live on at Petco Park," Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler and general partner Peter Seidler said in a joint statement Tuesday. "He was truly instrumental in putting San Diego on the baseball map, and this well-deserved induction into the Padres Hall of Fame ensures his place in club history. As one of the most beloved executives in our game, Kevin's devotion to his craft was unparalleled and his influence continues to be widespread."
Towers will become the 15th inductee into the Padres Hall of Fame. He joins Randy Jones (1999), Nate Colbert ('99), Ray Kroc ('99), Dave Winfield (2000), Jerry Coleman ('01), Buzzie Bavasi ('01), Tony Gwynn ('02), Dick Williams ('09), Trevor Hoffman ('14), Benito Santiago ('15), Garry Templeton ('15), Ken Caminiti ('16), Ted Williams ('16) and Jack McKeon ('17).

Towers was elected into the Padres Hall of Fame by the team's front office in collaboration with the San Diego chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and local sports media.
Towers served as San Diego's GM from 1995-2009, with the club winning four National League West titles during his tenure and making it to the World Series in 1998. Before his career as a GM, he pitched seven Minor League seasons in the Padres organization, after which he became an area scout and eventually the team's director of scouting.
Towers' induction will be part of the Padres' 20th-anniversary celebration of the 1998 NL pennant-winning team.
"I think it's very fitting that the architect of four postseason teams in San Diego is being inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame," Hoffman -- a 2018 Hall of Famer inductee and the closer for the 1998 team -- said in a statement. "That's where he belongs."